The Missouri Rural Water Association (MRWA) is helping coordinate a prescription drug take-back event from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. Saturday, April 30, at the Houston Walmart parking lot.
Residents are encouraged to drop off expired medications, both prescription and over-the-counter drugs.
The MRWA is coordinating the event with the federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the 25th Judicial Circuit Court juvenile division, Fort Leonard Wood military police and local law enforcement.
“Although medications are received from the pharmacies, the law prevents them from accepting an unused medication back after it has been issued to the patient,” says Bruce Russell, Chemical Surety SPC and administrative officer of the preventive medicine division of General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital.
Increasing national awareness during the last several years has cast a spotlight upon the environmental impact from improper disposal of pharmaceuticals in landfills or by flushing them down the toilet.
The MRWA, which provides services to water and wastewater utilities in Missouri, has a vested interest in the issue. With two full-time employees dedicated to source water protection, the MRWA helps water systems establish methods for preventing contaminant entry into drinking water sources.
“When we work with a water system,” said MRWA source water protection specialist Jim Patton, “we help the system identify local sources of possible contamination, such as leaky chemical containers, agricultural runoff and transportation corridors.”
Pharmaceuticals cause a unique problem because of how they get into drinking water. When prescription drugs are thrown away in trash receptacles, they find their way into a landfill. They can then leach into the ground and cause environmental problems as well as threaten groundwater sources used for drinking water.
Drugs that are flushed down sinks or toilets are often delivered through the wastewater system to a central treatment point. While treatment of sewage removes most contaminants, the concentration of pharmaceuticals is so small that it travels through the treatment process and enters lakes, streams and rivers.
Occurrence data indicate the detection of antibiotics, anti-depressants, veterinary drugs, birth control hormones and other drugs in waterways across the United States.
Research suggests that hormones found in pharmaceuticals may cause abnormalities in the reproductive cycles of fish. Antibiotics in the environment may also contribute to the development of drug resistant germs.
MRWA source water protection specialist Brad Rayburn summarizes his work with drinking water utilities.
“The source water protection program is a voluntary state program and is a way for water supplies to aid in the protection of their most valuable resource, their water source,” Rayburn said.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is researching the extent to which pharmaceuticals in the nation’s waterways pose a threat to human health and the environment.
Meanwhile, the MRWA is taking no chances. Contaminants of any type are undesirable in drinking water, it says.
“It is evident that these drugs are getting into our drinking water,” asserts Rayburn. “It is also evident that the only way to keep these harmful drugs out of our drinking water is to dispose of them properly.”
The take-back is the second of its kind in the area. Last September’s drug take-back netted 15,000 pounds of unused medications in the Pulaski County area.
When it comes to prescription drugs, Rayburn states emphatically, “we know what could potentially contaminate our water source, and we also know how to prevent this type of contamination from occurring. Please join us on April 30 to help in the protection of one of our most precious resources, the water we drink.”
The MRWA provides technical assistance, training, resources and specialized services, such as source water protection guidance, to water and wastewater utilities throughout Missouri.
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