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What to do with your old pharmaceuticals

By Lori Bongiorno

Posted Thu Nov 6, 2008 3:35pm PST

More from The Conscious Consumer blog

Don't let the fact that there isn't a universal way to easily dispose of old pharmaceuticals stop you from cleaning out your medicine cabinet. If you're willing to do a little bit of homework, you can learn how to responsibly get rid of expired or unwanted pills, capsules, and other prescription drugs.

One golden rule: Don't flush them down the toilet or pour them down the drain. While flushing is an effective way to keep prescription drugs out of the wrong hands, studies show that tiny amounts of pharmaceuticals are making their way into our streams, rivers, and lakes.

Scientists are studying how their presence impacts aquatic species (especially fish and frogs), whether it's contributing to the rise in antibiotic resistant bacteria, and if there are any health implications for humans (so far there is no evidence of adverse health effects).

For now, you can make a difference by properly disposing of your unneeded medicines. Here is some general information (adopted from several sources) to get you started. You might also want to check with your state's local environmental website for specific guidelines because rules vary depending on where you live and what kinds of meds you're trying to unload. For example, there are strict regulations for disposing of controlled substances.

Your best bet is to bring old pharmaceuticals to a take-back program if you can. How to find one? Ask your pharmacy if it will accept unused medicine for proper disposal. Costco members can bring unwanted medications to one of its pharmacies. Check with your local government to see if it's hosting an event to collect old prescription drugs. Search Earth 911's database for programs in your neighborhood.

Call your local household hazardous waste collection program to see if you can drop off unused pharmaceuticals. Find it on Earth 911's website.

If the above options don't work, then you'll have to throw old medicines in the trash. Be sure to remove all personal info before chucking bottles to avoid identity theft. Experts suggest making medicines unusable before trashing so they don't end up in the wrong hands. Some ideas? Crush pills or dissolve capsules in water. Mix in with kitty litter, coffee grounds, or other unappealing kitchen waste. Add salt, ashes from your fireplace, dirt, charcoal, or spices to liquids. Use duct tape on any containers and place in a sealed bag before tossing in the trash so your kids or pets won't get accidentally poisoned.

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Showing 1 - 13 of 13 comments

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Posted by MRK Mon Nov 10, 2008 3:28am PST
Visit www.dontflushdrugs.com for some more information -- very useful site from Washtenaw County, Michigan.
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Posted by choles Mon Nov 10, 2008 4:15am PST
interesting site, very beneficial to all.....from choles of iligan city, philippines
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Posted by choles Mon Nov 10, 2008 4:19am PST
very interesting site, beneficial to all. thanks god its here! choles of iligan city, philippines
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Posted by IanA Mon Nov 10, 2008 4:31am PST
if its a controlled substance I suggest mailing it to my house. Believe me, I can dispose of that stuff properly
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Posted by flubadub Mon Nov 10, 2008 1:22pm PST
If you're lazy, concentrate specifically on keeping antibiotics out of the environment. Also, one should minimize the use of anti-bacterial products in general except where truly necessary. Bacteria can evolve that are resistant to our anti-bacterial agents, and the more of them we distribute around the world, the better we make the odds that they'll adapt around them. But there shouldn't be any leftovers for responsibly-prescribed antibiotics, anyway. The dosage and duration of treatment is designed to catch the young and the mature bacteria at a particular point in their reproductive cycle, and the number of days in the prescription is roughly one complete life-cycle of the bacteria, plus some safety margin. And this is why it's important to take them religiously, and on time, so that you're not letting one age-group get through that point in their life-cycle with your bloodstream-levels of anti-biotic too low to be effective. At any rate, except in peculiar circumstances (as when the doctor changes the treatment in mid-regimen), you should never have any antibiotics left over to have to dispose of. (If you need additional motivation to use antibiotics responsibly, think of flesh-eating bacteria, which is quite drug-resistant. That's the kind of thing you're contributing to if you're not careful with antibiotics.)
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Posted by green4u.earth Thu Nov 13, 2008 1:50pm PST
Throwing drugs down the sink or anywhere it must be processed is not a good idea. These sustances make processing the waste even more difficult. Which in turn we all pay for in higher taxes and sewage rate increases. Those products should be natural from the beginning. Here is another site: www.shoptoearth.net/DealsNow.
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Posted by pablo_asawa Sun Nov 16, 2008 6:51pm PST
Yes I agree but every TV shows people dumping drugs down the toilet..so I guess this gives people the idea that this is what to do..Send all pain pills to me and sleep meds too
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Posted by RACHELW Sun Nov 16, 2008 7:26pm PST
very funny pablo.........whats your address. ill send you some pills.
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Posted by Ozni Sun Nov 16, 2008 9:04pm PST
Well I guess the fishies are going to be doped up on my Seroquel
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Posted by r_brown2007 Tue Nov 18, 2008 6:59am PST
Very Interesting, I would have never known.
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Posted by lea Thu May 14, 2009 1:57am PDT
easy enough to responsibly get rid of unused or unwanted meds by not putting them down the toilet, thus going into our drinking water. but my question is, what about when we urinate in the toilet. the meds are still being excreted through our body's waste. not such an easy answer.
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Posted by Taylor Sat May 16, 2009 9:52am PDT
Just imagine if a sperm whale overdosed on all the extra viagra flushed into the ocean
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Posted by K B Wed May 27, 2009 6:38am PDT
give them to the local humane society
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