Pharmaceuticals in our environment and water supply may be affecting human health as well as fish and wildlife. What can you do?
All sorts of human pharmaceuticals have been found in water including hormones, antibiotics, painkillers and tranquilizers. These drugs can affect aquatic organisms in many ways, from physical malformations to feminization and reproductive failure.
Most of us will take prescription and over-the- counter medications at some time in our lives. The medicines we take will often be excreted into the environment in a changed form through our urine and feces. There is very little that we can do about that!
But what do you do if you find that you have leftover drugs because your doctor has given you a new prescription, or perhaps a loved one has died leaving a medicine cabinet full of unwanted medications? Don’t despair!
Take your medicine… back to your dispensing pharmacy.
Protect your health and the environment by returning unused or old medicines for safe disposal.
Bring back:
- all unused or old prescription drugs, including patches
- non-prescription medicines like analgesics
- herbal products, and
- vitamin and mineral supplements
Check to see what’s accepted at your dispensing pharmacy. Pharmacists who accept unused and expired drugs will ensure their safe and appropriate storage and disposal according to environmental regulations.
Do not:
- flush drugs down the toilet
- throw drugs down the sink
- dump drugs in the trash, or
- give drugs to other people to use
Contact us if you would like further information.
Thanks to Environment Canada and Ontario Ministry of the Environment for their support of this program.
For information regarding Janzen's Pharmacy free medicine cabinet audit, click here
Page last updated on Monday, January 21, 2013
