CONSEQUÊNCIAS DO DESCARTE INCORRETO DE MEDICAMENTOS

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.22533/at.ed.67324110414

• Palavras-chave: Medicamentos. Descarte de resíduos. Saúde e meio ambiente.

• Keywords: Medicines. Waste disposal. Health and environment.

• Abstract: Waste from the disposal of medicines has increased considerably, causing harm to health and the environment. Therefore, the correct disposal of these materials becomes essential. This work aims to evaluate the environmental and living consequences of incorrect disposal of medicines, as well as public policies within the Federal District. This is a bibliographical research, of an exploratory nature, with a qualitative approach, carried out in the Scielo and Google Scholar databases and analyzed between the months of August and December 2023, using the keywords: medication disposal, inappropriate disposal of medications, conscious disposal, district legislation on medication disposal, consequences of incorrect medication disposal. 59 articles were found, after applying the eligibility criteria, namely: articles published in the Portuguese language, from the period 2019 to 2023, complete and that fully addressed the topic, resulting in a total of 13 articles and included in this work, in addition to bring current legislation on the topic, totaling 24 studies. The results indicate that the incorrect disposal of medicines, in addition to presenting health risks, generates contaminants for the environment, in soil and water, exposing animal and human life to possible poisoning. Based on the materials evaluated, it is concluded that there is a great deal of misinformation regarding the disposal of pharmaceutical waste, which is why it ends up with household waste. To avoid this occurrence, it is necessary to create medication collection points for the population, in addition to lectures and publicity in the major media providing guidance on the locations.