April 28: Don't Flush! Dispose Of Your Old Drugs Properly Tomorrow

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency reports that when pharmaceutical drugs or other personal care products are flushed down the toilet or thrown into the garbage, many chemicals can enter the ground water supply through lakes, rivers, and streams. These chemicals can change the local ecosystems and also enter your body unwillingly every time you drink a glass of water. In fact, trace amounts of many pharmaceutical chemicals have already been found in Illinois soil and water.

There is a proper way to dispose of your unwanted pharmaceutical products that will keep us and our environment safe from unwanted and potentially harmful chemicals. This method is: incineration. The excessive heat will effectively destroy and denature most chemicals.

Safe incineration should be performed by professionals. Fortunately, Illinois American Water and the Drug Enforcement Agency have teamed up to collect all of your expired, outdated, unused, or unnecessary pharmaceuticals and personal care products. They will be holding a special collection tomorrow, April 28, from 10 am to 2 pm.

CINewsNow reports:

Flushing medicine down the toilet or drain as well as throwing them in the trash are discouraged.

"This event is a great opportunity for residents to securely drop off any unused or expired medications," said Karla Olson Teasley, Illinois American Water president.  "It's important for us to keep these items our of our landfills and water supplies."

If you want to participate, please visit one of the following locations on April 28:

Washington Police Department
Morton Police Department
Pekin Police Department
Princeton Police Department
Normal Police Department
McLean County Sheriff's Office
Kewanee Police Department
Henry County Sheriff's Office (collection site is at Henry County Courthouse in Cambridge)

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