Sunday, October 25, 2015

What to do with unused medication

People are worried after yesterday's post that I am going to flush my unused Exjade down the toilet.

I didn't really mean it. I meant it more symbolically, if that makes sense. Like, "I'm gonna wash that man right out of my hair."

Don't worry, they are still on my dining room table.

I am going to take them to the pharmacist.

A concerned friend sent this to me:

• A recent study shows that 80 percent of US streams contain small amounts of human medicines
• Sewage systems cannot remove these medicines from water that is released into lakes, rivers or oceans.
• Fish and other aquatic animals have shown adverse effects from medicines in the water.
• And, even very small amounts of medicine have been found in drinking water.

If anyone is wondering about this, the DEA has a whole fact sheet on it.

1 comment:

kwpio said...

Ronni~~ You can just dispose of all unwanted medication 24/7 in the lobby of the South Hadley Police Station. Establishing a permanent secure med drop-box was one of the initiatives of the South Hadley Drug & Alcohol Prevention Coalition. Please use it and spread the word. Ours was the second to be established in the country! We set it up in 2009. Sharon Hart our Board of Health Director took on this project, and did a great job with it.
Karen Walsh Pio