The most environmentally safe way to dispose of any medicines is to mix the antibiotic in with some used coffee grounds or something equally nasty, in a ziploc or its original container if it has a childproof top and throw in the To dispose of prescription and over-the-counter drugs, call your city or county government’s household trash and recycling service and ask if a drug take-back program is available in your community. dispose the drugs for you. �F��r%���v��j�`�S5������4�C;}5��+=�l�2o~W~�R��i�4��Z�f��S���.�,d��o#Ͻ�c_)v�W;��u=rG_��u�1|��&3������4|��A���-r��
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Doing this can cause harm to the planet, animals, you and your family. Learn more about drug disposal programs offered in your area: Many people toss expired or unused medications in the trash or flush them down the toilet or drain. How to Safely Dispose of Unused or Expired Medicine The best way to dispose of most types* of old, unused, unwanted, or expired medicines (both … Where can I properly Never dispose by flushing down the toilet or other drain. 64 0 obj
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Fish and Wildlife Service, “The improper disposal of unused medications by flushing them or pouring them down the drain may be harmful to fish, wildlife, and their habitats.” FDA will continue to conduct risk assessments as a part of our larger activities related to the safe use and disposal of medicines. An official website of the United States government: • Call your doctor or pharmacist for help in finding a way to safely dispose of your medication. Disposal of Unused Medicines: What You Should Know endstream
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Some components of these drugs end up in our lakes, streams, and water supplies. If you received specific disposal instructions for your old, unused, unwanted, or expired medicine, you should follow those instructions to dispose of it. An example of such a drug is the fentanyl patch, which is an opioid.Immediately flushing these types of medicines down the toilet helps keep children, pets, and other individuals safe by making sure these powerful and potentially dangerous drugs are not accidentally ingested, touched, or misused.The FDA flush list tells you which old, unwanted, expired, or unused medicines to immediately flush Links in the flush list direct you to specific disposal instructions in each medicine’s label.FDA recognizes that the recommendation to flush certain potentially dangerous medicines In an effort to address this concern, FDA staff published a paper entitled "FDA believes that the known risk of harm to humans from accidental, and sometimes fatal, exposure to medicines on the flush list far outweighs any potential risk to human health and the environment from flushing these leftover or unneeded medicines only when a take-back option is not readily available.
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• If no disposal instructions are given on the drug Read about how to dispose of your old or unused medications and other drugs without harming the environment - Medication Disposal - What to Do with Old Medications Medical Author: Benjamin C. Wedro, MD, FAAEm How to dispose of expired, unneeded, unwanted, or unused opioid medications to help reduce the chance that others may accidentally take or intentionally misuse them. Check the flush list for select medicines you can immediately get rid of by flushingMedicines on this flush list may be especially harmful and, in some cases, fatal with just one dose if they are used by someone other than the person for whom they were prescribed.