[Pharmwaste] PA collection event article

Tenace, Laurie Laurie.Tenace at dep.state.fl.us
Mon Mar 8 10:46:05 EST 2010


http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_670536.html

Task force aims to keep unwanted medications from waterways

The Southwestern PA Household Hazardous Waste Task Force wants your unwanted pharmaceuticals, an effort it hopes will spare rivers from contamination.

The May 15 collection will be the task force's first in Allegheny County.

It might be tempting to flush old prescription, over-the-counter and veterinary medications down the toilet when they expire or no longer are useful. But Michael Stepaniak, the task force's environmental program coordinator, said doing so threatens fish and wildlife that depend on the region's waterways, which are a source of drinking water for the Pittsburgh area.

"We want to not only help protect the environment ... but also make people aware that flushing things down a toilet doesn't mean the hazard has gone away," he said. "It's just moved."

Dave Mazza, regional director of the Pennsylvania Resources Council, the task force's administrator, said conventional wastewater treatment cannot effectively eliminate pharmaceutical compounds from water.

"On a national level ... upwards of 200 million pounds of pharmaceutical waste is being produced every year," Mazza said. "The need for collection events (like this) is evident."

Over-the-counter medications will be transported to Cincinnati, where they will be incinerated. Controlled substances will be burned in a police incinerator.

State and federal environmental groups for years have studied how trace amounts of household chemicals and prescription and illicit drugs flushed from homes end up in fish and wildlife that depend on Pennsylvania's waterways.

Pharmaceuticals in the water have been blamed for severe reproductive problems in many types of fish. For example, the endangered razorback sucker and male fathead minnow have been found with lower sperm counts and damaged sperm, while some walleyes and male carp have taken on female traits.

"Flushing them down the toilet ... kills some bacteria in waterways and not others," said Conrad Volz, director of the Center for Healthy Environments and Communities at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health. "It changes the ecology of our rivers in ways we can't even predict."

Since 2003, the task force has conducted 39 collections in eight counties and disposed of nearly 2 million pounds of household chemicals, Stepaniak said.

Collection details

The Southwestern PA Household Hazardous Waste Task Force will collect unwanted medications from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 15 in the Hampton Community Center on McCully Road.

Cost will be $3 per person. Advance registration is required. For details or to register, call 412-488-7452 or visit swpahhw.org. A professional contractor, law enforcement officials and licensed pharmacists will be on hand to ensure that medications are handled appropriately.



Laurie Tenace
Environmental Specialist
Waste Reduction Section
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
2600 Blair Stone Rd., MS 4555
Tallahassee FL 32399-2400
P: 850.245.8759
F: 850.245.8811
Laurie.Tenace at dep.state.fl.us

Mercury: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/mercury/default.htm

Unwanted Medicine: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/medications/default.htm

Batteries: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/batteries/default.htm





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