What's Really in My Water?

The Food and Drug Administration takes the disposal of medicine very seriously, and for good reason. Pharmaceuticals can have a big impact on the environment and contaminate surface and drinking water. These drugs can enter the environment through pharmaceutical factories, but also through wastewater after being consumed.

It’s also a common occurrence that people will throw away or flush expired, unused medicines because they think it’s a safe way to dispose of them. However, the FDA encourages that these medicines be taken to a drug take-back location rather than flushing or throwing them away. The medicines they do recommend flushing are so risky to human health that the FDA considers removing the risk of accidental exposure to them to be worth the negative environmental impact they will have when flushed.

"FDA recognizes that the recommendation to flush a few specific medicines when a take back program is not readily available raises questions about the impact of the medicines on the environment and the contamination of surface and drinking water supplies."

"FDA believes that the known risk of harm, including toxicity and death, to humans from accidental exposure to medicines on the flush list far outweighs any potential risk to human health and the environment from flushing these unused or expired medicines."1 [emphasis added]

Minnesota’s Pollution Control Agency includes over-the-counter medications in their take-back program.

"Studies have found that medicines flushed down the drain can contaminate our lakes and streams, which can hurt fish and other aquatic wildlife, and end up in our drinking water."(2) [emphasis added]

Unintended Consequences

Forever Chemicals Traced to Biosolid Fertilizers on Farms Across US

"For decades, farmers across America have been encouraged by the federal government to spread municipal waste sewage on millions of acres of farmland as fertilizer. It was rich in nutrients, and it helped keep the sludge out of landfills.

But a growing body of research shows that this sludge, made from sewage that flows from homes and factories, can contain heavy concentrations of chemicals thought to increase the risk of certain types of cancer and to cause birth defects and developmental delays in children. In some cases, the chemicals are suspected of sickening or killing livestock and are turning up in produce."(3)

Read the rest of the article by Hiroko Tabuchi at: nytimes.com/2024/08/31/climate/pfas-fertilizer-sludge-farm.html