Many of us are acting as unwilling doctors without a license to prescribe when we dispose of our old or unused prescription or over-the-counter drugs and medications.
I had reason to clean out my pantry last week, call it an ant invasion, and I found many old drugs that I wanted to clean out. We either didn’t finish the prescription or in the case of o-t-c drugs, they had expired. Now that I am in my Earth-friendly state-of-mind, I had to set them aside and find out what to do with them. They have been sitting on the kitchen counter for about 4 days now and it is freaking me out. I don’t like to leave drugs sitting around for the kids’ sake, I don’t like the clutter and my husband actually asked about it (he usually doesn’t notice clutter). So, in a spare moment this morning, I went online and checked into “prescription drug disposal” on Google. Several articles came up, some from non-professionals, some from government agencies and some from university studies. In any case, the answer is not good…and the answer is the same as I seem to be noticing lately when it comes to living green…
There is no good answer!
How many of you flush drugs? Who told you, probably your doctor. A seemingly trustworthy source.
Never flush drugs of any sort!
Studies have shown that water treatment plants aren’t capable of removing drugs from water. So, by default, animals are being harmed, and it’s not just animals, think of invisible bacteria now being exposed to let’s see…oh…antibiotics for example. That just can’t be good.
Other options include throwing in the trash or sending to a reliable source (usually a pharmacy) for proper disposal (probably incineration – doesn’t sound that great either).
So unused prescription drugs are either:
- Ending up in the ocean
- Ending up in a dump/landfill and thus the ground water table
- Ending up in the air
I just don’t see a good answer here – Do you?
I called my local Rite-Aid and the pharmacist offered to take the drugs (he didn’t know how they were actually disposed, but he did say that they are all placed in a bin and sent to corporate for disposal). I can’t believe I’m actually suggesting this, but the other option was the trash.
Here’s what to do if you choose to throw away unused drugs:
- keep them in their original container
- take off the label (for your safety)
- place the pill container in a resealable plastic container (old margarine crock)
- throw away
We’ve all been told that old drugs lose their potency, so hopefully if you toss your drugs into the trash, by the time the 500 or so years pass for the plastic containers that are holding the drugs to actually decompose, the drugs will have lost their potency and will hopefully no longer be a threat to groundwater or the environment. Let’s HOPE!
In the meantime, if a doctor or anyone tells you to flush drugs – let them know it’s not proper anymore. Be safe with your health firstly, but try to take all of a prescription, or try to only receive what you will use – not extra. Don’t stock o-t-c’s when you’re not sick, but purchase them as you need them.
And finally, demand a better answer to the problem of prescription drug disposal. Demand this answer from drug companies, from pharmacies, from the government, from your waste collector. Don’t just sit around waiting for an answer - DEMAND IT!
