Oregon Public Broadcasting

Recent reports told of small amounts of medicines and drugs turning up in river water or drinking water.  So the drug industry and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are updating their advice on what to do with unused medicines. Correspondent Tom Banse reports.

The old advice for how to dispose of leftover medicines was to flush them away.  The new advice, “crush, don’t flush.”

In other words, throw unneeded pills in the trash mixed with coffee grounds or kitty litter to throw off dumpster divers.

Fish and Wildlife contaminants specialist Don Steffeck says drugs in the trash are less likely to dissolve into our common waters.

Don Steffeck: “Pharmaceuticals are really a new type of contaminant concern that people haven’t been aware of in the past. It’s been the case, where we look, we tend to find them.”

Places researchers have looked include the lower Columbia River, where they found pain killers.  They found hormone replacement therapies in Puget Sound and antibiotics in the Willamette River.

Government agencies in Oregon and Washington say medicine take-back programs are probably the best overall option for old medicines.

Online:

SMARxT disposal partnership

Washington State Medicine Take-Back Pilot Program