When you need to dispose of medications, you shouldn't flush them down the toilet or sink warns the Lower Saxony Chamber of Pharmacists, as reported by DPA this week.
Empty medicine bottles should not even be rinsed out, the chamber added. This is because medical waste can negatively impact the environment when it enters waste water.
So what can you do with an old unfinished bottle of cough syrup, or the pills in your medicine cabinet that have expired?
How to dispose of medications
Germany lacks nationwide guidelines for throwing out medications, because it's an issue that is regulated at the municipal level.
The best resource for what applies in your region is found at this official drug disposal website. There you can click on your home state, or search for information according to you zipcode.
In many cities and municipalities, like in Hamburg for example, medicines are allowed to go into household waste. Specifically, in the residual waste (Restmüll) bin, because this waste is incinerated.
But don't count on simply tossing your medicines in with the trash everywhere.
In Berlin, for example, according to the portal, medicines need to be disposed of at specific pollutant collection points, which are found at some pharmacies and recycling centres. You can find more information about these and where they are through the portal linked above.
In Frankfurt medicines can be disposed along with household waste, or dropped at specific collection points. The same is true in Munich.
The cardboard boxes and package inserts that medicines are sold in, however, can simply be put in the paper waste.
Wherever you live, it may be worth checking with your local pharmacy next time you visit if they collect waste medicines. Many pharmacies in Germany don't mind disposing of your old medicines, even though they are not legally required to do so.
Why is flushing medications such a big problem?
Any drugs flushed or put down the drain will find their way into the water cycle via wastewater.
And in wastewater, medical compounds can create a number of undesirable consequences. For example, in sewage treatment plants antibiotic residues can destroy bacteria there that are used for wastewater treatment, according to the Chamber of Pharmacists.
Also, some drugs aren't necessarily removed by wastewater treatments and these drugs can also enter bodies of water and accumulate in plants and animals that live there. Some of these compounds have been shown to affect the reproduction of aquatic insects.
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