QUESTION: If flushing drugs down the toilet causes environmental problems, how should I dispose of unwanted medication?
ANSWER: Where available, take the medications to a hazardous waste collection site or take-back program at a medical care facility. Before taking any controlled substance to a collection event, however, check with the organizers to find out if they are authorized to accept the material.
If you can’t do that, keep the medicines in the original container. Remove the label or mark off your name and prescription number for safety. Add some water or soda to dissolve solid pills. Add something inedible like cat liter, dirt or cayenne pepper to liquids. Close the lid and secure with duct or packaging tape. Place the drug bottle inside an opaque container, like a coffee can or plastic laundry bottle. Tape that container closed. Hide the container in the trash; do not put it in the recycle bin. Don’t put it in with food that could be scavenged by humans, pets or wildlife.
EPA and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) do recommend flushing certain controlled drugs that are particularly powerful and/or addictive, including oxycodone, morphine, fentanyl patches and gatifloxacin. Be sure to read the disposal information provided with the drug for guidance, or check out FDA’s Web site.
(Common Questions and Answers are developed from AWWA’s Plain Talk about Drinking Water, Fifth Edition)