So, What Can We Flush Down the Toilet?
Amanda M Hatfield via Flickr
When I was a kid, flushing things down the toilet was good sport. Of course I was five at the time. Today it seems as though just about nothing, save the obvious, can be flushed. The concern over flushing prescription meds down the drain was amplified last year when the drinking water in 24 major cities was found to contain, “A vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones”.
Seniors of course take significantly more prescription medications that the average adult. And while you should follow your doctors orders and finish the medicine, it’s not uncommon for a physician to change your prescription midstream leaving you with unwanted pills.
So what to do with the excess meds? The FDA says that there are a few drugs that should be flushed, many should not.
Specifically, the FDA recommends:
Follow any specific disposal instructions on the drug label or patient information that accompanies the medication. Do not flush prescription drugs down the toilet unless this information specifically instructs you to do so.
- If no instructions are given, throw the drugs in the household trash, but first:
- Take them out of their original containers and mix them with an undesirable substance, such as used coffee grounds or kitty litter. The medication will be less appealing to children and pets, and unrecognizable to people who may intentionally go through your trash.
- Put them in a sealable bag, empty can, or other container to prevent the medication from leaking or breaking out of a garbage bag.
- Take advantage of community drug take-back programs that allow the public to bring unused drugs to a central location for proper disposal. Call your city or county government’s household trash and recycling service (see blue pages in phone book) to see if a take-back program is available in your community.
FDA’s Director of Pharmacy Affairs, Ilisa Bernstein, Pharm.D., J.D., offers some additional tips:
- Before throwing out a medicine container, scratch out all identifying information on the prescription label to make it unreadable. This will help protect your identity and the privacy of your personal health information.
- Do not give medications to friends. Doctors prescribe drugs based on a person’s specific symptoms and medical history. A drug that works for you could be dangerous for someone else.
- When in doubt about proper disposal, talk to your pharmacist.
Bernstein says the same disposal methods for prescription drugs could apply to over-the-counter drugs as well.
Despite the FDA’s flushing policy, we recommend investigating local disposal options. Check with your doctor and pharmacist whenever you get a new prescription to see if they can dispose of them, or if can recommend an alternative. Policies are likely to change over time given the publicity over medicines in the drinking water, so keep asking. Check with your local recycling center. Our county has a program to take them and dispose of them.
What can I do? If you have a Longs Drugs, Rite Aid, or Walgreens in your area. Print this page and ask them to take your unused prescription medicines.
Additional Links
Update 9/21/09: The Environment Report – Cement Pollution & Drug Disposal
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[...] Finally, on the somewhat lighter side…Seniors of course take significantly more prescription medications that the average adult. And while you should follow your doctors orders and finish the medicine, it’s not uncommon for a physician to change your prescription midstream leaving you with unwanted pills. Learn about what you can and cannot flush. [...]