HOUSEHOLD PHARMACEUTICAL DISPOSAL PRACTICES
Pharmaceutical products are major sources of pollution all over the world. The consumption and production of pharmaceutical products increased due to demographic explosion, changing lifestyle & epidemiology, increasing chronic health issues, availability of low priced generic medicines, evolution in clinical practices (OECD 2022). Irrational consumption and disposal behaviours of the public lead to pharmaceutical pollution (Vatovec et al 2016, 2017). The household pharmaceutical waste is 3% to 50% in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD 2022) countries. The unused pharmaceutical products are kept at households until they meet their expiry period before its disposal. Non-adherence due to side effects and early recovery are the some of the reasons for unused medicines in the households. Study shows that , more than half of the respondents disposed-off this unused medicines with household garbage. Others flush the unused medicines into the sink, wat