This is an observation that we can make when opening our medicine cabinet: it is not uncommon to find there medication whose expiration date has passed. Bought to calm headachenausea… it can happen that we forget certain treatments at the back of the cupboard.
When sorting them out, what should we do with these remedies? While throwing them in the trash can be tempting, Léa Pateras-Pescara insists, you should not “never do that, never”. In a video, published on her Instagram account, the pharmacist, also known under the pseudonym @les.conseils.pharma.de.lea, discusses the health risks and dangers linked to this not-so-innocuous gesture. It also explains the approach to take when dealing with expired medications.
Expired or unused medication: why you should not return them to the pharmacy
In his video, Léa Pateras-Pescara presents the two reasons why throwing a medicine in the trash can be harmful to the planet and dangerous for your health. “If they are not recycled, the medicines will find in nature and more precisely in the waters we drink, the soils…”, explains the pharmacist. The second reason put forward by the specialist is that of the security of children. In fact, the latter “can go to get them back or in the trash or in the cupboards and get intoxicated”.
The pharmacist reminds that when you reach the end of a treatment, you should not keep medications at home because you may be tempted to reuse them without a doctor’s advice. “Except that self-medication is dangerous and can lead to antibiotic resistance”, she emphasizes.
Léa Pateras-Pescara explains that it is necessary bring your medications back to the pharmacy. Once deposited in pharmacies, the medications are sent to Cyclamed, “an association which will be responsible for recycling medicines by burning them, to prevent them from ending up in the environment”. Be careful, however, because “it does not work with food supplements and cosmetics”, she concludes.
What is drug recycling?
On its website, Health Insurance reminds that “what we call recycling of medicines consists of treating them, most often by incineration, in a specific sector in order to eliminate them with the lowest possible impact on the environment”.
Health Insurance states that “recycling concerns medicines purchased freely in pharmacies and those dispensed with a prescription”.
Here are the forms of medication that can be returned to the pharmacy:
- in tablets;
- in capsules;
- in ointments and creams;
- in syrups;
- in drops, etc.
Sources :
- Léa Pateras-Pescara – @les.conseils.pharma.de.lea – Instagram
- Recycling medications: why and how to return them to the pharmacy – Health insurance
