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Topic:  Pharmaceutical Collections

THE PHARMACEUTICAL PROBLEM

What is the Problem?

• A recent Associated Press study found pharmaceuticals – including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers, and sex hormones – in the drinking water of at least 41 million Americans.
• While there is still scientific debate on what this means for humans, researchers have found that pharmaceutical contamination in the environment is affecting fish and other wildlife.
• These products also may contain mercury, selenium and other heavy metals that can pollute the air, land and water.
• An excess of pharmaceuticals in our society isn’t just dangerous for the environment. This excess could also lead to addiction, overdose, drug abuse and related crimes, and accidental poisonings.

What is the Cause?

1. Over the past five years, the number of prescription drugs in the United States rose 12 percent to a record 3.7 billion, according to the AP study.
2. Non-prescription drug purchases held steady at around 3.3 billion, also according to the study.
3. Some of the pharmaceuticals enter the environment through human waste.
4. Other times, medicines enter the environment because people flush them down the drain, or because people throw them in the garbage (once in the landfill, medicines then leach out into the groundwater).
5. Some medicines are resistant to water and wastewater treatment processes. In fact, some processes make these drugs even more toxic!

What are the Possible Solutions?

• Bring your unused, unwanted or expired medications to the collections regularly held by the Marathon County Solid Waste Department.
• Medicines are then sent to a licensed incinerator for proper disposal.
• (Uncontrolled incineration does not destroy drug components and could instead create dangerous dioxins and contribute to air pollution. That is why a properly licensed facility must do this, not individual residents.)
• Ask for doctors to prescribe reasonable amounts of medicines, or make sure to purchase reasonable amounts of over-the-counter medicines.
• Make sure that only the person for whom the medicine was prescribed has access to it.
• Tell your legislators that you support oversight of this issue. Several senators have called for a hearing from the Environmental Protection Agency.
   

Subjects under Pharmaceutical Collections:

• Collection Event June 2008
• Collection Event September 2008
• Collection Event September 2009
• Year-Round Collection & Disposal Services