Codeine (CAS 76-57-3): storage and disposal

Brown glass linctus bottles and blister packed or loose phosphate tablets are what a pharmacy tends to find, whereas a university may hold a small bottle of pure base or a reference standard in a locked research store. The schedule follows the strength, so a bottle of pure material is held and recorded differently from a pack of low strength medicine. If you are unsure which rule fits your stock, keep it in the locked controlled drugs arrangement and ask your responsible pharmacist or research controlled drugs lead. Keep your records up to date. Expired packs should be marked and separated from current stock, as linctus and tablets are both easy to reach for by mistake.

Sticky linctus bottles are usually the first thing you see: a cap glued down by dried syrup, sugary crystals at the neck and runs down the label. Those are the signs of use and age, and they do not tell you anything about strength. Tablets give few visual signs, so blister damage, chipping or loose unlabelled tablets are the things to note. Pure codeine is normally colourless crystals or a white crystalline powder, and it can be affected by light, so any colour change is worth recording. Faded handwritten labels on old university reference stock often leave the salt unclear, and that needs saying. Expiry dates on medicines remain the useful guide, and a clouded linctus should be withdrawn.

This does not go through our standard collection route. It is arranged by manual enquiry, and never goes down the drain or into general waste.

No general chemical collection takes it, and codeine is not quoted online, so the first step is a manual enquiry when you need outside help, with a store assessment possibly following. The responsible pharmacist or accountable officer decides on healthcare stock, and a university should go through its own controlled drugs lead. Destruction may need an authorised witness, depending on the circumstances, and the schedule of what you hold matters here. List each form separately: pure material, strength of tablets and linctus, and the number and size of bottles. Say if a bottle has lost its label. Do not tip linctus into a sink or drain, and do not move stock from its locked place before advice.

Usually held as: phosphate tablets, linctus.

Part-used bottles and full containers are both fine. Tell us the size and how many, and an estimate is enough for a first price.