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Flushing old meds? Unsound, scientists say
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| | | By Arlene Gross | | |
December 11, 2008 | 11:45 AM
While working on a project for a national science competition, a group of Huntington High School students made a horrific discovery: that medications people flush down their drains and toilets are ending up in Long Island's waters.
What that could mean for people remains to be seen, but it's already having a devastating effect on marine life.
The six-member science club took on the Lexus Eco Challenge, a national competition for teens to explore issues that will impact the planet's environmental health.
"We could have chosen from three topics; water, air and land," junior Brittany Schmitz explained.
Club member Anna Harris learned of the harmful effects of estrogen hormones on the golden shiner in her after school work at the Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery. The golden shiner "is a vital part of our ecosystem here in New York," she said. "It's a small fish, it's usually eaten by other fish."
In studies done with other fish who ingested the hormones, males started developing like female fish, and some populations died out altogether, said the sophomore. "If the same thing is happening to the golden shiner, we could be in for some serious trouble in the New York water system."
The ratio of male to female flounder should be 1 to 1, said the hatchery's director Norm Soule, who mentors Harris. He noted that in Jamaica Bay, 90 percent of the flounder are female.
"There is a very good possibility that a lot of these chemicals we're currently using, whatever they happen to be, may have impacts that we're not currently aware of."
And the ill effects can go up the food chain, all the way to humans, he warned. "In some cases it's very difficult to test for. … Some of these chemicals could have impacts at levels that we may not be able to detect."
To raise awareness and beseech the public to disposal of medicines properly, the science club wrote letters dated Dec. 1 to Congressman Steve Israel (D-Dix Hills), Gov. David Paterson, the Town Board and Huntington's superintendent of schools, John Finello.
"I'm trying to get a meeting with Steve Israel right now," Harris said. "Apparently my dad knows him somehow."
The letters highlight a five-month study that the Associated Press conducted and then published this past March.
"[AP] found trace amounts of seizure medication, antidepressants and estrogen pills in our own drinking water in New York," she said.
At first, the club thought the town would recycle the unwanted prescription drugs at its New York Avenue recycling facility.
But Matthew Laux, the town's deputy director of the environment and waste management, said that the center cannot accept medical waste without a licensed pharmacist on staff. The town does not employ a licensed pharmacist at the facility.
As an alternative, unwanted medications should be disposed of with household trash, which the town later incinerates into inert ash, Laux stated.
In his response to the science club, Laux wrote, "There is almost no chance of surface or ground water contamination if residents dispose of unwanted medicines as outlined," referring to the trash and recycling calendars they receive each year. In the calendars, they recommend either taking expired medicines to pharmacies or mixing them with coffee grounds or kitty litter to make them less desirable to animals.
Meanwhile, the science club's experiments concluded that some of the harmful effects of medication can be mitigated by dissolving them.
"The only way right now for people to dispose their medications is to fill them up with bleach, club advisor and science teacher Lori Pyzocha said. Shortly after using it, bleach decomposes into water and salt and is therefore harmless, Harris said.
"Or cat litter — something that takes away the appeal from animals who might otherwise eat them," Harris noted.
As part of their public awareness campaign, the students are trying to get their posters about proper medicine disposal posted at local pharmacies and spread the word at the high school via flyers and the school newsletter.
Lauren Campbell, a junior, said, "I think it's something that is definitely affecting our environment. … It's something that could easily be solved, that way we could save many species in the Long Island Sound as well as save humans."
The science club will learn Dec. 12 whether they will be one of the Lexus Eco Challenge's 48 prize-winning teams nationwide.
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Don't wash drugs down the drain!
Tips on how to properly dispose of expired medications at minimal harm to yourself and the environment:
• Black out any personal information on container
• For pills, pour a small amount of bleach, salt water or kitty litter into the container with pills in it to discourage consumption by animals
• For liquid medicine, add enough salt, flour, sand, dirt or charcoal to create pungent mixture for reason listed above
• For blister packs, wrap duct tape around pack several times
• Seal bottle lids with duct or other strong tape
• Discard with regular garbage
Courtesy Lauren Campbell | |
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