• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.286-294
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• 2019

Background: At the end of the'Waste Drug Disposal Project', collection and disposal of waste drugs remain a social issue. Objective: This study aimed to provide suggestions to improve the drug waste management system in Korea by comparing domestic and overseas relevant programs. Methods: This is a comparative study between South Korea, Australia, Canada, France, and the US. These overseas countries were selected because they have been operating waste drug management programs continuously to date. Comparison was conducted by a pre-determined analysis frame including legal regulation, enforcement program and its performance. Results: All selected countries except Australia had legal regulations on drug wastes. The US had the largest variety of drug waste disposal methods. Canada had recommended that pharmacies actively participate in drug waste withdrawal programs. France had the largest variety of methods to promote relevant programs, including window sticker, SNS, and app, as well as the highest level of awareness and participation. Australia had the lowest level of awareness and participation in pharmaceutical waste management programs. Pharmaceutical companies took responsibility of paying for these programs in the selected overseas countries. Conclusion: Further efforts should be made to establish a clear guideline including the role of pharmaceutical companies, and to develop various methods for the public to be aware of appropriate ways of disposing drug wastes in Korea.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.249-249
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• 2004

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.93-100
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• 2009

Most of families in Korea keep some medicines that has been expired or not been used for a long time, and these medicines could be causing environmental or social problems. Currently many people concerned about their health and therefore show a tendency to visit many health facilities. It eventually brings to remain more medication in home The aim of this study is to determine the drug waste minimization and drug disposal in Korean home and provide the proper guideline for them. This study were performed by visiting total randomly selected 140 homes at the Seoul area from July 23rd, 2008 to July 31st, 2008 by questionnaire. This survey comprised total 6 parts and total 22 questions. In results, 77 (55.0%) among 140 families answered to this survey. 89.6% of families keep unused medicine in the home. Most were tablet (66.3%) and syrup (19.2%) dosage type. They usually kept the unused medicine in the room (41.6%) or no certain place. 76.6% families reused the medicine and used for themselves. The reason for reuse is similar symptoms by their decision. The reason for medicine was left over is not following the prescription's direction (31.3%). They mostly dispose the unused medications by throwing into a trash can (71.4%). In conclusion, many families keeps unused medication and it could cause health and environmental problems.

• Journal of Service Research and Studies
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.48-68
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• 2024

Due to the global pandemic aftermath of the coronavirus, the importance of health care is being emphasized more socially. Due to the influence of these changes, domestic pharmaceutical companies have introduced regular drug delivery services, that is, drug and health functional food subscription services. Currently, this market is continuously growing. However, these regular services are causing new environmental problems in which the number of waste drugs increases due to the presence of unused drugs. Therefore, this study proposes a service that not only promotes health management through regular medication adherence to reduce the amount of pharmaceutical waste but also aims to improve awareness and practices regarding proper medication disposal. As a preliminary survey for service design, a preliminary survey was conducted on 51 adults to confirm their perception of drug use habits and waste drug collection. Based on the Honey Comb model, a guideline for service design was created, and a prototype was produced by specifying the service using the preliminary survey results and service design methodology. In order to verify the effectiveness of the prototype, a first user task survey was conducted to identify the problems of the prototype, and after improving this, a second usability test was conducted on 49 adults to confirm the versatility of the service. Usability verification was conducted using SPSS Mac version 29.0. For the evaluation results of the questionnaire, Spearmann Correlation Analysis was conducted to confirm the relationship between frequency analysis and evaluation items. This study presents specific solutions to the problem of waste drugs due to the spread of drug subscription services.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.58 no.4
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• pp.262-267
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• 2014

Unused medication disposal is a burden due to the cost of disposing as well as the cost of the drugs. Investigating medication returns is expected to suggest areas of intervention to reduce unused medications. Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine types, quantity, costs, active pharmaceutical ingredients, and therapeutic category of the medications returned to community pharmacies. Method: From January 15, 2014 to February 28, 2014, the medications returned to the 17 community pharmacies in Gimhae, Jinju, and Incheon, Korea were examined. The pharmacists and student volunteers worked cooperatively to identify the medications and analyze drug cost of prescription pill medications returned to the pharmacies. Results: A total of 2,720 pills of prescription medication were analyzed and 91 active pharmaceutical ingredients were identified. According to the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification, the most predominant group was A (alimentary tract and metabolism) with 33.3%, followed by N (nervous system) with 15.0%. With regard to the drug cost of groups, group A was the highest with 26.6%, followed by J01 (antibacterials for systemic use) with 20.2% and N (nervous system) with 18.3%. The total cost of the oral pill prescription medications was 468,477 won. Conclusion: The result from this study implies that unused drugs impose a significant cost to the health care system in Korea. In this study, medicines used to treat gastrointestinal conditions were returned most frequently with the highest drug cost. Further research in nationwide level is necessary to establish strategies to reduce the wastage of unused medicines.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.268-279
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• 2023

