Abstract
Increased interest over the levels of pharmaceuticals detected in the environment has led to the need for new approaches to manage their emissions. Inappropriate disposal of unused and waste medicines and release from manufacturing plants are believed to be important pathways for pharmaceuticals entering the environment. In situ treatment technologies, which can be used on-site in pharmacies, hospitals, clinics, and at manufacturing plants, might provide a solution. In this study we explored the use of Pyropure, a microscale combined pyrolysis and gasification in situ treatment system for destroying pharmaceutical wastes. This involved selecting 17 pharmaceuticals, including 14 of the most thermally stable compounds currently in use and three of high environmental concern to determine the technology’s success in waste destruction. Treatment simulation studies were done on three different waste types and liquid, solid, and gaseous emissions from the process were analyzed for parent pharmaceutical and known active transformation products. Gaseous emissions were also analyzed for NOx, particulates, dioxins, furans, and metals. Results suggest that Pyropure is an effective treatment process for pharmaceutical wastes: over 99 % of each study pharmaceutical was destroyed by the system without known active transformation products being formed during the treatment process. Emissions of the other gaseous air pollutants were within acceptable levels. Future uptake of the system, or similar in situ treatment approaches, by clinics, pharmacists, and manufacturers could help to reduce the levels of pharmaceuticals in the environment and reduce the economic and environmental costs of current waste management practices.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00267-016-0728-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) have been shown to persist in ground, surface, and drinking waters, and have been detected in these water bodies around the world; there is growing concern that these residues can adversely impact the health of ecosystems (Musson and Townsend 2009)
In this study we explored the use of Pyropure, a microscale combined pyrolysis and gasification in situ treatment system for destroying pharmaceutical wastes
Results suggest that Pyropure is an effective treatment process for pharmaceutical wastes: over 99 % of each study pharmaceutical was destroyed by the system without known active transformation products being formed during the treatment process
Summary
Active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) have been shown to persist in ground, surface, and drinking waters, and have been detected in these water bodies around the world; there is growing concern that these residues can adversely impact the health of ecosystems (Musson and Townsend 2009). It has been estimated that anywhere between 3 and 65 % of prescribed pharmaceuticals are not used by the patient (Musson and Townsend 2009; Braund et al 2009; Seehusen and Edwards 2006). The majority of these unused medicines will be disposed of down the toilet or sink to the sewerage system, or in the household waste to landfill (Vellinga et al 2014; Glassmeyer et al 2009). Disposal of unused pharmaceuticals or pharmaceutically contaminated waste to landfill could pose a risk to wildlife which scavenge off these sites, as demonstrated by the poisonings of avian scavengers by sodium pentobarbital contained in euthanized animal carcasses (Langelier 1993; Thomas 1999; Russell and Franson 2014; Boehringer 2004)
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