[Pharmwaste] Pet waste disposal advice problem

Gina Temple-Rhodes gina.Temple-Rhodes at WLSSD.Duluth.MN.US
Tue Nov 13 10:20:09 EST 2007


Hello, all-

This weekend, a caller to the People's Pharmacy public radio show
pointed out that the recent advice to dispose of unwanted medication in
used cat litter concerned her for two very good reasons. They were:

1. Dogs often find used cat litter to be a tasty treat. Mixing drugs
into USED litter might actually pose a higher poisoning risk in
households with dogs. (I frankly was surprised about the recent used
litter discussion; I always pictured people using fresh litter to
solidify cough syrups, etc). 

2. If there are addicts out there who find the litter and are desperate,
consuming the cat litter could lead to serious health issues from
parasites in the cat feces, etc. (I think this is less likely; how would
an addict know there were drugs in that particular cat litter? But it is
a concern, I suppose). 

The show hosts then recommended bringing medications to hazardous waste
sites and discussed how great it would be if pharmacies accepted the
meds and perhaps should just start. I wrote in a comment this morning. I
hear the show on Wisconsin Public Radio; but it seems to have a national
audience. This audience could use some more education about this issue!

I don't see any transcripts up for the show, yet, but the website is
here: http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/index.asp
 
Gina Temple-Rhodes
Environmental Program Coordinator
Western Lake Superior Sanitary District
Duluth, MN 
218-740-4784

-----Original Message-----
From: pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us
[mailto:pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us] On Behalf Of
Chickering, Helen (NBC Universal)
Sent: Friday, November 09, 2007 12:26 PM
To: pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us
Subject: [Pharmwaste] Thank you and update!


   
  Hello -
Thank you for all of the feedback about the issue/confusion surrounding
pharmaceutical disposal. I apologize for this gap in communications on
my end!  This story has triggered a chain of events - I wasn't
expecting! I'm in the process of gathering all the feedback and progress
so I can send an update to the group.  This has been a wonderful and
insightful journey - I realize how much I have to learn!
 
More soon!
Helen  Chickering
Medical/Science Correspondent
NBC News Channel
919-622-2512

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