Skip to main content

Is Disposal of Unused Pharmaceuticals as Municipal Solid Waste by Landfilling a Good Option? A Case Study in China

Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology volume 105, pages 784–789 (2020)Cite this article

Abstract

Properly disposing of unused pharmaceuticals is essential to minimize emissions of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). The aim of this study was to determine whether disposing of unused pharmaceuticals in household solid waste is a cost-effective way of attenuating pharmaceutical emissions. We calculated attenuation rates (ARs) for unused pharmaceuticals by performing mass balance calculations for disposal to landfill. The results indicated that the average ARs for disposal as household solid waste reached 63% to 100% for our investigated pharmaceuticals at the worst scenario, indicating that disposal as household solid waste strongly attenuated emissions of APIs. Disposing of unused pharmaceuticals as household solid waste could be a cost-effective disposal method from the view of reducing APIs emission, but should be used with caution.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

43,34 €

Price includes VAT (Finland)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1

References

  • Abahussain E, Ball D, Matowe W (2006) Practice and opinion towards disposal of unused medication in Kuwait. Med Prin Pract 15:352–357

    Google Scholar 

  • Bound JP, Voulvoulis N (2005) Household disposal of pharmaceuticals as a pathway for aquatic contamination in the United kingdom. Environ Health Perspect 113:1705–1711

    Google Scholar 

  • Bu QW, Shi X, Yu G, Huang J, Wang B, Wang JB (2016) Pay attention to non-wastewater emission pathways of pharmaceuticals into environments. Chemosphere 165:515–518

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chung SS, Brooks BW (2019) Identifying household pharmaceutical waste characteristics and population behaviors in one of the most densely populated global cities. Resour Conserv Recy 140:267–277

    Google Scholar 

  • Chung SS, Zheng JS, Burket SR, Brooks BW (2018) Select antibiotics in leachate from closed and active landfills exceed thresholds for antibiotic resistance development. Environ Int 115:89–96

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Connor TH, McDiarmid MA (2006) Preventing occupational exposures to antineoplastic drugs in health care settings. CA Cancer J Clin 56:354–365

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook SM, VanDuinen BJ, Love NG, Skerlos SJ (2012) Life cycle comparison of environmental emissions from three disposal options for unused pharmaceuticals. Environ Sci Technol 46:5535–5541

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fenech C, Rock L, Nolan K, Morrissey A (2013) Attitudes towards the use and disposal of unused medications in two European countries. Waste Manage 33:259–261

    Google Scholar 

  • Glassmeyer ST, Hinchey EK, Boehme SE, Daughton CG, Ruhoy LS, Conerly O, Daniels RL, Lauer L, McCathy M, Nettesheim TG, Sykes K, Thompson VG (2009) Disposal practices for unwanted residential medications in the United States. Environ Int 35:566–572

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kheir N, Hajj ME, Wilbur K, Kaissi R, Yousif A (2011) An exploratory study on medications in Qatar homes. Drug Healthc Patient Saf 3:99–106

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kotchen M, Kallaos J, Wheeler K, Wong C, Zahller M (2009) Pharmaceuticals in wastewater: behavior, preferences, and willingness to pay for a disposal program. J Environ Manage 90:1476–1482

    Google Scholar 

  • Kusturica MP, Sabo A, Tomic Z, Horvat O, Šolak Z (2012) Storage and disposal of unused medications: knowledge, behavior, and attitudes among Serbian people. Int J Clin Pharm 34:604–610

    Google Scholar 

  • Law AV, Sakharkar P, Zargarzadeh A, Tai BW, Hess K, Hata M, Mireles R, Ha C, Park TJ (2015) Taking stock of medication wastage: unused medications in US households. Res Social Adm Pharm 11:571–578

    Google Scholar 

  • Lu M-C, Chen YY, Chiou M-R, Chen MY, Fan H-J (2016) Occurrence and treatment efficiency of pharmaceuticals in landfill leachates. Waste Manage 55:257–264

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Massoud MA, Chami G, Al-Hindi M, Alameddine I (2016) Assessment of household disposal of pharmaceuticals in Lebanon: management options to protect water quality and public health. Environ Manage 57:1125–1137

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China (MIIT) (2013) China Medical Statistics 2012. MIIT, Beijing

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People’s Republic of China (MIIT) (2014) China Medical Statistics 2013. MIIT, Beijing

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People’s Republic of China (MIIT) (2015) China Medical Statistics 2014. MIIT, Beijing

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People’s Republic of China (MIIT) (2016) China Medical Statistics 2015. MIIT, Beijing

    Google Scholar 

  • Musson SE, Townsend T, Seaburg K, Mousa J (2007) A continuous collection system for household pharmaceutical wastes: a pilot project. J Air Waste Manage 57:828–835

    Google Scholar 

  • Musson SE, Townsend TG (2009) Pharmaceutical compound content of municipal solid waste. J Hazard Mater 162:730–735

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Peng X, Ou W, Wang C, Wang Z, Huang Q, Jin J, Tan J (2014a) Occurrence and ecological potential of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in groundwater and reservoirs in the vicinity of municipal landfills in China. Sci Total Environ 490:889–898

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Peng X, Wang C, Zhang K, Wang Z, Huang Q, Yu Y, Ou W (2014b) Profile and behavior of antiviral drugs in aquatic environments of the Pearl River Delta, China. Sci Total Environ 466–467:755–761

