Unused medications and expired drugs tend to pill up in our medicine cabinets. How do we dispose of them? Ever thought of flushing them down the toilet, pouring them down the sink or simply throwing them into the trash? Please don’t!
Why? Simply because these are hazardous materials which if improperly disposed of, might lead to several undesirable outcomes such as increased drug abuse by individuals who might go through your thrash seeking these medications; danger to children who might accidentally ingest these dangerous chemicals; in the ground, they tend to seep into the soil causing damage to plants and natural minerals; will end up in rivers and lakes where they maybe harmful to fish and other wildlife that inhabit these environments; and eventually wind up in our drinking water supply as indicated in a 2008 report published by USA Today.
In an effort to educate the public and raise awareness on the effects of improperly disposing medications, in 2007 the Food and Drug Administration worked with the White house to establish guidelines on ‘Proper Disposal of Drugs‘ which are as follows:
1. Do not flush prescription drugs down the toilet or drain unless the label or accompanying patient information specifically instructs you to do so.
2. To dispose of prescription drugs not labeled to be flushed, you may be able to take advantage of community drug take‐back programs or other programs, such as household hazardous waste collection events, that collect drugs at a central location for proper disposal. Call your city or county government’s household trash and recycling service and ask if a drug take‐back program is available in your community.
3. If a drug take‐back or collection program is not available:
- i. Take your prescription drugs out of their original containers.
- ii. Mix drugs with an undesirable substance, such as cat litter or used coffee grounds.
- iii. Put the mixture into a disposable container with a lid, such as an empty margarine tub, or into a sealable bag.
- iv. Conceal or remove any personal information, including Rx number, on the empty containers by covering it with black permanent marker or duct tape, or by scratching it off.
- v. Place the sealed container with the mixture, and the empty drug containers, in the trash.
Let’s be kind to our environment and to ourselves. Join Dunia in raising awareness by sharing this article.
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