[Pharmwaste] Curing the problem of discarding pills - Seattle, WA 2/1/07

Tue Feb 6 13:22:50 EST 2007

I notice that this article points to dangers of medications in landfills.  However, in a modern lined landfill, I have not seen any studies pointing to medication leaching from the landfill.  A handful of studies have detected some in groundwater near an old landfill which had an identifiable source of a given pharm.  Does anyone else have more information than this?

  With some states now telling people to use the trash instead of the sink, I think we need to be wary of these blanket statements without proof.

"DeBiasi,Deborah" <dldebiasi at deq.virginia.gov> wrote:
  http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/health/301869_hcenter01.html

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/health/301869_hcenter01.html

Curing the problem of discarding pills 
Thursday, February 1, 2007

By CHERIE BLACK
P-I REPORTER

At one time, pharmacies and physicians were OK with consumers flushing
unwanted or expired medications down the toilet or throwing them in the
garbage. 

Now, we know better. 

Evidence of the medications' harmful effects have been surfacing in our
waterways, landfills and marine life. A nationwide study released in
2002 by the United States Geological Survey showed trace levels of
chemicals found in prescription drugs in 80 percent of the streams
across the country. 

Putting medicines in the garbage also can lead to accidental contact by
children and animals. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
points to an increased risk of accidental poisoning from unwanted or
expired medications sitting in medicine cabinets. Plus, the old
medicines still can end up in the soil through landfills. 

So what to do? 

"We see this all the time, patients come to us and say please help us
figure this out," said Shirley Reitz, associate director for clinical
pharmacy services at Group Health. "We needed a way to do this without
flushing them down the toilet or putting them in the garbage can," she
said.

As a result, a coalition of government and non-profit groups throughout
the state, including Group Health, the Department of Ecology and the
Washington State Board of Pharmacy, have developed a program to offer a
better option -- the first program in Washington that collects unwanted
pharmaceuticals and disposes of them safely. 

The program is running in pharmacies at seven test sites throughout the
state, including three in King County. Each has a large, blue, highly
secure medical disposal unit in the customer waiting area where
consumers bring unwanted medications in the original containers and drop
them in the box, Reitz said. The materials are then transported to a
hazardous waste destruction site for environmentally safe disposal. 

The program is modeled after one in British Columbia, established by
pharmaceutical companies in 1996, which lets consumers return medication
at more than 90 percent of its pharmacies. 

"This is a baby step toward that system -- that's the end game and what
we're trying to build toward," said Sego Jackson, principal planner with
Snohomish County's solid waste division. The county also is
participating in the statewide effort to have all pharmacies offer
medicine disposal sites. 

"This pilot is a win for health and safety and a win for the
environment," said Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon. "By
partnering with agencies like Group Health, we hope to ultimately see
convenient and safe disposal sites for medications at pharmacies across
the state."

Bartell Drugs also is involved in the program, and plans to establish a
pilot site.

During the past two months, the test sites collected 45 5-gallon buckets
of medications, Reitz said. The coalition plans to establish as many as
25 permanent sites throughout the state, once finished working out final
details of the program, including making sure there are enough resources
at each site to handle the volume and finalizing the state contract with
the hazardous waste plant incinerating the medication. In a January
report by Washington Citizens for Resource Conservation, just over half
of King County residents surveyed said medicine manufacturers should be
responsible for funding a safe and convenient disposal solution. Nearly
75 percent said they would properly dispose of medications if they knew
of a convenient location. Eighty percent said they were likely to return
their unused or expired medicines in a secure drop box set up at a
pharmacy. 

"When it comes to dangerous garbage, we know how to bury things and burn
things," said Will Perry, health and environmental investigator with
Public Health -- Seattle & King County. "I don't think there are any
gross human public health concerns yet, but there is enough reason for
potential environmental problems and we want to be paying attention to
this."

Local hospitals also are taking steps to make sure unused medications
don't end up in waterways and landfills. At the University of Washington
Medical Center, medications are returned to the manufacturer for credit
when possible. For narcotics, the medical center contracts a reverse
distributor who logs the drugs, fills out the necessary Drug Enforcement
Agency forms and has the drugs incinerated, said Shabir Somani, the
medical center's pharmacy director. 

Dr. Alison Lewis, a family physician for Group Health, said she has
patients come in daily with bags full of pill bottles, many expired, and
are confused about which ones they can still take. 

"I frequently see young kids taking their parent's or grandparent's
narcotics," she said. "It's an invitation for abuse if you don't lock
medications up or throw them away." Patients should encourage their
doctors and pharmacists to make a safe disposal system available to them
so they don't flush or throw them away, Lewis said.

"There really is no other way right now."

DRUG DISPOSAL
What is safe to return:

Prescription and over-the-counter medication

Medication samples

Veterinary medications

Vitamins

Medicated ointments and lotions

Inhalers

Liquid medication in glass or leakproof containers

What can't be returned:

Needles

Thermometers

IV bags

Bloody or infectious waste

Personal-care products

Controlled substances

Hydrogen peroxide

Empty containers

Business waste

Where to take it 

The Medication Take-Back program is available at these seven pilot
Washington pharmacies, with more sites statewide scheduled to be
available soon. 

Burien Medical Center Pharmacy

140 S.W. 146th St., Burien, 206-901-2405

Everett Medical Center Pharmacy

2930 Maple St., Everett, 425-261-1560

Olympia Medical Center Pharmacy

700 Lilly Road N.E., Olympia, 360-923-7600

Eastside Hospital and Specialty Center Pharmacy

2700 152nd Ave. N.E., Redmond, 425-883-5940

Renton Medical Center Pharmacy

275 Bronson Way N.E., Renton, 425-235-2855

Silverdale Medical Center Pharmacy

10452 Silverdale Way N.W., Silverdale, 360-307-7410

Riverfront Medical Center Pharmacy

322 W. North River Drive, Spokane, 509-324-6464

Learn more

For more information on how to properly dispose of medications or other
health materials, call the state Department of Ecology at 800-RECYCLE
(800-732-9253). 

Sources: Group Health Cooperative, Public Health -- Seattle & King
County

------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------

P-I reporter Cherie Black can be reached at 206-448-8180 or
cherieblack at seattlepi.com.

(c) 1998-2007 Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Deborah L. DeBiasi
Email: dldebiasi at deq.virginia.gov
WEB site address: www.deq.virginia.gov
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Office of Water Permit Programs
Industrial Pretreatment/Toxics Management Program
Mail: P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA 23218 (NEW!)
Location: 629 E. Main Street, Richmond, VA 23219
PH: 804-698-4028
FAX: 804-698-4032

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