It's time to clean out your medicine cabinet
Posted By JOYCE CASSIN JCASSIN@NORTHUMBERLANDTODAY.COM
Posted 2 days ago
Tuesday is Medicine Cabinet Clean-Up Day in Port Hope when residents can safely dispose of unused medications.
Port Hope Pharmacy and Trent University nursing students arecollecting unused or expired pharmaceuticals, including sharps andover-the-counter medications, to raise awareness about public safetyhazards unsafe disposal creates.
"We have found that a lot of people aren't actually aware ofthe harm of improper disposal," said Cheryl Prinzen, a fourth-yearTrent University nursing student.
"People usually pour medications down the drain, flush themdown the toilet, put them in the trash or stockpile unused or expiredmedication."
She said that she and other nursing students did not learn ofthe need for proper disposal because of the effects medications canhave on the water system until their third year.
"If we as nursing students didn't know, then how can we expect others to realize," said Prinzen.
So, their goal is to raise awareness about the potential harmthat the typical disposal methods create and let the public know thatthere are alternative methods to ensure safe disposal ofpharmaceuticals.
Sewage treatment plants and septic tanks are not designed toremove pharmaceuticals, she says. This means that flushing or pouringmedication down the drain puts pharmaceuticals into water supplies.
Pharmaceuticals that end up in landfills have been found toleach into ground water, creating an alternative route for entry intowater supplies.
Although levels of pharmaceuticals are well below that whichwill harm humans, it is well documented that concentrations are highenough to harm small aquatic life. A major concern is that the humanimpact of long-term chronic exposure to pharmaceuticals in watersupplies is not known, she says.
Medications that are stockpiled create a risk for children andpets, she says. Children and animals can get into stored medication andingest them, resulting in poisoning. Safe disposal prevents this.
Although the Port Hope Pharmacy, in the Port HopeMedical Centre, will be encouraging residents to bring in theirleftover medication on Tuesday, Nov. 10, they do collect unusedmedications year-round.
"The pharmacy returns the unused medication to a hazardouswaste depot," said Prinzen. "It gets broken down to prevent it fromgoing into our water supply."
The Port Hope Pharmacy is located at 249 Ontario Street. The hours for Tuesday's event are between 9 a. m. and noon.
Posted on November 8th