EcoMyths: Flushing does not make pills go away

EcoMyths: Flushing does not make pills go away
EcoMyths: Flushing does not make pills go away

EcoMyths: Flushing does not make pills go away

WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.
People often assume that the best way to dispose of unused pharmaceuticals is to flush them down the toilet or pour them down the drain, but the EPA and FDA backed off this recommendation for almost all drugs (exceptions are listed on the FDA website). Medicines are among the thousands of “chemicals of emerging concern” that the EPA and the scientific community now monitor in our drinking water. Jerome McDonnell and Kate Sackman from the EcoMyths Alliance discuss the pros and cons of flushing medicines with Olga Lyandres of the Alliance for the Great Lakes and Commissioner Debra Shore of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.