Water, or Please don't Flush your Meds!
Some scary articles:
1) Tainted drinking water kept under wraps:
"When water providers find pharmaceuticals in drinking water, they rarely tell the public. When researchers make the same discoveries, they usually don’t identify the cities involved."
2) How meds in water could impact human cells:
"Our research shows mixtures are so prevalent,” said Dana Kolpin, a U.S. Geological Survey water expert who launched a plethora of research in 2002 after finding pharmaceuticals in most samples taken from 139 streams in 30 states. “If there are any cumulative or additive issues, you can’t just dismiss things so quickly.”
3) Pharmaceuticals lurking in U.S. drinking water:
"A vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows."
4) How safe is your city's drinking water?:
"Some water systems said tests had been negative, but the AP found independent research showing otherwise. Both prescription and non-prescription drugs were detected."
5) Study finds pharmaceuticals common in Cdn water:
"Painkillers, anti-inflammatories and prescription drugs used to treat epilepsy and blood cholesterol were found in waters near sewage treatment plants across the country, according to the first Canadian study of the problem paid for in part by Environment Canada and obtained under the Access to Information Act."
Thou shall not pollute the Earth
In related news, the Vatican listed new sins recently, and it is interesting to note that one of the new sins is pollution. Flushing your unused medication is pollution. Take them back to the pharmacy, please.
8 comments:
I always knew there was a reason I never liked tap water.. I hate it really but have to use it for cooking and other things.
Every time I feel guilt about drinking bottled water (which the environmentalists tell us is bad because of All Those Bottles), this is the kind of stuff I get thinking about to make me feel better.
Besides, the tap water here reeks. Chlorine in winter, algae in summer.
We put the tap water through a filter, but I still like my bottled water for drinking.
another blog I read mentioned the same thing. If I could recycle my comment there, I think the source of the problem is the fact that we as a society are over medicated. If we cut down on the amount of drugs we take, the water clears up itself.
As for bottled water, many are just tap water anyways with some treatment.
My question is what does the pharmacy do with them if I take them back? (Seriously--I have to fill meds for 1-3 months and halfway through sometimes I have to quit. It's so wasteful!)
Obviously, throwing them into the landfill isn't as immediate as flushing them, but it will eventually leech into the groundwater (I assume). Maybe I should (not) drop them into our culvert during the next storm so they could go straight out to the Gulf of Mexico untreated.
By the way, with all the funky new extended-release gel-coated formulas, those suckers just stick to the toilet or sink anyway, so flushing them isn't really all that effective.
P.S. My husband's answer to what you do with your old meds (we had this discussion with some friends a while back):
I grind them up and put them in a little dish next to the sugar bowl and sprinkle them on things. If they were good for me once, they should be good for me now, right?*
*A little goofiness for your morning.
OK, I just read the links about how to dispose of meds. Pharmacies do the hazardous waste incineration and at home you can do the "yucky-bag disposal method." The latter definited makes sense in my neighborhood where the trash is, um, sorted before the truck comes.
Kate: I love that idea of putting them on your cereal. Very funny.
They're also saying that the drugs can get into the system through our bodies. Birth control pills are one of the worst offenders.
I'm proud to say that the only thing my family is peeing into the water system is vitamins and the occasional ibuprofen.
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