Evaluation of an activated carbon disposal system for safe disposal of model prescription sedative medications

Behnam Dasht Bozorg,Carter Anderson,William Fowler,Andrew Korey,Ajay K Banga

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-59907-2

Behnam Dasht Bozorg, Carter Anderson + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-59907-2

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Abstract

Lack of a safe and convenient disposal method for expired and unused medications may lead to many problems such as accidental exposure, intentional misuse, and food and water contamination. Activated carbon can offer safe disposal of medications due to its highly porous structure, which exerts strong physical adsorption forces with chemicals. This study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of an activated carbon-based drug disposal system for deactivating three model sedative prescription medications. Deactivation was performed by mixing the medication, activated carbon, and tap water. Desorption was evaluated by exposing the deactivation system to wash-out solutions. Rapid, precise, accurate, and sensitive HPLC-UV method for each drug was successfully developed, validated and employed. Results of the 28-day deactivation study showed that on average, more than 94.00% of drugs were rapidly deactivated within 8 hours. All drugs reached more than 99.00% deactivation by the end of 28-day period. Desorption study demonstrated that all medications were retained by the system, with insignificant amount of drug (0.25%) leached into the washout solutions within 24 hours. In conclusion, activated carbon rapidly and successfully deactivated the medications tested, suggesting activated carbon-based drug disposal system provides a convenient, secure, and effective method for unused medication.

Highlights

Lack of a safe and convenient disposal method for expired and unused medications may lead to many problems such as accidental exposure, intentional misuse, and food and water contamination
Misuse of prescription psychotherapeutic drugs is relatively common in the United States and is second to marijuana as the most commonly used illicit drug[2]
In 2016, approximately 294,000 people were reported to have misused prescription sedatives for the first time during the past year. This estimated number averages to about 800 initiates per day for prescription sedative misuse and 24.8 years was reported as the average age at first misuse occurrence among recent initiates[1]

Summary

Introduction

Lack of a safe and convenient disposal method for expired and unused medications may lead to many problems such as accidental exposure, intentional misuse, and food and water contamination. This study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of an activated carbon-based drug disposal system for deactivating three model sedative prescription medications. Activated carbon rapidly and successfully deactivated the medications tested, suggesting activated carbon-based drug disposal system provides a convenient, secure, and effective method for unused medication. Prescription drug misuse and abuse, a major public health concern in the United States, is the intentional or accidental consumption of medicines without a prescription, for a purpose other than prescribed or to experience the feeling they may cause. In 2016, approximately 294,000 people were reported to have misused prescription sedatives for the first time during the past year. Other reported reasons for misuse were to relax or relieve stress (12.0%), to feel better or get high (5.1%), to help with feelings or mood (3.9%), to experience the feeling the drug might cause (3.0%), and to enhance or reduce the effects of other drugs (1.3%)[4]

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