Keywords
environment
pharmaceutical waste
ecotoxicological risks
How to Cite
Abstract
Protecting the environment is one of the main challenges of modern society. To this aim, especially in recent years, the European Union (EU) has approved legislation establishing the environmental standards that must be met by medicinal products for human and veterinary use, in order to be registered by the regulatory agencies. To minimize as far as possible negative impacts on the environment, the Pharmaceutical Industry has provided a management system exclusively for both empty pharmaceutical packaging and that still containing medicines accumulated in Spanish homes. The Integrated System of Management and Collection of Packaging Waste (SIGRE) in the Pharmaceutical Industry is a non-profit organization created for the collection and management of pharmaceutical waste accumulated by citizens in their homes.
This study has carried out a pilot project by monitoring the pharmaceutical packaging deposited by the population in containers at two Pharmacies located in the town of Coslada in Madrid. A literature review was also conducted of the ecotoxicological effects of the therapeutic groups most frequently found in the SIGRE containers in this study.
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