The pharmaceutical industry in Bangladesh produces a diverse range of antibiotics for human and animal use, however, waste disposal management is inadequate. This results in substantial quantities of antibiotics being discharged into water bodies, which provide suitable environment for the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, capable of spreading resistance genes. This study intended for exploring the bacterial antibiotic resistance profile in adjoining aquatic environmental sources of pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities in Bangladesh. Seven surface water samples were collected from the vicinity of two pharmaceutical industries located in the Savar area and 51 Escherichia coli isolates were identified using both phenotypic and genotypic methods. Antibiotic susceptibility tests revealed the highest percentage of resistance against ampicillin, azithromycin, and nalidixic acid (100%) and the lowest resistance against meropenem (1.96%) out of sixteen different antibiotics tested. 100% of the study E. coli isolates were observed with Multidrug resistance phenotypes, with the Multiple Antibiotic Resistance (MAR) value ranging from 0.6-1.0. Furthermore, 69% of the isolates were Extended Spectrum Beta-Lactamases (ESBL) positive as per the Double Disk Diffusion Synergy Test (DDST). ESBL resistance genes bla_TEM, bla_CTX-M-13, bla_CTX-M-15, and bla_SHV were detected in 70.6% (n = 36), 60.8% (n = 32), 54.9% (n = 28), and 1.96% (n = 1) of the isolates, respectively, by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Additionally, 15.68% (n = 8) of the isolates were positive for E. coli specific virulence genes in PCR. These findings suggest that pharmaceutical wastewater, if not properly treated, could be a formidable source of antibiotic resistance spread in the surrounding aquatic environment. Therefore, continued surveillance for drug resistance among bacterial populations around drug manufacturing facilities in Bangladesh is necessary, along with proper waste disposal management.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.341-344
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• 1997

To check the possibility to use the pharmaceutical by product of ginkgo leaf for the improvement soil fertility, a pot experiment was conducted with paddy rice. There were three treatment; NPK alone, NPK+7000kg(air dry)/ha of ginkgo leaf waste and NPK+700 kg of water-washed ginkgo leaf waste (air dry)/ha. The result indicated that the application of ginkgo leaf waste severely retarded the growth of rice. Water washing did reduce the severity of retardation, but the water washed ginkgo leaf waste also retarded the growth of rice significantly. The result of this study suggested that ginkgo leaf waste may contain some growth inhibiting substance.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.58 no.2
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• pp.107-111
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• 2014

Unused medication disposal is a problem due to the cost of disposing as well as potential risk of inadvertent dosing. Investigating medication returns is expected to suggest areas for targeting interventions to reduce medication waste. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine types of medications and identify the expiration date of the medications returned to the community pharmacies through "Drug-Take Back" program. Method: From October 10, 2012 to November 14, 2012, the medications returned to the 58 community pharmacies in Korea were examined. Results: A total of 22,160 g of pill medications were collected; 52.8% for prescription drugs and 47.2% for non-prescription drugs, respectively. The weight of the expired pill medications was more than 5 times that of the non-expired pill medications. On the other hand, 6,168 ml of liquid medications were returned; 80.0% for prescription medication and 20.0% for non-prescription medications, respectively. Of the total oral liquid medications, the volume of the expired medications was more than 5 times that of the non-expired medications. Conclusion: The majority of medications returned to the community pharmacies were prescription drugs rather than non-prescription drugs. In addition, most of the drugs were expired when they returned.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.612-619
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• 2015

We have synthesized gold nanoparticles (GNPs) using chicken feathers (poultry waste) and Bacillus subtilis RSE163. Disulfide reductase and keratinase produced by Bacillus subtilis during the degradation of chicken feather has been used to reduce Au³⁺ from HAuCl₄ precursor to produce gold nanoparticles. The synthesized biogenic GNPs were characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and zeta potential measurements. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy indicated the presence of protein capping on synthesized GNPs, imparting multifunctionality to the GNP surface. Furthermore, the nontoxic nature of biogenic GNPs was insured by interaction with Escherichia coli (ATCC11103), where TEM images and enhancement of growth rate of E. coli in log phase signified their nontoxic nature. The results indicate that the synthesis of biocompatible GNPs using poultry waste may find potential applications in drug delivery and sensing.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.193-201
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• 2006

This study was performed to investigate employee exposures to waste anesthetic gases, such as enflurane and sevoflurane in operating rooms of general surgical, children's and dental clinics of a large hospital located in Seoul and to analyze factors affecting the concentrations of waste anesthetic gases. The results of the study are summarized below. 1. Based on results of personal and area samples for airborne enflurane, all of the employees investigated in this study were exposed to airborne enflurane concentrations below the ACGIH-threshold limit value (TLV) of 75 ppm. 2. However, based on results of personal samples for sevoflurane, employees of two (2) out of eleven (11) operating rooms were exposed to sevoflurane concentrations in excess of the NIOSH recommended exposure limit (REL) of 2 ppm. A similar trend was found in the area samples. 3. To investigate the source of sevoflurane emissions, airborne sevoflurane concentrations were measured on an anesthesia machine, a drug cabinet and a desk. It was indicated that the geometric means were 0.93 ppm, 0.83 ppm and 0.72 ppm, respectively. 4. Factors affecting waste anesthetic gas concentrations were the age of anesthesia machine, the volume of operating room and the extent of ventilation (p<0.05). 5. It is recommended that the use of anesthesia equipments be properly controlled, the operating room be well ventilated, and the airborne concentrations of anesthetic gases be continuously monitored.