Why are pharmaceuticals something difficult to take back?

I can't tell you how many times I have been asked by people who learn about what I do, "What can I do with the old medicines in my house?" I wish I had an easy answer. The other one I keep hearing is "My grandfather died last year and I have a garbage bag full of old medications; what should I do with them?"

Medicines are difficult to get rid of -- both for those of us trying to get them out of our houses and for the folks who need to destroy them.

The first hurdle is finding a way to get rid of them. The pharmacy or household hazardous waste collections could take back some drugs, but not all of them. It may even be safe to remove your ID from the labels and double bag them, mix them with something yucky like coffee grounds or kitty litter and put them in the trash (although the research is still out on whether this is better for the environment or not).

But the big problem is there are regulations against handing over "controlled" medicines (things like Vicodin, OxyContin, Robitussin with codeine and many, many more), even to a pharmacist. And there is a long list of medicines that are controlled. There is no simple way to tell whether what you have is controlled.

So for now, the best option is to take unwanted medicines to a collection event where police officers are present to take possession and properly destroy them, preferably in an incinerator with emissions controls (feel free to ask the organizers how they will be destroyed!).

For many people there are no collection events and so they are stuck with the second best option of disposal in the trash. Next time, when you're at the drug store buying that extra-large bottle of something because it's on sale, think about whether you will really take them all before they expire (usually in a year). The fish and the birds and the frogs don't have a choice about where they live and it just isn't right for us to be adding chemicals to their environment.

Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products as Pollutants

Disposal of Unwanted Medicines

Earth 911 articles about unwanted medications 

Susan Boehme works for IL-IN Sea Grant in the EPA Great Lakes National Program Office. Her passion is working on all aspects of pollution, from cleaning up contaminated sediments in streams and rivers to preventing pollution in the first place by working on prevention of medicines getting into our waters, prevention of toxics getting into our air through backyard burning, and prevention of toxics getting into our waterways from the improper disposal of old electronics.

Comments

[Beth]

Great article Susan! It is also important for people to know that they can take their pet medicines to collection events too!