    Google Scholar 

  • Persson M, Sabelström E, Gunnarsson B (2009) Handling of unused prescription drugs—knowledge, behaviour and attitude among Swedish people. Environ Int 35:771–774

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ruhoy IS, Daughton CG (2008) Beyond the medicine cabinet: an analysis of where and why medications accumulate. Environ Int 34:1157–1169

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sasu S, Ku¨mmerer K, Kranert M, (2012) Assessment of pharmaceutical waste management at selected hospitals and homes in Ghana. Waste Manag Res 30:625–630

    Google Scholar 

  • Seehusen DA, Edwards J (2006) Patient practices and beliefs concerning disposal of medications. J Am Board Fam Med 19:542–547

    Google Scholar 

  • Stoddard KI, Hodge V, Maxey G, Tiwari C, Cready C, Huggett DB (2017) Investigating research gaps of pharmaceutical take back events: an analysis of take back program participants' socioeconomic, demographic, and geographic characteristics and the public health benefits of take back programs. Environ Manage 59:871–884

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sui Q, Huang J, Deng S, Chen W, Yu G (2011) Seasonal variation in the occurrence and removal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in different biological wastewater treatment processes. Environ Sci Technol 45:3341–3348

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sui Q, Zhao W, Cao X, Lu S, Qiu Z, Gu X, Yu G (2017) Pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the leachates from a typical landfill reservoir of municipal solid waste in Shanghai, China: Occurrence and removal by a full-scale membrane bioreactor. J Hazard Mater 323:99–108

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson CA (2010) EPA eyes unused pharmaceuticals. Am J Health Syst Pharm 67(259):263

    Google Scholar 

  • Vellinga A, Cormican S, Driscoll J, Furey M, O'Sullivan M, Cormican M (2014) Public practice regarding disposal of unused medicines in Ireland. Sci Total Environ 478:98–102

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang P, Wu D, You X, Li W, Xie B (2019) Distribution of antibiotics, metals and antibiotic resistance genes during landfilling process in major municipal solid waste landfills. Environ Pollut 255:113222

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang X, Howley P, Boxall ABA, Rudd MA (2016) Behavior, preferences, and willingness to pay for measures aimed at preventing pollution by pharmaceuticals and personal care products in China. Integ Environ Assess 12:793–800

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wu D, Huang Z, Yang K, Graham D, Xie B (2015) Relationships between antibiotics and antibiotic resistance gene levels in municipal solid waste leachates in Shanghai, China. Environ Sci Technol 49:4122–4128

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yang N, He PJ, Lu F, Zhang H, Shao LM (2015) Impact factor analysis and quantification method establishment for landfill leachate generation in China. China Environ Sci 35:2452–2459 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Yao L, Li Y, Li Z, Shen D, Feng H, Zhou H, Wang M (2020) Prevalence of fluoroquinolone, macrolide and sulfonamide-related resistance genes in landfills from East China, mainly driven by MGEs. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 190:110131

    Google Scholar 

  • You X, Wu D, Wei H, Xie B, Lu J (2018) Fluoroquinolones and β-lactam antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes in autumn leachates of seven major municipal solid waste landfills in China. Environ Int 113:162–169

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yu X, Sui Q, Lyu S, Zhao W, Cao X, Wang J, Yu G (2020) Do high levels of PPCPs in landfill leachates influence the water environment in the vicinity of landfills? A case study of the largest landfill in China. Environ Int 135:105404

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yu Z, He P, Shao L, Zhang H, Lu F (2016) Co-occurrence of mobile genetic elements and antibiotic resistance genes in municipal solid waste landfill leachates: a preliminary insight into the role of landfill age. Water Res 106:583–592

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang QQ, Ying GG, Pan CG, Liu YS, Zhao JL (2015) Comprehensive evaluation of antibiotics emission and fate in the river basins of China: source analysis, multimedia modeling, and linkage to bacterial resistance. Environ Sci Technol 49:6772–6782

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao W, Sui Q, Mei X, Cheng X (2018) Efficient elimination of sulfonamides by an anaerobic/anoxic/oxic-membrane bioreactor process: Performance and influence of redox condition. Sci Total Environ 633:668–676

    CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was co-supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21777188) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities in China (Grant No. 2015QH02). Q.B. was also funded by Yue Qi Young Scholar Project, China University of Mining & Technology, Beijing (Grant No. 2017QN15). We thank Gareth Thomas, PhD, from Liwen Bianji, Edanz Group China (www.liwenbianji.cn/ac), for editing the English text of a draft of this manuscript.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology-Beijing, Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of China

    Qingwei Bu, Hongmei Cao, Xiaofan He & Handan Zhang

  2. School of Environment, State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, Beijing Key Laboratory for Emerging Organic Contaminants Control, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, People’s Republic of China

    Gang Yu

Authors
  1. Qingwei Bu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Hongmei Cao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Xiaofan He
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Handan Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Gang Yu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Qingwei Bu.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (DOCX 87 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bu, Q., Cao, H., He, X. et al. Is Disposal of Unused Pharmaceuticals as Municipal Solid Waste by Landfilling a Good Option? A Case Study in China. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 105, 784–789 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-020-03006-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-020-03006-5

Keywords

  • Unused pharmaceuticals
  • Household solid waste
  • Attenuation rates
  • Landfill leachate