Prescription for a Healthy Planet: Safe Medication Disposal
Medicines play an important role in treating certain conditions and diseases, but they should be taken with care---and disposed of with care. Unused portions of these medicines must be disposed of properly to avoid harm to wildlife, pets, and people. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the American Pharmacists Association, and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America have created the SMARXT DISPOSAL campaign to educate consumers about how to dispose of medicines in a safe and environmentally protective manner.
Resolving to clean out your medicine cabinet this year is a good idea. Hanging onto unused medications can increase the chances of taking the wrong one, of medications ending up in the hands of others that they were not intended for, and old drugs can lose their potency, reports the Harvard Heart Letter. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high—more Americans currently abuse prescription drugs than the number of those using cocaine, hallucinogens, and heroin combined, according to the 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Studies show that teens who abuse prescription drugs often obtain them from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, many Americans do not know how to properly dispose of their unused medicine, often flushing them down the toilet or throwing them away – both potential safety and health hazards.
But have you ever thought about where the medicine will end up? Scientists are finding everything from aspirin to Zoloft in our streams, rivers, and lakes. The traditional advice over the years has been to flush unused drugs down the toilet or put them in the trash. Neither is a good method, says the Harvard Heart Letter. The medications we take can end up in our water supply in one of two ways. We secrete it in our urine (which we can’t control), but many of us also still flush unused medication down the toilet, contributing to the rising amount of pharmaceutical pollution found in our water supply. In 2008, the Associated Press found that dozens of pharmaceuticals end up in our water supplies, and eventually, in our tap water. That’s because water treatment plants are designed to neutralize biological hazards, such as bacteria, but not pollutants such as antibiotics.
Scientists are now discovering bacteria in the wild that are not only resistant to antibiotics, but can actually live off them. Drugs can also kill helpful bacteria in septic systems and pass largely untouched through sewage treatment plants. Children and animals can get into drugs tossed in the trash, and, once in landfills, there is always the danger that drugs can trickle into groundwater.
Regulations prohibit medication recycling. However, there are a few innovative drug disposal programs, in which citizens can drop off medications along with household hazardous waste, mail unused drugs to their state’s Drug Enforcement Agency, or donate drugs to the needy. Locally, the Hinesville Police Department has a drop-off container in their office where prescription drugs that are not liquid may be dropped off 24 hours a day.
What can you do to ensure safe drug disposal? The Harvard Heart Letter offers these suggestions:
DO NOT FLUSH unused medications and DO NOT POUR them down a sink or drain.
Use a local drop off collection like the one at the Hinesville Police Department or ask your pharmacist if he or she can take back medications.
Pour medication into a sealable plastic bag. If medication is a solid (pill, liquid capsule, etc.), add water to dissolve it.
Add kitty litter, sawdust, coffee grounds (or any material that mixes with the medication and makes it less appealing for pets and children to eat) to the plastic bag.
Seal the plastic bag and put it in the trash.
Remove and destroy ALL identifying personal information (prescription label) from all medication containers before ‘recycling’ them in a take back program or throwing them away.
Always follow your medication prescriber’s instructions and use all medications as instructed. If you do not use all of your prescribed or over-the-counter medication, you can take a few small steps to make a huge impact in safeguarding lives and protecting the environment by disposing of unused medicines properly. Now that is a good prescription for a healthy planet and healthy waters.
To dispose of medications locally, use the 24 hour container at the City of Hinesville Police Department.