The Costco Connection

CONTINUED ON PAGE 42

By Rita Colorito

CONSUMERS WERE long told to dispose of excess or expired medication by flushing it down the toilet or sink, instead of dumping it in the trash where children or pets could accidentally ingest it.

Flush that old advice down the toilet, say environmental and health experts. Numerous studies over the last decade have shown that over-the-counter and prescription drugs are making their way into our drinking water, polluting lakes and streams, and affecting fish and wildlife.

Life cycle of drugs

Whenever we flush something down the sink or toilet, it passes through a water treatment plant. Unfortunately, most treatment plants aren’t equipped to remove all pharmaceuticals from the water supply.

A new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report, released in January, looked at 50 large wastewater treatment plants nationwide and found that medications for high blood pressure showed up most frequently and in the highest concentrations. At least 25 other drugs were found in the water samples tested.

As of now, the levels of drugs in our water supply are far below anything that could potentially cause human harm, according to the EPA, which isn’t required to track pharmaceutical levels on yearly municipal water reports.

“We are all exposed to different cocktails of
not just prescription drugs, but personal-care
products and other things that end up down our
sinks and toilets,” says Mae Wu, an expert on
pharmaceutical water pollution for the National
Resources Defense Council. “It’s true that levels
are very low—what impact they may have acting
together is the big question mark.”
This medicine-laden water has also ended up
in fresh bodies of water. Researchers have found
that oxazepam, an anti-anxiety drug, may threaten
wild freshwater fish populations by disrupting their
natural balance. While the drug reduces anxiety
and relaxes, it makes certain fish hyper, aggressive
and antisocial, which interferes with breeding.
University of Wisconsin researchers recently
announced that pharmaceuticals are also polluting
Lake Michigan (a source of drinking water for more
than 10 million people): They
found traces of antibiotics
and an anti-diabetic drug just
two miles away from a water
treatment plant.

Rx disposal
the right way

A growing number of municipalities and pharmacies offer disposal programs.

Federal law currently prohibits pharmacies from accepting narcotics and other controlled substances.

The Costco Connection

Costco pharmacies sell a specially designed envelope that members can use to send back unwanted or unneeded drugs to a disposal facility, no postage required. Costco pharmacies in the warehouse and on Costco.com can fill most prescriptions for people and pets.

for your

health

Medicine cabinet

SAFETY

TEMPTED TO KEEP expired drugs in your medicine cabinet? Don’t. Experts warn prescription pain medications can be gateway drugs to illegal drug use. Americans age 12 to 49 who had used prescription pain relievers illegally were 19 times more likely to have started using heroin—a growing problem in many communities—in the last year than others in that age group, according to a recent government report.