Abstract:

Environments continuously receive mixtures of drugs on a global scale. The most popular uses of drugs include human medicine as tools for the treatment or prevention of various diseases, veterinary drugs or husbandry growth promoters with applications on many different aspects of agriculture. Objectives of this study are to identify the major methods used in PWM in the health facilities in Lagos state, Nigeria and to identify the presence of pharmaceutical in the environment. This study comprised 376 respondents of which 68.4% were females. Most frequent age range was 31 – 40 years, (42.3%). 43.4% have been in service between 1-5 years. 34% work in general hospitals while 8.0% work in comprehensive health centers. Majority (37.5%) dispose pharmaceutical wastes in medical waste bin. Unused drugs are mostly returned directly to the supplier (40.4%) while expired drugs are mostly returned to manufacturers (41.2%). Most facilities dispose wastes in biohazard bags (red, 19.95%, yellow and black, 19.68%). 0.634ug/L of amoxillin trihydrate was detected in waste water and 6.791ug/g in sludge. 0.203ug/L of Clavlnic acid was present in tap water, 0.264ug/L of Ciprofloxacin Hydrochloride was found in waste water and 6.353ug/g in sludge. Diclofenac was 0.409ug/L in waste-water. Paracetamol concentration was 0.00379ug/L in tap water, 0.01196g/L in waste water and 0.55768ug/L in sludge. It is concluded that the presence of pharmaceutical wastes in tap water, waste water and sludge in hospital environments is connected with waste management methods. Awareness and training are necessary to avoid environmental pollution of pharmaceutical wastes.

Keywords: Wastes, drugs, Pharmaceutical Waste management, Healthcare workers, Environments, hazards.

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