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

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.

Evaluation of an activated carbon-based deactivation system for the disposal of highly abused opioid medications.

CONTEXT: The improper disposal of unused prescription opioids has a potential for abuse as well as environmental contamination. Consequently, there is an imperative need for an environmentally safe, convenient, and effective drug disposal system. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to analyze the deactivation efficiency of the disposal system employing four model opioid drugs of high abuse potential. METHODS: The deactivation system used in this investigation is an activated granular carbon based disposal system in the form of a pouch, which can be used to safely and effectively deactivate unused or expired medications. HPLC method validation for each drug was performed prior to analyzing drug content in the deactivation study. Opioid drugs in different dosage forms were added to individual pouches in the presence of warm water. Pouches were shaken and sealed, then stored at room temperature. The deactivation efficiency of the system was tested by collecting samples at different time points up to 28 d. RESULTS: An average of 98.72% of medications were adsorbed by activated carbon within 8 h and continued to do so over time. At the end of the 28-d study, more than 99.99% of all drugs were deactivated. In the desorption study, almost no drug leached out from the activated carbon in larger volume of water and less than 1.3% leached out on extraction with ethanol. CONCLUSION: This unique drug disposal system successfully adsorbed and deactivated the model opioid medications by the end of 28 d, offering a safe and convenient route of disposal of unused or residual opioid drugs.

Development and validation of an HPLC-UV method for analysis of methylphenidate hydrochloride and loxapine succinate in an activated carbon disposal system.

Unused medications have the possibility of being abused, causing serious harm to individuals who were not prescribed the drug. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends the proper disposal of unused prescribed medications to maintain safety and prevent environmental hazards. However, many of the current disposal techniques do not properly address safety. A drug disposal pouch containing granular activated carbon offers a unique disposal method to deactivate residual or expired medication in a convenient, effective, and safe manner. A robust and validated method for methylphenidate hydrochloride and loxapine succinate was developed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and the deactivation efficiency of the disposal system was tested. Methylphenidate hydrochloride was analyzed on a C18 analytical column (250 mm × 4.60 mm, 100Å) using acetonitrile-water (0.05% (v/v) trifluoroacetic acid) as the mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min with a run time of 15 min and retention time of 7.8 min. Loxapine succinate was separated on a C8 100Å (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 µm) column maintained at 25 °C using a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The run time was 10 min and the retention time of the drug was around 4.6 min. Mobile phase was composed of acetonitrile and water (0.3% triethylamine) at pH 3.0 as 40:60 (v/v). Reference standard solutions (100 µg/mL) for both drugs were prepared by dissolving in mobile phases. These methods provide good linearity (R 2 = 0.999) over the range of 5-100 µg/mL for methylphenidate hydrochloride and 0.1-100 µg/mL for loxapine succinate. The assay methods were successfully applied to study the deactivation of these drugs.

Development and validation of an HPLC-UV method for analysis of methylphenidate hydrochloride and loxapine succinate in an activated carbon disposal system / 药物分析学报

Unused medications have the possibility of being abused, causing serious harm to individuals who were not prescribed the drug. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends the proper disposal of unused prescribed medications to maintain safety and prevent environmental hazards. However, many of the current disposal techniques do not properly address safety. A drug disposal pouch containing granular activated carbon offers a unique disposal method to deactivate residual or expiredmedication in a convenient, effective, and safe manner. A robust and validated method for methylphenidate hydrochloride and loxapine succinate was developed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and the deactivation efficiency of the disposal system was tested. Methylphenidate hydrochloride was analyzed on a C18 analytical column (250mm × 4.60mm, 100?) using acetonitrile-water (0.05％ (v/v) trifluoroacetic acid) as the mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.0mL/min with a run time of 15min and retention time of 7.8min. Loxapine succinate was separated on a C8100? (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) column maintained at 25 °C using a flow rate of 1.0mL/min. The run time was 10min and the retention time of the drug was around 4.6min.Mobile phase was composed of acetonitrile and water (0.3％ triethylamine) at pH 3.0 as 40:60 (v/v). Reference standard solutions (100 μg/mL) for both drugs were prepared by dissolving in mobile phases. These methods provide good linearity (R2 = 0.999) over the range of 5–100 μg/mL for methylphenidate hydrochloride and 0.1–100 μg/mL for loxapine succinate. The assay methods were successfully applied to study the deactivation of these drugs.

Activated Carbon-Based System for the Disposal of Psychoactive Medications.

The misuse and improper disposal of psychoactive medications is a major safety and environmental concern. Hence, the proper disposal of these medications is critically important. A drug deactivation system which contains activated carbon offers a unique disposal method. In the present study, deactivation efficiency of this system was tested by using three model psychoactive drugs. HPLC validation was performed for each drug to ensure that the analytical method employed was suitable for its intended use. The method was found to be specific, accurate and precise for analyzing the drugs. The extent and rate of deactivation of the drugs was determined at several time points. After 28 days in the presence of activated carbon, the extent of leaching out of the drugs was evaluated. Deactivation started immediately after addition of the medications into the disposal pouches. Within 8 h, around 47%, 70% and 97% of diazepam, lorazepam and buprenorphine were adsorbed by the activated carbon, respectively. By the end of 28 days, over 99% of all drugs were deactivated. The desorption/leaching study showed that less than 1% of the active ingredients leached out from the activated carbon. Thus, this deactivation system can be successfully used for the disposal of psychoactive medications.

Development of Disposal Systems for Deactivation of Unused/Residual/Expired Medications.

PURPOSE: The objective of this work was to identify deactivation agents and develop a disposal system for unused/ residual/ expired medications. METHODS: Deactivation agents screened included oxidizing agent-sodium percarbonate, hydrolysis agent- sodium carbonate and adsorbants- zeolite and activated carbon. Deactivation studies using these agents were performed on four active pharmaceutical agents (APIs) including ketoprofen, dexamethasone sodium phosphate, metformin hydrochloride and amoxicillin trihydrate. Disposal systems were also designed for deactivation studies on dexamethasone pills, amoxicillin trihydrate capsules and fentanyl transdermal patches (Duragesic®). Briefly, APIs/ dosage forms were allowed to be in close contact with deactivation agents for a specified period of time and percentage decrease in the amount of API from the initial amount was measured. RESULTS: Sodium percarbonate and sodium carbonate were only successful in deactivation of amoxicillin trihydrate API. Adsorption agents resulted in more universal deactivation with activated carbon resulting in efficient deactivation of most APIs and all dosage forms tested. Also adsorption of oral dosage medications on activated carbons was maintained even on dilution and shaking and no desorption was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Deactivation systems containing activated carbon are promising for efficient, safe and environment friendly disposal of unused/residual/expired medications.