Please Flush Responsibly
Medicines and the Environment
Climate Change, Loss of Biodiversity and Ocean Acidification are huge threats to our Planet, and therefore to humans too.
We are lucky to live in an age where we have relatively good healthcare, but the NHS itself contributes to the problems of climate change and pollution.
Medicines can really help us and we are lucky to have so many effective tablets, patches, ointments, creams, liquids, powders and inhalers that we can use. It is really important not to stop taking any prescribed medicines before discussing with a nurse, doctor or pharmacist! There are ways we can maximise the benefit from the healthcare available to us and minimise our impact on the environment….read on!
Did you know?
- The NHS has a carbon footprint of about 5%, which is about the same as the aviation industry in the UK.
- About 25% of the NHS’s ‘carbon footprint’ is related to medicines. Some medications are particularly bad for the environment – metered dose inhalers (like the Ventolin Evohaler), for example. Just one of these inhalers has the ‘carbon footprint’ equivalent of driving a petrol car 175 miles – Ullapool to Glasgow! A dry powder inhaler with the same medication, in contrast, would only be about 4 miles (Ullapool to Ardmair). In the case of inhalers, this is due to propellant gases used.
- However…many medicines damage the environment in other ways. Even very tiny amounts of medicines get into our sewage and then into rivers and the sea, through our body’s waste products (pee, mainly!). We also know that about 5% of medication particles found in rivers and the sea comes from people disposing medicines down the toilet! And the active ingredients from medications can also ‘seep’ out into water when they are disposed of into land fill.
- Some examples of how medicines can harm the environment…1. Hormones! These are very useful, but we know that oestrogen (due to pills and patches resulting in increased oestrogen in urine) found in rivers and seas causes male fish to be ‘feminised’ which reduces their ability to reproduce, causing a decline in numbers. 2. Painkillers – many painkillers are toxic to wildlife but some are particularly nasty. One example of this is diclofenac (voltarol); this is very toxic to fish, algae, and larger animals too.
- There are many more examples of medicines causing harm to the environment and particularly to aquatic life, from drugs used for blood pressure to those used for depression.
- There’s also a huge amount of ‘waste’ around medication – it is thought that up to 50% of medicines prescribed aren’t taken or aren’t taken correctly; and the research, packaging and transporting of medicines has a big carbon footprint as well as contributing to pollution.
What can we do about this?
- Don’t just stop taking medicines – they may be very important for your health. However, if you know that you aren’t taking your medicines as they are prescribed, or find you are ‘stockpiling’ them rather than taking them – or just wonder if you may no longer need them for some reason – do discuss with a health professional about whether you are benefitting from them
- Dispose of medicines correctly!! Firstly – don’t put ANY medication down the toilet or the sink, or in the bin; return to the pharmacy. This includes ‘used’ patches (e.g. HRT) – if the patch isn’t fully folded in ‘on itself’ and is thrown in the bin, oestrogen ‘leaks’ out from the patch, into landfill and into waterways.
- Think about ways in which you can benefit the environment and your health – 30 mins moderate intensity exercise is likely to be better for your blood pressure and cholesterol than taking medicines (again – don’t just stop them – for some folk they are essential!); and getting out into nature is proven to be good for your mental health too. Gardening to produce your own food is beneficial for health and the environment; and there are many other examples. Regular exercise and time outside may reduce your need for medicines in the long run…
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