Disposal of medicines and their socio-environmental impacts

Abstract

This work proposes an analysis of the disposal of medicines and the socio-environmental impacts, highlighting the contribution of the pharmacist to this awareness, minimizing the contamination of soils and waters, as well as the living beings of these environments. Medicines used in the domestic environment are often discarded in general garbage, in sinks or toilets, one of the biggest public health problems in the world. The objective was to discuss the proper disposal of medicines and the role of the pharmacist in raising patient awareness about this disposal. The methodology of integrative literature review was applied based on the analysis of 10 basic articles, applying inclusion criteria: temporality, scientificity and content. With the analysis of the studies, it was observed that the environmental impact due to incorrect waste disposal is one of the main causes of contamination and the consequences of this action harm an entire population and put the health of the entire community at risk. It was concluded that the pharmacist is the professional trained to make the user aware of the proper disposal of solid medical waste, and that this proper disposal contributes to the environment, so proper disposal can occur promoted both by companies, pharmacies and places where this incineration is carried out properly, aiming at minimizing problems.