How to dispose off old medication
By ANGELA .W. WANDERA, 26th Oct 2011 | Follow this author
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Posted in WikinutHealthDrugs & Medicines
Most of the expired or unused medication will remain in your medicine cabinet which has many dangers in itself. You may never know who will come across your old medication and swallow it without your knowledge especially if you live with other people or even have kids around.
How to dispose off old medication
It is a common habit among most individuals to have old medication laying around,especially if you have a habit of not finishing taking your dose of medication.
Most of the expired or unused medication will remain in your medicine cabinet which has many dangers in itself. You may never know who will come across your old medication and swallow it without your knowledge especially if you live with other people or even have kids around.
Medicine do have chemicals that can be toxic if kept for long and ingested. Taking of expired medication can lead to lifetime complications such as irritations or even lead to death due to the toxic levels of the compounds used to make the medicine.
When thrown in the garbage the substances found in the medicines will over time filter through the water bodies such as lakes and streams which will be ingested by humans and animals which is a hazard. The following are some of the most safest ways to dispose off old medication.
1. Flushing the medication down the toilet
You can reduce the risk of the old medication being ingested by people who live with you by flushing down the toilet any unused or expired medication. Although this method prevents accidental ingestion it can cause contamination in the environment.
2. Trash the medication
Another way to prevent accidental ingestion of old medication is by trashing it in a plastic bag and put it in the trash. This method also has some long term effects on the environment but acts as an immediate solution too. Follow the disposal instructions on the drug labels.
3. Take the old medication back to the Pharmacy
This is perhaps the best way to dispose off old medication, any medical facility such as a Hospital or drug manufacturing company will be happy to take the medication from you for disposal. Most of these facilities do have incinerators that they can use to destroy the medication by burning the drugs at high degrees of heat.
5. Return the old medication to your doctor
There are some health facilities that have receptacles where you return your old unusable medication back to the receptacles. You can always ask your physician how to get rid of old medication instead of keeping it in your medicine cabinet.
You should also ask from the local authorities such as the Drug Enforcement Administration in your area how old medication is disposed off in an environment friendly manner in accordance with the regulations in place related to disposition or substances.
6. Make use of the take back community programs
In most states there are programs in place which give you an opportunity to take back old medication to collection centers that do recycling services in your local area.
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