What to Do With Unused Medication
It’s not out of the question to assume that many of us have old medications somewhere in the bathroom or medicine cabinet. We don’t take them anymore, they’re expired, or maybe they belonged to a relative who is no longer with us.
A great deal of these of these medications we no longer use contain compounds that are known sometimes as “emerging pollutants of concern” or “microconstituents.” Some of these microconstituents (i.e. synthetic estrogen used in therapy for hormone replacement), are considered to be dangerous (some endocrine disrupters are thought to interfere with hormone processes).
Low levels of antibiotics, when disposed of in an environmentally unsafe way, can lead to the development of antibiotic-resistant strains of harmful bacteria. Still others, like sedatives, can affect or modify central nervous system activity. Continue reading
