| dc.description.abstract | Medicines are made for the purpose of fighting against specific diseases they are designed for. Each medicine is made from ingredients which are divided into two categories. These categories are active ingredients and excipients.
The active ingredient is the important part of the medicine as it is the one responsible for the healing action of the medicine while the excipients are responsible for properties such as binding the ingredients together and also giving color. Active ingredients are the important part of the medicine and they cost more as compared to the excipients.
Paracetamol in particular is one of the major active ingredients used in drugs all over the world and it ranked one of the top three drugs to be prescribed in England in 2000 [1].
Kamadol is a brand of a pain killer that is produced KPI with the main ingredient being paracetamol 500mg. the different brands of paracetamol containing drugs include cetamol tablets manufactured by Regal pharmaceuticals, Panadol extra and Panadol advance manufactured by gsk phamra, renedol by rene industries limited and many others. In all these brands, they contain 500mg of paracetamol which is suitable for a human body.
Paracetamol was developed in 1893 by Joseph Von Merings [2]. After the development of many various drugs which had many various side effects. Two assistants at the University of Strasberg discovered acetanilide as a medicine that relives fevers. The young assistants quickly published the discovery of this new antipyretic (fever reducing drug). It was soon in production and remained in use for several years because it was so cheap to produce. However, it had a serious side effect involving the deactivation of some of the hemoglobin in red blood cells [2].
A chemist at Bayer’s dye worked to develop some derivatives which were antipyretic and N-(4-ethoxyphenyl) Ethan amide which were less toxic than acetanilide. But in the long run, these medicines were found to cause kidney damage to users.
Paracetamol is a widely used drug used in various medications with most of them being pain killers. Paracetamol is also called acetaminophen and it can be administered in various forms such as tablets, capsules, suppositories, soluble powders and liquids. Some of the drugs include Tylenol, exedrin, calpol and Panadol. Just like any other drug, it affects all people differently based on the following conditions;
The weight and size of the person
The amount of the paracetamol taken
The additional drugs that have been taken with the paracetamol.
Paracetamol is crystalline in nature, white and has a melting point of about 1690c to 1710c [2]. It has a higher solubility in hot water of 5g/100cm3 than in cold water [2]. The solubility of paracetamol is low in non-polar and chlorinated hydrocarbons like toluene. It is most soluble in alcohols such as ethanol where the solubility is 15g/100cm3 but its solubility decreases with an increase in the length of the carbon chain [3].
These Paracetamol containing tablets can be taken to waste treatment plants in order to be treated so that the resultant product is safe for the environment. Some of the treatment processes of paracetamol containing wastes can be chlorination but this process results in the formation of highly toxic contaminants which are dangerous. [4] | en_US |
