BIS 392: Water and Sustainability CBLR Project
Pharmaceuticals and the Environment: Creating a Sustainable Future while Staying Healthy
This project is brought to you by students in Professor Rob Turner's Fall 2011 BIS 392: Water and Sustainability Course. Professor Turner is a former ICBLR Fellow ('10-'11) and is currently on the ICBLR Steering Committee.
As students in the CBLR course, BIS 392: Water and Sustainability, it is our goal to help cultivate a world that is thriving and healthy for current and future generations. We aim to do this without compromising our ecosystem, water quality and the overall health of Washington’s citizens. One of our largest concerns is the assimilation of pharmaceuticals into our waterways. The number one cause of reduced water quality in Snohomish and King Counties is the introduction of synthetic human-made compounds into the Puget Sound via water treatment facilities. Please partner with us to reduce the amount of pharmaceutical waste by disposing of medication in the proper venues listed below.
Important Facts:
- In 2005, the average prescription rate in Washington was 8.5 prescriptions per capita per year, totaling 53 million retail prescriptions.
- A 2002 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study found organic wastewater contaminants (OWCs), including many pharmaceutical and personal care product contaminants, in 80 percent of 139 streams sampled in 30 states.
- The medicine take-back program in King County has resulted in more than 50,000 pounds of unwanted medicines collected and safely disposed during the period October 2006 – September 2010.
- The disposal of FDA approved pharmaceuticals into the water system is a known problem but is so vast that the actual damage on our water and ecosystem is currently incalculable.
- Sewer treatment facilities do not always have the capacities or technologies needed to process many of the drugs that enter into water systems.
- Special synthetic blends of pharmaceuticals can create super mixtures when they are introduced into water systems, which can have unexpected and damaging results.
- Studies have consistently shown that the drinking water of many major cities is contaminated with pharmaceuticals.
- Many of the toxins created by the mixture of these drugs is cumulative, indicating that there are long term health effects.
So What Can You Do?
Dispose of your pharmaceutical waste properly. There are many locations around Washington State that will take back old unused prescription medications. Below is a video explaining the current Medicine Take Back Law for Washington State.