Alpo Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 When Mama died, the hospice nurse made a list of all her medications, and then flushed them. But I'm pretty sure there is somebody here that works at a sewer plant, and has talked about stuff that should not be flushed - basically anything that did not go through your body first, except for toilet paper. No paper towels, no "flushable wipes" (because flushable wipes clog up the system - they aren't really flushable, they are just smaller). And I think he said you should not put medicine in the sewer because the sewage gets treated and eventually ends up back in your drinking water. But the treating is designed to get rid of bodily waste - not pharmaceuticals. So what do you do with it? I noticed the other day that my nitroglycerin said it should be disposed of after December of 22. Hmmm. Apparently it's only good for a year. Currently the little bottle is sitting on my kitchen counter. Should I toss it in the trash can? Open the bottle and pour them in the toilet and push the handle? Open the bottle and sprinkle them on the lawn? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trigger Mike Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Wonder what affect that they would have on a vegetable garden? Would your tomatoes open your arteries? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horace Patootie, SASS #35798 Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Some drugstores have a depository container (here it's CVS) that you can deposit that into. I had lots of meds to put in that. Horace 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdeacon Joe Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Call the pharmacy and ask. Our county waste disposal site will take them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyesa Horg Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 They have collections here periodically. Check with your local Police dept. and pharmacy. Don't flush down the toilet! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Don’t know how true it is but have been told several times not to flush expired medications as they can maintain some potency after the treatment process and be reintroduced into the drinking water. Used to take small amounts of unused medications back to the pharmacy and they disposed of them but no more. Now they give you a packet of powder, tell you to remove the information on the bottle, mix the powder with water in the pill bottle and toss into the trash. Forms what looks like plaster and eventually solidifies. Regards Gateway Kid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warden Callaway Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 When we cleaned out my folk's house, we gathered a 5 gallon bucket of drugs. I asked what to do with them. The answer was burn them. Dumped them on next brush pile to be burned. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michigan Slim Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 The Turd Herder you speak of is I. DO NOT FLUSH! Your local PD or pharmacy will help, as stated correctly above. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cactus Jack Calder Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Here the police have a mailbox type bin that you can anonymously drop drugs in to be disposed of by them. 1. Must be in a bottle, not a baggy. 2. Remove label to maintain anonymity. 3. No questions asked by PD. CJ 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horace Patootie, SASS #35798 Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 The police had one here also but a lot of mine were prefilled syringes. They wouldn't take those for some reason. Horace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedalia Dave Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Check with your local PD. Ours has a box that you can put them in. Some restrictions on what they’ll take. When the box is full it is taken as a unit to be incinerated. Many hospitals and pharmacies have something similar. Never flush them. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abilene Slim SASS 81783 Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 As I understand it, the main concern is with antibiotics as they can increase the risk of drug-resistant strains developing in our drinking water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgavin Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Collect all of Mom's old pot stash. Burn it. Entertain the neighborhood. 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 What would be wrong with putting them into the garbage, where they end up deep in the landfill? I would have thought of that before the idea of flushing them. Flushing seems non-obvious to me.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kloehr Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 (edited) 1 hour ago, Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 said: What would be wrong with putting them into the garbage, where they end up deep in the landfill? I would have thought of that before the idea of flushing them. Flushing seems non-obvious to me.... Many landfills still leach into groundwater. As to proper disposal, it really seems to depend. One county near me has boxes at police stations. Another county has boxes at some pharmacies. Yet another county has roughly annual drop-offs (often in a grocery store parking lot). When I lived on the wrong coast, I could drop them off at a periodic toxics collection event (motor oil, paint, insecticides); The drugs were collected on entry to the event, just hand over a bag. But sharps are different in all locations. Some drug stores sell mailers, plus paying