What can we do about improper pharmaceutical disposal? 

The best way to keep pharmaceutical and harmful personal care products from entering our rivers and streams is to prevent them from getting into the water. How can we do this?

Permanent collection and take-back programs are the best way to keep contaminants out of our rivers and streams. Places that have been used for permanent collections include hazardous waste facilities, pharmacies, county health departments, and police stations. The advantage of permanent collection facilities is that they: 1) offer a continuous, known place for people to return their unused and unwanted pharmaceuticals; 2) offer a secure site for storage; and 3) guarantee that pharmaceuticals returned will be destroyed.

One-day collection events are held in a variety of places with different groups acting as sponsors. These may be general hazardous waste collections which include pharmaceuticals or eventsthat are specifically collecting unused, unwanted medications. Like permanent collection facilities, one-day events offer a secured location for collection, with the items collected being destroyed. However, they may not be held on a day or at a time that is convenient.

In Illinois, permanent facilities and collection days are not available in most parts of the state. As awareness of this problem is growing, and public demand increases for these services, additional programs will be started. However, adequately addressing the problem of improper pharmaceutical disposal requires a comprehensive statewide program that ensures accessibility, security, and safe, permanent destruction of collected contaminants.

What can I do today to protect rivers and streams from pharmaceutical contamination?

Other states have adopted comprehensive take-back and/or collection programs that provide all residents with the opportunity to safely dispose of unwanted and unused medications (for a summary of those programs click here). During the 2007-2008 Illinois legislative session, the House unanimously passed a bill to establish a cancer drug repository program; the bill was close to passage in the senate, but was stalled in the Rules Committee before the final reading and vote. Until Illinois has a comprehensive statewide program for pharmaceutical collections, individuals will have to rely on what facilities or programs are in their area (for a listing of permanent collection facilities and other collection events available in Illinois click here).

If there are no collection sites available to you, there are steps you can take to properly dispose of your unused, expired, or unwanted medications:

• Do not flush pharmaceuticals down the toilet or sink
• Put the medication into a leak-proof bag; add a small amount of water to a solid drug or some absorbent material such as kitty litter or coffee grounds to liquid drugs to make them unpalatable to animals and humans
• Place the medication in a second bag and seal it securely before throwing in the trash.
• Remove the labels from the original medication container or mark out any personal and content information on the label

Prevention is always the best strategy for reducing contamination, so consider how you can also reduce the amount of pharmaceuticals and personal care products that eventually enter the waste stream:

• only purchase what you need
• put all your pharmaceuticals in one location so you know what and how much you have
• don’t take samples unless you are going to use them
• support organic methods in livestock and dairy product production

For more information about Pharmaceuticals in Our Waterways, please contact Cecily Smith at csmith@prairierivers.org.

Visit a compilation of websites, research studies, and news articles on pharmaceuticals in the enviroment at our Pharmaceuticals Resource Library.