[Pharmwaste] Drs. Oz & Roizen: Take advantage of authorized drug disposal programs

Jim Mullowney jmullowney at pharma-cycle.com
Tue Nov 29 10:36:46 EST 2016


Good Morning Ed, 

 

I have not heard from the hospital regarding a pilot program and wondered if
you have been talking to them?

 

 

Jim Mullowney, President

Pharma-Cycle, LLC.

Associate Member American Society of Clinical Oncology

Member of the American Chemical Society

 <mailto:jmullowney at pharma-cycle.com> jmullowney at pharma-cycle.com

(617) 755-0883

 

 

 

From: Pharmwaste [mailto:pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us] On Behalf
Of Ed Gottlieb
Sent: Tuesday, November 29, 2016 10:09 AM
To: pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us
Subject: [Pharmwaste] Drs. Oz & Roizen: Take advantage of authorized drug
disposal programs

 

The famous Drs. Oz & Roizen make a clear argument for take back and against
home disposal.
http://onlineathens.com/features/2016-11-21/drs-oz-roizen-take-advantage-aut
horized-drug-disposal-programs

There's a big push in my community to take old, unused meds to a designated
pharmacy or police station for disposal. But what do they do with them? Is
it any better than throwing them in the trash at home or flushing them down
the toilet?

- Jillian F., Vancouver, Washington

 

There's been a lot of concern lately about medications turning up in inland
waterways, local water supplies, even the ocean. The pollution comes from
the pharmaceutical waste we put through sewage treatment plants that usually
doesn't get filtered out and goes back into rivers. That includes meds that
were flushed down the toilet (including your pet's meds), plus traces of
medications you're taking that are found in your urine and stool. Some
pharmaceutical pollution even comes from landfills. As early as 2000, the
U.S. Geological Survey found one or more medications in 80 percent of water
samples from 139 streams in 30 states. The drugs included antibiotics,
antidepressants, blood thinners, ACE inhibitors, calcium-channel blockers,
digoxin, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and painkillers. More recent
samples have shown evidence of everything from caffeine and chemicals in
fragrances, to anti-seizure and anticholesterol meds. And it's affecting the
coastal ocean water as well.

Exposure to even a small amount of estrogen can make male fish produce eggs
and damage female fish's reproductive processes, devastating a population.
Diluted solutions of psychiatric drugs have been found to alter fish
behavior. So bravo for your community's efforts. When you leave old meds
(even ordinary over-the-counter stuff like cough meds and topical creams for
sore muscles) at a "take back your meds" facility, they're transported to a
collection site and then sent on to a high-temperature incinerator. These
incinerators are made up of a primary combustion chamber and an afterburner
connected to an air pollution control system, all of which are controlled
and monitored.

You can find a drop-off spot at a pharmacy or police station near you by
Googling "DEA Authorized Collector Location."

 

 

Ed Gottlieb
Chair, Coalition for Safe Medication Disposal

Industrial Pretreatment Coordinator

Ithaca Area Wastewater Treatment Facility
525 3rd Street

Ithaca, NY  14850

(607) 273-8381

fax: (607) 273-8433

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