How's your drinking water? According to a few national studies, a variety of medications is showing up in rivers, streams even our drinking water. How you dispose of medication has an impact on our environment.
"When pharmaceutical products like hormones enter the water ways, they have an impact on how fish develop so in some populations we have seen that fish are only female. We are not getting any male fish and that is a result of endocrine disrupters and hormones being in the water. Similarly there are things like antibiotics that wind up in our waters ways as well and those can kill off good bacteria as well as bad bacteria and affect essentially the entire food chain," said Resa Dimino with the Department of Environmental Conservation.
Even with the best water treatment plants, although it is rare, drugs are still being detected in drinking water.
"Our waste water treatment systems aren't really set up to take these materials out. We have only been able to identify them in the past few years, so we haven't yet developed the systems or implemented the systems that are able to remove these from our waste water. So if they get through our water waste, it can get to our water supply. It can get back to into the drinking supply as well," said Dimino.
How's your drinking water? According to a few national studies, a variety of medications is showing up in rivers, streams even our drinking water. How you dispose of medication has an impact on our environment.
Although tossing drugs down the toilet has been standard practice for years, it's not a good idea. Even common drugs like aspirin can impact the environment.
"If you are able to remove these medicines from the flushing, from the waterways and dispose of them properly, basically through your household trash or though a collection program that is designed to specifically collect pharmaceuticals, we are able to eliminate a bit of that threat," Dimino said.
To dispose of medication safely you will need water, coffee grounds, kitty litter or dirt will also work. Grab a sandwich baggie and tape. Mix the pills with water. Dump them into a baggie containing the coffee grounds, tape it shut and toss into your garbage. Once in your trash, this will keep anyone from getting the drugs unintentionally.
"I think New Yorkers really want to do the right thing to help the environment and here is one simple action you can take at home that can really help that can improve the environment, to improve the health of our waterways and keep yourself healthy and safe,” said Dimino.
For more information go to dontflushyourdrugs.net.