Disposing of unused or expired medicines in the waste bin or down the drain poses risks, the Environment Department and Dr Nikolas Dietis, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Cyprus School of Medicine, told CNA, stressing the need for raising awareness among the public and proper management of these substances. According to a study published last year, 200 multiclass contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), including 168 medicinal products and transformation products (TPs), 5 artificial sweeteners, 12 industrial chemicals, and 15 other compounds were investigated in influent and effluent wastewater samples collected from 5 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) located in Cyprus. The Department of the Environment calls on members of the public to take the medicines for proper management, in their primary packaging, at the appropriate collection points, currently the Green Points. The Department of Environment, in response to a question from CNA on the impact on the environment of discarding drugs together with household waste, said that, unused or expired medicines discarded in the waste bin, end up in landfills, together with household waste. It also noted that, in many households, this pharmaceutical waste is disposed of in the toilet and it ends up in the sewage system or the ground. These practices pose the risk of the active substances of the drugs returning to humans through the food chain, it said, adding that the presence of active substances in the environment has a direct impact on ecosystems and especially on fish through the polluted water that ends up in the sea or other bodies of water. ‘Based on the above, the rational management of waste pharmaceutical products becomes imperative in order to prevent any environmental impacts that may be caused by their reckless disposal’, it said. Dr Dietis told CNA that this was ‘a major issue’ being discussed a lot worldwide and especially in Europe, noting that, as the years go by, the production of waste related to medicines is increasing to a great extent. He referred to the guidelines of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), noting that the main factors that greatly increase the impact on the environment is expired drugs, drugs no longer used by patients due to a change in treatment, but also because the packages produced by pharmaceutical companies contain more pills than patients need. Dr. Dietis said that it was necessary to inform the public about the correct disposal of medicines, but also that there should be a check on the proper management of this waste from hospitals, health centers, nursing homes, and also in farms, with regard to medicine given to animals. He noted that producers were also part of the solution, and that at least for local drugs, local pharmaceutical companies should work with the State to regulate the packaging of drugs and reduce the number of pills in some cases. He noted however that for this, a study was needed for each drug separately. He suggested that the State creates a medicine collection system with bins in hospitals, health centers, nursing homes, and even in neighbourhoods, next to those for the recycling of other materials, as is the practice in some other European countries, he noted. Regarding producers’ responsibility, he said that they could organise drug collection campaigns at central points in cities, noting that such campaigns in Europe led to the collection of a lot of material that would otherwise have been thrown away. Dr Dietis also said that, all around the world, people can take expired medicines at the pharmacy, but that pharmacists must also be supported on how to do this correctly and in an organised manner. ‘There must be a coordination, to support pharmacists on how to do it correctly so as to inform citizens as well,’ he noted. Disposal/management —————– In terms of what the public can do as regards disposing of medicines, the Department for the Environment referred to the Regulations on Waste published last Mach in the Government Gazette, and more specifically on the management of pharmaceutical household waste, that provide that wholesale sellers or manufacturers of pharmaceutical products, will have to create a collective system for the management of the waste of pharmaceutical products of domestic origin. This means that a network of collection points will be created, where members of the public will be given the opportunity to return, free of charge, to accessible collection points such as pharmacies, in their basic packaging, their pharmaceutical waste, which will then be taken for proper management to licensed facilities, it added. Due to the presence of active substances in pharmaceutical products of domestic origin, the Environment Department said, members of the public are advised not to discard them in the garbage and drains, but to take them for proper management in their primary packaging to the appropriate collection points, that currently, and until the installation of the collection network, are the Green Points. Dr Dietis noted that, at the Shakolas Educational Center for Clinical Medicine at the University of Cyprus, they have been collecting medicines at the entrance of the Faculty, to use for research purposes. He said that, there is a special bin at the entrance of the building, noting that, they sort them out themselves and put the ones they don’t want in special bins which then the University takes for destruction. 200 contaminants of emerging concern in waste water treatment facilities in Cyprus ———————- According to a study by academics from the University of Cyprus as well as universities from Greece, the United Kingdom and China, published last August in the academic journal, ‘Science of the Total Environment’, 200 multiclass contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) encompassing 168 medicinal products and transformation products (TPs), 5 artificial sweeteners, 12 industrial chemicals, and 15 other compounds were detected in influent and effluent wastewater samples collected during 7 consecutive days from 5 wastewater treatment plants located in Cyprus. The study with the title ‘Multiclass target analysis of contaminants of emerging concern including transformation products, soil bioavailability assessment and retrospective screening as tools to evaluate risks associated with reclaimed water reuse’, notes, among other things, that considering that the effluent of WWTPs is either discharged to the aquatic environment (e.g., surface waters such as lakes and rivers) or is reused in agricultural applications (e.g., crop irrigation), ‘it is of utmost importance’ to identify and quantify CECs in these facilities. It also notes that since the presence of CECs in soil and/or crops may have adverse effects on the environment and human health, a greater understanding of these challenges may enhance and facilitate the policy making process. The authors of the study were Vasiliki G. Beretsou, Maria-Christina Nika, Kyriakos Manoli, Costas Michael, Qian Sui, Lian Lundy, D. Michael Revitt, Nikolaos S. Thomaidis and Despo Fatta-Kassinos, from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Nireas-International Water Research Center, of the University of Cyprus, the Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, the State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Environmental Risk Assessment and Control on Chemical Process, of the East China University of Science and Technology, the Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, and Middlesex University.
Source: Cyprus News Agency