Stop storing your pills in the bathroom cabinet! Pharmacists say you should keep them tucked away in your BEDROOM instead so they don’t spoil
- Survey of 2,200 Brits found 19% store their medication in the bathroom cabinet
- But experts warn the hot and humid environment could render the drugs useless
- Instead the Royal Pharmaceutical Society says the bedroom is the better choice
Millions of people incorrectly store their medicines in a bathroom cabinet, a survey has suggested.
Experts say keeping drugs in warm and humid places may reduce their effectiveness when you need them.
Doing so might even spoil them, according the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
It recommends you keep them tucked away safely in your bedroom instead to avoid the heat and humidity usually present in bathrooms.
Its poll of 2,200 UK adults revealed that roughly 19 per cent store medicines in their bathroom.
Storing your medication in the bathroom cabinet? You could be damaging them and rendering them useless, experts have warned (stock image)
With a survey finding up to fifth of Britons are storing their drugs incorrectly the Royal Pharmaceutical Society has offered the following tips for keeping medicines at home:
- Check the expiry date on your medicine the manufacturer can only guarantee it is safe and effective up to that date.
- Speak to a pharmacist if a medicine has changed in colour, smell or texture.
- Keep your medicines in their original container together with the information on how to use them.
- Check to see if your medicine should be kept in the fridge.
- Never put any medicines in the bin, or down the sink or toilet as this can pollute the environment. Return any unwanted or unused medicines to your pharmacy, where staff will dispose of them safely.
Meanwhile, 45 per cent of adults keep their medicine supply in the kitchen.
This could also lead to problems with medicines if they are stored near a heat source such as an oven or hob, the RPS said.
Professor Parastou Donyai, the RPS’s chief scientist, said: ‘It’s important to store your medicines in the right place as this could affect how they work.
‘Medicines should be stored in a cool, dry place and are particularly affected by heat and moisture.
‘Keeping your medicines in the same place as where you have baths and showers could make your medicines less effective or spoil them.
‘Instead, keep your medicines in another room, for example your bedroom.
‘Or, if you keep them in the kitchen, make sure this is in a kitchen cabinet, away from sources of heat such as the hob, oven or windowsill.’
But she added: ‘If you have small children or pets in the home, always make sure your medicines are kept in a lockable storage box somewhere out of their reach and sight.’
The RPS has also offered other tips for storing medicine at home.
This includes checking the expiry date on medicines, as they can only be guaranteed as safe and effective when within this date.
People should also talk to their pharmacist if their medicine has changed in colour, smell or texture.
Medicines should be kept in their original container alongside with the included information on how to use them and refrigerated if needed.
Members of the public should also avoid putting expired or no longer needed medications in the bin or down the sink or toilet as they can pollute the environment.
Instead, they should bring these drugs to a pharmacy where they can be disposed of safely.
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