Safety When Taking a Known Hazard Medicine

Care instructions

Known hazard medicines

Known hazard medicines, such as chemotherapy medicines, are mainly used to treat cancer. They’re sometimes used to treat other health problems, like psoriasis or rheumatoid arthritis.

You need to follow safety measures when you’re taking these medicines. That’s because contact with the medicine or your body fluids can harm other people or pets.

These medicines stay in your body for many days. These days are called the precautionary period, which:

• starts when you take your first dose of the known hazard medicine
• ends 48 hours after you take your last dose of the known hazard medicine

Some medicines have a longer precautionary period. If you aren’t sure how long the precautionary period is for the medicine you’re taking, ask your healthcare provider.

During the precautionary period, the medicine is in your body fluids and waste, such as urine (pee), stool (poop), blood, vomit (throw-up), saliva (spit), sweat, vaginal fluids, and semen.

You may get some safety supplies from the pharmacy or clinic where you get your medicine. You can also buy safety supplies from a medical supply company.

General safety

• For their safety, tell every healthcare provider who has contact with you that you’re taking a known hazard medicine. Keep an updated list of medicine you’re taking.
• Always store known hazard medicine in its original packaging or in a separate pill box, dosette, or blister pack.
• Keep your known hazard medicine in a safe place away from:
  • children and pets
  • your other medicines or the medicines of other people in your home
  • food and drink and places where you eat
• Check the label on the medicine container and talk to your pharmacist to learn more about storing your medicine safely.

Having sex, getting pregnant, or breastfeeding

• While you’re taking this medicine, it’s safe to be with your loved ones. You can eat together, enjoy activities together, touch, hug, and kiss.
• Talk to your healthcare provider about taking a known hazard medicine and having sex, getting pregnant, or breastfeeding.

Taking the medicine

• Always wash your hands with soap and water before and after taking a known hazard medicine.
• Caregivers should never touch the known hazard medicine with their bare hands. They should always wear gloves, and wash their hands before putting on and after removing the gloves.
• If your medicine is damaged—for example, a broken pill (or powder found in the medicine container), leaking liquid, or a cloudy injection—talk to your pharmacist before taking it.
• Talk to your healthcare provider about how to take your known hazard medicine safely in any form, such as a pill, liquid, injection, or cream.

Throwing out medicine, used supplies, and garbage

• Don’t put any known hazard medicine in the garbage or a sharps container, and don’t flush it down a toilet. If you have extra medicine, ask your pharmacy if you can return it.
• Don’t put any sharps (like glass vials, syringes, and needles) in the same container as unused, partly used, or expired medicine.
• Talk to your pharmacist about how to throw away a known hazard medicine safely.

Body fluids and waste

• Always wash your hands with soap and water before and after going to the bathroom or handling any other body fluids.
• Caregivers should never touch your body fluids and waste with their bare hands. They should always wear gloves and wash their hands before putting on and after removing the gloves.
• If possible, use a different bathroom than other people in your home.
• If you have to share a bathroom, use soap and water or a disinfecting wipe to clean the toilet seat, rim, lid, and handle when you’re done.
• Sit on the toilet when you pee, so you don’t splash outside the toilet bowl. When you’re done, close the toilet lid and flush 2 times.
• Talk to your healthcare provider about taking a known hazard medicine and handling body fluids and waste safely (including using bedpans, diapers, and pads).

Doing laundry

Clothes or bedding that have been in contact with your known hazard medicine or your blood or body fluids need to be washed separately from other laundry. Talk to your healthcare provider about taking a known hazard medicines and doing laundry safely.

Contact with eyes or skin

If the medicine or body fluids has contact with a person’s eyes, skin, or clothes (including bedding), take care of the person first, and then clean up the spill.

Contact with eyes

To flush eyes that had contact with the medicine or body fluids:

1. Wash hands with soap and water. Caregivers must also put on gloves.
2. If wearing contact lenses, take them out and throw them away.
3. Flush eyes with warm, fresh running water for 15 minutes while keeping eyes open.
4. Wash hands with soap and water.

Call Health Link at 811 or get medical help right away.

Contact with skin, clothing, or bedding

To clean skin that had contact with the medicine or body fluids:

1. Wash hands with soap and water. Caregivers must also put on gloves.
2. Take off the clothing or remove bedding that had contact with the medicine or body fluids.
3. Use soap and water to wash skin for 15 minutes. Do this in the shower if needed.
4. Pat the skin dry.
5. Wash hands with soap and water.

If the skin gets irritated or a rash starts, call your clinic, family doctor, or Health Link at 811.

Cleaning up spills

A spill could be:

• a spilled liquid medicine
• powder from a cut tablet or a broken capsule
• spilled body fluids or waste

Talk to your healthcare provider about a spill kit, which includes all the supplies you need to clean up a spill.

Follow the instructions from your healthcare provider about taking a known hazard medicine and cleaning up spills safely.

Learn more

To learn more about safety and known hazard medicines, go to https://myhealth.alberta.ca/Alberta/Pages/What-are-known-hazard-medicines.aspx.

To see this information online and learn more, visit MyHealth.Alberta.ca/health/pages/conditions.aspx?Hwid=custom.ab_hazard_medicines_safety_inst.

For 24/7 nurse advice and general health information call Health Link at 811.

Current as of: March 31, 2022

Author: Provincial Hazardous Medication Committee, Alberta Health Services

This material is not a substitute for the advice of a qualified health professional. This material is intended for general information only and is provided on an "as is", "where is" basis. Although reasonable efforts were made to confirm the accuracy of the information, Alberta Health Services does not make any representation or warranty, express, implied or statutory, as to the accuracy, reliability, completeness, applicability or fitness for a particular purpose of such information. Alberta Health Services expressly disclaims all liability for the use of these materials, and for any claims, actions, demands or suits arising from such use.