Common bathroom 'habit' that could be destroying your medicines

Daily Record

12-07-2025

For many householders, storing medication in the bathroom is commonplace
A secure bathroom cabinet might sound like the safest place to store your medication, however according to experts keeping everyday health essentials such as painkillers or flu tablets in your bathroom could actually be doing more harm than good.
Sarah Day at Pay Less for Storage is now warning householders to think twice before storing medicine in the smallest room in the house as it could lead to complications. In fact it's one of the worst places to keep your stock.
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The heat and humidity can cause medication to become less effective.
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"However, it's actually one of the worst places to keep medication long-term. Heat and humidity from daily baths and showers creates an environment that can degrade most medications, potentially making them less effective when you need them most."
Sarah said this this is particularly true for tablets, capsules, and some liquid medicines such as cough syrup or children's medicines like Calpol.
She added: "These can be compromised by the warm temperatures and humidity present in most bathrooms, especially those that are poorly ventilated or lack windows.
"If you look at the packaging most medicines come in, whether over-the-counter or prescription, you'll see the recommended storage instructions are to keep them in a cool, dry place. In fact, some medicines even require that you store them in the fridge.
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"Unless there are specific instructions to refrigerate a medication, a much better option is to store it in a cool, dry area away from humidity, heat, and direct sunlight.
"A bedroom drawer or kitchen cupboard are good options. Obviously if you have young children then you will want to choose a spot that's high up to ensure that you are keeping medicines out of reach.'
While cleaning the bathroom is a chore most people hate doing, it's essential to keep germs and dangerous bacteria at bay.
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New research recently uncovered that the equivalent of 845,000 people have never washed their bath mat, while 9.3% wait at least two months or longer before giving it a clean.
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And this is despite a bath mat harbouring more bacteria than a toilet seat. Experts believe this dirty habit leads to an increased risk of Norovirus contamination.
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Dr. Sham Singh, health expert from Winit Clinic, said: 'The bathroom mats can act as hotbeds for pathogens such as Norovirus, particularly in homes where the hygiene practice of closing the toilet lid prior to flushing has been neglected.
"Within open-flushed toilets, the aerosols-containing bacteria and viruses can travel up to several feet away and finally settle down on other surfaces, such as bath mats.
"Such characteristics make Norovirus very contagious and its survivability on surfaces measurable in days; thus, contamination could occur when a person steps on the mat with bare feet or touches that mat and then the face or mouth."