Salt Lake City Initiates Pharmaceutical Drug Collection Program

Prescription drugs create environmental consequences and require proper disposal

Florence Reynolds

May 21, 2007

Prescription drug disposal containers are located at two police stations.
In recent years it has been found that streams and rivers across the nation are being contaminated by trace levels of prescription drugs.   The water industry has not been ignoring this emerging issue.  In 1996, pharmaceutically active compounds were listed as a number one issue for new research. To help correct the problem, the Salt Lake City Police Department and the Department of Public Utilities have partnered to provide a way to dispose of your outdated or unusable drugs.

Prescription and over-the-counter drugs, when flushed down the toilet or thrown in the trash can lead to water and soil contamination. A new program has been initiated to prevent this contamination by properly disposing of them. The Salt Lake City Police Department is housing two collection containers, one at the Pioneer Police Station located at 1040 West 700 South and another at the Public Safety Building at 315 East 200 South, where the public is encouraged to bring their outdated or unusable prescriptions and over-the-counter drugs for proper disposal by incineration.

The old practice of flushing unwanted drugs has contributed to the contamination of waterways.  Trace levels of pharmaceuticals found in streams and rivers are negatively impacting the aquatic life, and have the potential to be recycled into the drinking water.  Some changes in fish population have already been noticed below wastewater facilities.   Wastewater treatment facilities are not designed to take these materials out of the waste stream and as a consequence they pass through the facilities and are returned to the environment.  Many of these compounds are active at very low concentrations, and we aren’t sure yet of what long term impact they will have on the aquatic life or on the drinking water. It just makes good sense to prevent as much as possible from getting into the environment. And when these drugs are thrown into the trash, compounds can leech into ground water and end up in our waterways.

The containers at the police stations allow you to bring in your pharmaceuticals and deposit them in a secure location for proper disposal.  This is another way that we can help to improve our environment and to protect our drinking water.