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Highlands Today

Flushing Old Medication Harmful To Health

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By HANK KOWALSKI Guest Column

The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 1, 2009

You may be being poisoned by your own drinking water, whether that water comes from a municipal source or your own private well. This shocking revelation came to me quite by chance and began when I asked the Highlands County Administrator Michael Wright if old, discontinued left-over prescription drugs could be brought to the Household Hazardous Waste and Electronics Waste Collection March 7.

Wright said that question was never posed to him before and that he "would get back to me." He never did. However, Michelle Drake, secretary to Wright, was nice to e-mail me a note from Ken Wheeler, director of solid waste, who had responded to my inquiry via Drake. The note reads "We cannot legally accept prescription drugs because they are regulated differently than household hazardous waste (HHW.) Officials no longer recommend flushing meds in the toilet because some residuals are to be found in fish downstream from discharge points at waste water treatment plants." Keep in mind the statement regarding "treatment plant" and not flushing drugs down the toilet.

We happen to have a very knowledgeable young lady who comes to our home to perform physical therapy exercises for my wife, Ruth. I posed the question regarding the proper way to dispose of unused, out of date, etc., prescription drugs and she volunteered the information that Hospice facilities will flush into the toilet all medications belonging to a client upon that person's death. This is done immediately.

Three hospice facilities were randomly selected and called by myself; two admitted that they do discard prescription drugs "down the toilet" and the other company would make no statement at all. Also, the two who admitted to the "toilet" solution, said they did so whether the home was being serviced by a public sewer system, or by a septic tank system.

Our own Highlands County Health Department was contacted and thank goodness, they had the right answers! The "right answers" came as a separate e-mail from Drake and it was from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, titled "Homeowners Guide to Disposal of Unwanted Medication." Right under that title it states, "Don't flush that leftover medicine!" It can cause contamination to Florida's aquatic environment because wastewater treatment systems are not designed to remove many of these medications. It continues:

1. Keep in the original container. This will help identify the contents if they are accidentally ingested.

2. Mark out your name and prescription number for safety.

3. For pills; add some water or soda to start dissolving them: For liquids; add something inedible like cat litter or dirt.

4. Close the lid and secure with duct tape of packing tape.

5. Place the bottle (s) inside an opaque (non see through) container.

6. Tape that container closed.

7. Hide the container in the trash. Do not put it in the recycle bin.

Do not give drugs to someone else; do not flush drugs down the toilet; do not put drugs in the trash without disguising them, human or animal scavengers may find them and misuse them.

That's it! That is what my "investigation" came up with. What to do now? Perhaps there should be a law enacted prohibiting the disposal of drugs by flushing them down the toilet-municipal or septic. Presently the recommendations as listed above do not have the clout of law behind them. Here in Highlands County this threat to our ground water should not be taken lightly. Our "ball-bearing" sand is a blessing as it allows rain water to enter the aquifer quickly; however, it also allows contaminants to enter easily too!

It would be wise for our county commissioners to address this ongoing threat to our environment and perhaps the Highlands Soil and Water Conservation District should take this problem on as a project and include the Natural Resources Advisory Commission to assist.

Hank Kowalski lives in Lake Placid.

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