Recently, a study was done which showed that approximately 80% of streams in the United States contain small amounts of human medicines. Sewage systems which send water to the oceans, lakes, and rivers are not able to remove the medicines which are released when flushed down the toilet.
Fish and other wild-life have shown mutations and other adverse effects due to contamination.
In addition to being an environmental and health issue, disposing of medications into the toilet can be damaging to your plumbing. Medications which do not dissolve can become a lump of thick matter which will clog the toilet. If unclogged incorrectly, the clog can get forced further down the line, and it would become necessary at that point to call a professional plumber.
If improperly unclogged, there is a risk of exposing yourself to a medicine in hazardous amounts. Further, if it does not go down, there is risk of the lump of matter coming in contact with children or pets, and this is dangerous.
Ways to Dispose Medication
In some areas of the United States, small amounts of medicine have been identified in drinking water, as well. There are ways to avoid contaminating the water supplies to animals, plants, and humans. According ToPharmacy, there are ways to dispose of medication safely.
Here are the following suggestions provided by the California State Board of Pharmacy:
1. Keep medicine in its original child-resistant container. Scratch or mark out the patient information on the label.
2. Place some water into solid medications, such as pills or capsules. Then add something nontoxic and unpalatable such as sawdust, kitty litter, charcoal, Comet« or powdered spices (like, cayenne pepper.)
3. Close and seal the container lids tightly with packing or duct tape. If discarding blister packs of unused medicines, wrap in multiple layers of duct tape.
4. Place medicine containers in durable packaging that does not show what?s inside (like, a cardboard box.)
5. (Remember to keep medicines away from children and pets.) Place in the trash close to garbage pickup time.
Other ways to properly dispose of unused medicine:
Pharmacy Take-Back Program: Ask your pharmacist if the pharmacy will accept old medicines back
from patients.
Household Hazardous Waste Collection: Find the phone number of your local HHW collection site
in the government section of your local white pages of the telephone directory. (The contact number
for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is 800-342-5DWP.)
The FDA lists this site if you wish to contact the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration?s information on National Prescription Drug-Take Back Events.
If the medication you wish to dispose of is in liquid form, please contact one of the above agencies to find out how to properly dispose of fluids.
In addition to being an environmental and health issue, disposing of medications into the toilet can be damaging to your plumbing. Medications which do not dissolve can become a lump of thick matter which will clog the toilet. If unclogged incorrectly, the clog can get forced further down the line, and it would become necessary at that point to call a professional plumber.
If improperly unclogged, there is a risk of exposing yourself to a medicine in hazardous amounts. Further, if it does not go down, there is risk of the lump of matter coming in contact with children or pets, and this is dangerous.