Drug Disposal Questions and Answers

Everything You Need to Know on Drug Disposal

1.

What's the concern about pharmaceuticals and the environment?

Researchers suspect that hormones and pharmaceutical compounds in the water may be responsible
for effects on wildlife including feminization of male fish, sluggish activity and reduced appetite. Short
and long term human health effects are currently unknown.

2.

Why are pharmaceuticals considered dangerous waste?

If disposed of in solid waste landfills or into water sourced that feed into the sewer system, the
pharmaceuticals will eventually make it to wastewater treatment plants that offer primary, secondary
or tertiary treatment levels. Regardless of the level of treatment, most conventional wastewater
treatment cannot effectively eliminate pharmaceutical compounds. The lack in ability to filter out the
pharmaceuticals places the general population at higher risk for unintended exposure.

3.

What are the possible health concerns that arise from the disposal of drugs in the environment?
Hormone disruption, antibiotic resistance and synergistic effects. The effects of constant, low-level
exposure of various pharmaceuticals on humans are uncertain, and more research is needed. Possible
health concerns include hormone disruption, antibiotic resistance, and synergistic effects.

4.

How do pharmaceuticals enter the environment?

Residential, commercial, and agricultural pharmaceuticals follow two primary pathways to the
environment
i.
Excretion: Human and livestock excretion of drugs and metabolites following
consumption, which ultimately follows sewage, septic or surface runoff pathways to
wastewater or bio-solids; OR
ii.
Direct Disposal: Disposal of unused pharmaceuticals in the septic tank, sewer or landfill.

5.

How do pharmaceuticals enter waste water?

Pharmaceuticals enter wastewater from a variety of sources, including the flushing of unused
medications and improper disposal methods used in the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals.

6.

What are the eight methods of drug disposal?

Take back programs (eventually to be incinerated)
Household trash
Flushing
Return to manufacturer
Landfills
Waste immobilization: encapsulation, inertization
Burning
Chemical decomposition

7.

What is one common disposal method that is no longer recommended and why is it no longer
recommended?
Flushing unwanted or unused medication is still a common disposal practice, despite the fact that
sewage treatment plants, septic systems, and drinking water infrastructure were never designed to
remove these contaminants.

8.

What is the best method for destruction of pharmaceuticals? Why?

Incineration. This method of destruction ensures that pharmaceutical waste will not enter the water
systems and deters drug diversion.

9.

What kind of drugs are still recommended to be flushed?

Although flushing is not recommended any longer for most medications, the US Food and Drug
Administration suggests that painkillers and tranquilizers are the only group of drugs that are advised
to be flushed instead of disposed through household trash or being kept at medicine cabinet (due to
high rates of misuse).

10.

What is a take back program?

Take back programs are events organized by governments to take back unused, expired or unwanted
medications for free in order to provide a safe way for disposal. People are advised to deliver all of their
unused medications to help standardize drug disposal and reduce prescription medication misuse.

11.

What are the disadvantages of take back programs/incineration?

Drugs collected by take-back programs are incinerated, which means none of the medicines themselves
enter the environment. But the programs produce a greater amount of greenhouse emission and other
pollutants than either flushing or trashing. The larger impact on emissions is due in large measure to
travel -- people have to travel to a drop-off point and the collected drugs are shipped to an offsite
location for incineration.

12.

How do I dispose of medications in the trash to protect the environment and my identity?
Step 1: Make certain that the label with your name and other information is removed or scratched from
the bottle.
Step 2: Take the medication and mix it with something that makes it less likely to be stolen and reused
(for example, coffee grounds or kitty litter).
Step 3: Put the mixture in a sealed bag before throwing into the garbage to minimize leakage
OR
Step 1: Pour medication into a sealable plastic bag. If medication is a solid (pill, liquid capsule, etc.), add
little amounts of water to dissolve it. Do not grind or crush the tablets and capsules.
Step 2: Add kitty litter, sawdust, coffee grounds (or any material that mixes with the medication and
makes it less appealing for pets and children to eat) to the plastic bag.
Step 3: Seal the plastic bag and put it in the trash.
Step 4: Remove and destroy all identifying personal information (prescription labels) from all
medication containers before recycling them or throwing them away.