Prescription Drug Disposal Guide
Unused or expired prescription medications are a public safety issue, leading to potential accidental poisoning, misuse, and overdose. proper disposal of unused drugs saves lives and protects the environment.
Unused or expired prescription medications are a public safety issue, leading to potential accidental poisoning, misuse, and overdose. proper disposal of unused drugs saves lives and protects the environment.
You must not share your prescription drugs—they were prescribed to you!!
For more information on preventing prescription drug misuse, go to the following websites:
How Proper Disposal of Medicines Protects You and the Earth:
- Prevents poisoning of children and pets
- Deters misuse by teenagers and adults
- Avoids health problems from accidentally taking the wrong medicine, too much of the same medicine, or a medicine that is too old to work well
- Keeps medicines from entering streams and rivers when poured down the drain or flushed down the toilet
How Improper Disposal of Medicines May End Up in Our Drinking Water Sources:
In homes that use septic tanks, prescription and over-the-counter drugs flushed down the toilet can leak into the ground and seep into ground water. In cities and towns where residences are connected to wastewater treatment plants, prescription and over-the-counter drugs poured down the sink or flushed down the toilet can pass through the treatment system and enter rivers and lakes. They may flow downstream to serve as sources for community drinking water supplies. Water treatment plants are generally not equipped to routinely remove medicines.
*According to the EPA