Fish on drugs?

When you have leftover pharmaceutical products such as prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, veterinary drugs and vitamins what do you do with it?  Traditionally, we were advised to flush it down the toilet or drain.  This method of disposal prevents other people from accidentally ingesting the medication; however, it sends this medication into our wastewater treatment facilities.  Recent research has shown that wastewater treatment plants and septic systems only partially remove pharmaceuticals, so these chemicals end up in rivers and streams.

Drugs can enter the environment both as a result of disposal and because they are excreted by the person taking the medication if the patient’s body does not react with the entire dose.  They can then affect both wildlife and disease-causing organisms in nature, harming the former and increasing drug-resistance in the latter.  The long-term risks to the environment are not fully known, but birth defects affecting the ability of fish to reproduce have been observed, as well as changes in the numbers of fish, the ratio of male to female fish and male fish found with female reproductive parts.  Also, any potential source of disease-causing organisms developing drug resistance should be avoided if possible due to the potential threat to public health.  For example, disposing of extra antibiotic medication into the sewer system can increase the resistance of bacteria to antibiotics.  To read more about the effects of pharmaceuticals in the environment, you can visit: http://toxics.usgs.gov/regional/emc/.

To properly dispose of pharmaceutical waste to minimize its effects to the environment, you can follow these simple steps.  First, keep the medication in its original container and add water or something to make it undesirable to ingest such as coffee grounds, kitty litter, salt, flour, charcoal, or a non-toxic spice like mustard.  Then, seal the medication container with duct tape or packing tape and place it inside a non-transparent bag or container such as an empty yogurt container so that it can't be seen.  Do not conceal the medication in a food product because it could be consumed by wildlife scavengers.  Finally, discard the container in your garbage can, not your recycling bin.

Pharmaceuticals sent to a municipal landfill will decompose over time. Even if they leak out of their containers, the chemicals will be captured by the leachate collection system of the landfill, and will be properly treated before they escape into nature.  For more information on proper disposal of pharmaceutical waste, you can visit: http://www.epa.gov/ppcp/.

By following these simple steps, you will help contribute to keeping our lakes and streams healthy habitat for fish and other aquatic wildlife. 

Until next week, enjoy the lakes!

Moriya Rufer is the Lakes Monitoring Program Coordinator for RMB Environmental Laboratories in Detroit Lakes, 218-846-1465, lakes.rmbel@eot.com