Almost everyone has been to a hospital or a clinic at some point during their lives. These hospitals or clinics, even the smallest of them, use hundreds or sometimes even thousands of pharmaceuticals in a day. Have you ever wondered where much of this pharmaceutical waste goes?

Pharmaceutical Waste

Pharmaceutical waste is quite hazardous. It is far different from regular waste and therefore special measures are required to dispose of it properly. It is a combination of different types of wastes that are generated in a medical facility. In most hospitals, this waste is usually drained with the exception of certain agents, which require being put into a waste incinerator. The proper disposal of pharmaceutical waste is of such great importance that there have been strict laws passed for it.

Reasons Why Pharmaceutical Waste Disposal Is Important

Due to the harmful nature of the type of waste, there are specific methods used for their disposal. In addition to that, new methods always keep replacing the old ones to ensure safety and lessen the hazardous factor involved in its disposal. Let us now go through some further reasons why it is extremely important to dispose off pharmaceutical waste properly.

Environmental Hazards

One of the basic reasons why this kind of waste must be disposed off properly is because it contains compounds that are considered a hazard to a healthy environment. Furthermore, since most pharmaceutical chemicals don’t get removed from the waste-water, they tend to enter aquatic environments via the sewage system. This sometimes goes on to affect the marine animals, potentially bringing harm to human beings via food chains.

Water Sources

One of the worst aspects of not disposing off the pharmaceutical waste properly is that it can, and unfortunately has been, affecting several water sources. In fact, this has been the case for over four decades now. This can cause serious illnesses to people using those water sources.

Waste-water issues

Among the greatest issues of not disposing of the waste-water from pharmaceutical waste properly is the affect it is having on wildlife. A study has suggested that numerous fish have had reproductive abnormalities because of their exposure to pharmaceutical effluents. This poses a great threat of wildlife that feed on those fish as well as the fish itself. In fact, it is even being feared that the improper disposal of pharmaceutical waste may even lead to some fish going extinct due to the difficulties they are facing in reproduction. The threat that improper pharmaceutical waste is posing is quite intense. These wastes are entering the environment through several different routes including landfill seepage, wastewater, and sewer lines. This is why it is utterly important to make sure they are disposed off properly and in the safest way possible. Concerned about the disposal of pharmaceutical waste? Call BWS Inc by dialing (800) 660-6581, and hire one of the best waste removal services in the US. We have been in the business for over three decades now, complying 100% with the OSHA safety guidelines.

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