THE USE OF ABSORBENT MATERIALS FOR THE DISPOSAL OF CONTROLLED DRUGS

The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland's most r ecent publication on controlled drugs notes that the Environmental Pro tection Act (1992) does not permit the disposal of controlled drugs in to the water sewerage system. The Association suggests that, in order to conform to the Misuse of Drugs Regulations (1985), controlled drugs may best be disposed of using some sort of absorbent material, for ex ample a small amount of cat litter or wallpaper paste, in the bottom o f a sharps bin. The absorbent capacity of three types of cat litter, w allpaper paste and a commercial absorbent material were tested. Both t he commercial absorbent and wallpaper paste displayed limited absorben t qualities unless the container was agitated. The cat litter, Snowfla ke, absorbed more controlled drug than the others (one-way ANOVA, F-2, F-12 = 250.85, p<0.01). The else of absorbent materials in sharps bins for the disposal of controlled drugs in clinical areas has limitation s and may not be suitable. It is concluded, therefore, that small volu mes of controlled drugs should be disposed of directly into clinical w aste and that large volumes should be dealt with using a commercial ab sorbent in its own container.