Residents of Wyoming, Mich., are learning the proper way to dispose of pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter medicines, and personal care products. WYMED (Wyoming Medicinal Disposal Service) allows people to drop off their unused medicines in lockboxes at pharmacies instead of dumping them into the toilet or down the sink.
Dave Oostindie, environmental services supervisor with the city, started the program in 2009, and it now includes more than 20 pharmacies. One benefit is personal safety, as fewer drugs will be stored in homes where they can fall into the wrong hands. It’s been estimated that one in four teenagers have used prescription drugs for recreational purposes.
Another benefit is water quality. “Everyone has drugs in their house,” says Oostindie. “We have to let people know how to manage them. The water plant gets its water from Lake Michigan, and our wastewater treatment plant discharges its effluent to the Grand River, which eventually goes to Lake Michigan. It’s a full circle.”
Data collected in 2008 and 2009 showed that medicinal compounds were present in Wyoming drinking water. Oostindie spearheaded the campaign to collect pharmaceuticals before they made their way to the wastewater treatment plant.
People aren’t the only concern. Studies have shown an impact to aquatic life from medicines, especially endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). “There is an impact especially on male and female fish comparing those who live upstream to those downstream of the effluent,” says Oostindie. “The wastewater treatment plant isn’t designed to remove pharmaceuticals. That’s why we had to set up a source control program.”
A few logistics
One hurdle Oostindie had to clear was the Controlled Substances Act, which prohibits pharmacies from collecting controlled substances such as Xanax or codeine, even though they distribute them. In the WYMED program, the police department has drop boxes where controlled substances can be left for proper disposal.
The police department also handles disposal. Law enforcement agencies routinely have contracts with incineration companies to destroy items such as unused uniforms, ballistic vests, and confiscated drugs. By working with the police, the city pays no added fees for incineration of drugs collected at local pharmacies. Even the startup cost for the program was minimal.
“Initially we had to buy a number of three-galloon pails and each one cost about $1.50,” says Oostindie. “The cost comes out of the industrial pollution control budget. Everybody thinks the cost is an issue, but really it isn’t.”
The program is run by the five-member staff in the environmental services department who routinely collect water samples or perform industrial pretreatment system inspections. “There’s no extra work to go out to a Walgreens,” says Oostindie. “It’s nothing to stop every other day or so to collect the lockboxes.”
Getting the word out
To make sure residents know about the take-back program, brochures are included with purchases of prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines, and even herbal supplements.
To spread the word even further, the environmental services staff visits local BINGO games and long-term care facilities to speak with senior citizens on the importance of proper drug disposal. They visit schools in hopes that children will take the message home to their parents. Staff members also visit hospices to make sure that families understand what do to with remaining medicine when there is a death in the family.
Just six months after the program was started, the state Department of Environmental Quality presented Wyoming with a 2009 Neighborhood Environmental Partners Program Award.
Although the program has not been in operation long enough to yield water-quality data, Oostindie expects results to mimic the city’s mercury take-back program. Without making changes to the plant, the staff was able to meet the 1.3 parts per trillion discharge criteria for mercury simply using source control.
As with restrictions on mercury, Oostindie expects regulators to begin including pharmaceuticals on discharge permits. With the take-back program in place, the city should be able to meet any regulation that comes down the pike.
As 2010 drew to a close, the program launched a website at www.wmtakebackmeds.org, and began to expand countywide. “After the success of our program, I started talking to other municipalities and Kent County, and all involved wanted to expand to the whole West Michigan area,” Oostindie says. “So the county took the lead on coordinating the meetings and the formation of the website and now we will have well over 100 pharmacies involved.
“The total we have collected since November 2009 is just over 4,500 pounds from the WYMED program alone, so I can’t wait to see it grow with the expansion to the entire area.”
