Health: drug disposal

Self-tutoring about drugs in the environment: the tutor begins.

Years ago I heard of prescription drugs measurably present in at least one urban water supply. I was surprised, and wondered about its extent.

It turns out that the FDA would rather you don’t flush pharmaceuticals – prescription or over-the-counter – down the toilet. They prefer, instead, that you bring them to a take-back location. Drug take-back locations are found at some clinics, retail stores, hospitals, or even police stations.

The FDA realizes that some drugs left around, waiting to be returned, can constitute health risk because they could be taken by someone else. Therefore, they have developed a flush list of drugs that can be flushed down the toilet when no longer needed to prevent hazardous ingestion.

In Canada, disposing of drugs is easy: apparently, you can bring them to any pharmacy.

Source:

canada.ca

fda.gov

usgs.gov

fda.gov

fda.gov