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Why Should You Care?
It is important to dispose medications and medical supplies appropriately to protect our environment.
Learn about the negative impacts on the environment, humans, and wildlife that improper medication disposal can create.
Water supply
Medications that get flushed down the toilet, down the drain, or tossed in the trash can get into our waterways, harming humans and animals. Medications can end up in our drinking water sources, which can lead to negative impacts on human health. The effects on aquatic life include changes in reproduction and behavior as well as alterations in the food chain.
Antibiotic-resistance
Improper disposal of antibiotics can cause them to end up in our waterways. Bacteria present in water sources can become resistant to antibiotics when they are constantly exposed to them. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria can find their way back to humans via infected drinking water sources, further accelerating the development of antibiotic resistance and decreasing the efficacy of antibiotics in treating bacterial infections.
Worsening health
Climate change has an impact on health, including and not limited to:
Respiratory illnesses
Cardiovascular illnesses
Vector-borne illnesses
Food and water-borne illnesses
Antimicrobial resistance
Mental health impacts
Everyone has to play a role in order to combat climate change. The single most important action that pharmacists can take to address climate change is to express the importance of proper medication use and educate patients on proper medication disposal.
Accidental harm
Medications can be beneficial to one person, but harmful to another.
If taken accidentally by children or pets, adverse reactions and fatal outcomes can occur.
Disposing needles/syringes inappropriately can lead to injuries to other people, which can potentially transmit blood-borne diseases like HIV and hepatitis C.
Drug abuse and accidental poisonings can occur (ex: strong pain killers like fentanyl can cause an overdose in a person).
Additional risks
Unused medications that are not properly disposed or are not disposed in a timely manner can end up in someone else's possession and can potentially lead to drug misuse or abuse.
When a person takes a medication that was not prescribed for them, they are at risk for overloading their system with too much drug. This increases the risk of adverse drug events and drug interactions that can include seizures, coma, and death.
Some medications are prone to be misused and abused. In order to prevent that, it is important to dispose unwanted medication immediately.