for postage. One county near me suggests using a bleach bottle with a little remaining bleach. Put the sharps in the bottle, cap it, and throw it in the trash... Not sure this is the best idea, but the assumption is sharps from blood sugar testing and expired insulin. One hospice situation, we brewed a pot of coffee at the request of the county responder (coroner) to get a basket of grounds. The county responder put all of the remaining morphine (after verifying logs) into the grounds, and that went into the kitchen garbage. Best and easiest to just call and ask. Edited February 17 by John Kloehr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michigan Slim Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 Most medicines are not broken down by the bacteria in a wastewater plant. They are neither designed nor able to remove them via bacteria. Might as well throw them in the river cause that is where they go if you flush them. We get a tremendous number of sharps in our lift stations and plant bar rack. Scary stuff to be working and find one. People don't think. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdeacon Joe Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 1 hour ago, John Kloehr said: But sharps are different in all locations. Some drug stores sell mailers, plus paying for postage. One county near me suggests using a bleach bottle with a little remaining bleach. Put the sharps in the bottle, cap it, and throw it in the trash... Here is our deal with sharps: COUNTY OF SONOMA Environmental Health and Safety Household Disposal of Needles, Syringes and Lancets Sharps such as needles, syringes and lancets can pose a serious health risk to family, members of the public or workers who collect and sort waste. State law regulates how to dispose of sharps in order to minimize or eliminate this health risk. Sharps must be stored and transported in an approved sharps container. These containers may be purchased at your local pharmacy. There are several options for safe and legal disposal of sharps: Check with your pharmacy, hospital, doctor or veterinarian to determine if they are an approved home-generated sharps collector. The County Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facility at the Central Landfill, 500 Mecham Road, Petaluma, or any of the numberous community toxics collection events scheduled throughout the county. Check the recycling section of your telephone directory for collection event dates and times or call (707) 795-2025. Contact a licensed medical waste hauler for pickup. Mail-back sharps containers may be mailed through the U.S. Postal Service. They may be purchased at some pharmacies or ordered directly from an approved mail-back service company. A list can be found on the California Department of Public Health Home-Generated Sharps Waste webpage. Several needle destruction devices are available to render sharps harmless. ================== We used to use an empty plastic coffee can. Taped the lid on and cut an X in the top. The Hazardous Waste site took it once, but told us that we needed to use the commercially made sharps containers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 First call your Pharmacy, no help? Call the police department, no help? Call the fire department, no help? Burn it. Stay out of the smoke. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpo Posted February 17 Author Share Posted February 17 40 minutes ago, Subdeacon Joe said: These containers may be purchased at your local pharmacy. It seems to me, that if you have to buy a container that you then throw away with your pointy thing in it, a lot of people aren't going to buy it. They're just going to throw away the sharp. Hell, there's a lot of people that wouldn't go to the drugstore to pick them up if they were free, because it's going out of their way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 My trash goes to an electricity generating power plant incinerator. the twelve month expiration date is to protect the vendor from liability but you should not go much beyond that. I read an article that said the drugs toss in the toilet were eventually affecting fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgavin Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 Cut the needle part and separate it from the syringe body. Here in Sacramento, everybody will sell you sharps, but nobody will accept the used ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpo Posted February 17 Author Share Posted February 17 (edited) 6 hours ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said: the twelve month expiration date is to protect the vendor from liability but you should not go much beyond that I discussed that with the pharmacist when I got my refill. She said that if the bottle has never been opened they're good for a year. But once you've opened the bottle she recommends getting replaced after no more than 6 months. Because once the bottle is opened moisture gets in. Added: I noticed that on the label for this refill it said "may refill three times". Before February of 25. It says there's 25 pills in a bottle. So there's people that need these things 100 times in a year? Wow. It also says do not take more than three pills in 15 minutes, and if unresolved after three pills call 911. Edited February 17 by Alpo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgavin Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 I keep solid tablets in the freezer and gel caps in the fridge outer door. The efficacy remains for a longer period of time due to the slowing of chemical changes in the cold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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