Three times more pollution of expired drugs than old batteries
4hw.com.cn: what would you do if you found expired drugs in your home? I'm sure everyone will throw it away directly to prevent eating by mistake. But you know, the pollution of expired drugs is three times higher than that of batteries, and the annual pollution of expired drugs in China is about 15000 tons. Let's see why the pollution of expired drugs is so serious.
Family overdue drugs have been clearly listed in the national list of hazardous wastes. However, according to a recent survey, overdue drugs have not been specifically recycled and treated for a long time, and the overdue drugs in the homes of ordinary people are basically thrown away like ordinary household garbage. For a long time, expired drugs are facing the embarrassing situation of no one to recycle, no place to recycle and difficult to recycle, which hides a great risk of environmental pollution.
Three times more contaminated than old batteries
According to the white paper on the recovery of expired drugs from Chinese families released by Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd., about 78.6% of Chinese families have small medicine boxes, of which 30% to 40% have more than three years of validity, more than 80% have no habit of cleaning medicine boxes regularly, and about 15000 tons of expired drugs are produced in one year.
1 overdue drug pollution = 3 waste batteries pollution, about 5 years of water consumption of one person. "Ni Yidong, deputy general manager of Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group, said that most of the drugs are easy to decompose and evaporate after expiration, emitting toxic gases, causing indoor environmental pollution and even harmful to human respiratory tract in serious cases. Most of the expired drugs are treated as domestic waste, which pollutes the air, soil and water environment.
According to the reporter, due to the scattered sources, it is difficult to concentrate on recycling. Referring to the international practice, China has now implemented an exemption management system for the waste drugs and their packages produced in the daily life of families. According to the list of exemption management of hazardous wastes, the whole process of waste drugs and their packages generated by families will not be managed according to hazardous wastes without classified collection; if classified collection is made, the collection process will not be managed according to hazardous wastes, but the transportation, storage, disposal and other links still need to be managed according to hazardous wastes.
The reporter visited Chengdu, Changchun and other places and found that it is difficult to see expired drug recycling points in urban communities and rural areas. Yu Lei, a clinical pharmacist in the clinical pharmacy department of West China Hospital of Sichuan University, said that the efficacy of the drug will be reduced and mildew will occur after expiration. If the drug is taken by mistake, there may be adverse events. Some chemicals of expired drugs will decompose, resulting in new substances that can easily lead to allergies, diarrhea and even life-threatening. If discarded casually, it may also cause pollution to water sources and land.
"Expired drugs have become a" small bomb "around us, so we must pay attention to them. Song Yanqing, director of the Pharmaceutical Department of the first hospital of Jilin University, said that statistics show that nearly one third of adverse drug reactions are caused by expired drugs or improper preservation of drugs. For example, expired tetracycline decomposition of harmful substances will damage the kidney tubular cells, resulting in acid can not be discharged from the body and lead to acidosis.
According to the reporter, at present, some illegal traders purchase expired drugs, and "renovate" them, and then put them on the market, and sell them to other areas or remote villages, which not only harms the health of the people, but also disturbs the order of the drug market.
After the expiry date of drugs, 30% or 50% off for recycling & hellip; & hellip; 'in some small streets near big hospitals in cities, you can see a lot of small stalls or advertisements for' collecting drugs'. "Expired drugs are generally sold in rural areas or small clinics, like some bulk tablets, without expiration date," said a drug dealer who recycled expired drugs. The bulk tablets are usually recycled for a few cents. After repacking, they can be sold for a few dollars. It's very good! "
'many people in the nearby community come here to sell it. It's no different from selling old newspapers, and they can make a little money. 'said the drug dealer frankly.
In 2017, Mentougou District of Beijing investigated and dealt with a case of reselling 'recycled drugs'. Suspect Li in less than half a year, illegal purchase, resale of drugs involved in the amount of up to 200000 yuan.