Flushing an old drug down the toilet used to be the recommended option for disposing of old or leftover drugs. No more. Press reports about drugs in the water supply has raised serious issues about pharmaceuticals in our water.
Here in eastern Iowa, professionals share public worries about the same issue: the growing number of pharmaceuticals causing a safety threat at home, and the resulting environmental impact these chemicals, hormones, and other compounds could be having in the Mississippi River and our drinking water.
More medications pose greater safety threats. Susan Alden, a certified nurse practitioner with the Mississippi
Valley Pain Clinic, can tell you all about the higher numbers of medications in our daily life.
“I have seen patients who take as many as 20 different medications a day,” Susan explains. “I counsel my patients (many recovering from surgeries who require pain medications) to be aware of the dangers these drugs cause to unwary children, pets or wildlife if improperly thrown in the garbage or flushed down the toilet.”
Drugs can contaminate the environment
Not only are the drugs posing a threat to people, but also to the environment.
For Quad Citians, proud to call the Mississippi River home, there is an increasing urgency to become stewards of protecting our local waterways.
Dana W. Kolpin, an Iowa City-based research hydrologist with the United States Geological Survey, conducted the first national study published in 2002 on the effects of pharmaceuticals and water quality. After sampling 139 streams in 30 states including Iowa and Illinois, scientists found steroids, nonprescription drugs and insect repellent to be the most commonly detected chemical groups in susceptible streams.
“We are finding these compounds everywhere: our soils, our water, streams and rivers. There is a growing body of evidence that some of these compounds can affect wildlife,” says Dana. “Although our 2002 study generally found prescription drugs in low levels, we are truly in the first steps of understanding how all of this can affect human health and our drinking water. Our waste treatment plants and drinking water treatment facilities were not designed to remove these contaminants.”
Quad City Operation Medicine Cabinet
Both Iowa and Illinois Quad City residents are encouraged to dispose of prescription and non-prescription drugs through the Waste Commission of Scott County’s Household Hazardous Waste Program. Just bring in any medications, needle sharps, or over-the-counter medications to the Household Hazardous Material Permanent Facility, located at the Scott Area Landfill (7:30 am – 4 pm, M-F) or to the Scott Area Recycling Center located at 5640 Carey Ave., Davenport (7:30 am – 4 pm, M-F).
If you’re planning on returning other types of hazardous material (like paints or pesticides), an appointment is required. Call 563-381-1300 or visit the Waste Commission website for more information.
Each fall the Waste Commission of Scott County also holds its annual Operation Medicine Cabinet event for residents who want to dispose of household hazardous or pharmaceutical waste properly. The 2010 event will be held in Eldridge on September 23rd from 9 am to 1pm. The event will be held in Bettendorf on September 24th and in Davenport on September 25th.
In Iowa, there is a new statewide program for pharmaceutical disposal. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources provided grant money to the Iowa Board of Pharmacy to create the Takeaway program with the Iowa Pharmacy Association. Local Hy-Vee pharmacies participate in the program along with a few others. You can find a participating pharmacy near you by clicking here.
More information on how to properly dispose of medications and other medical products that might have an adverse impact on the ecosystem can be found by visiting the Wate Commission of Scott County’s website.
