Protect our Community. Protect our Children. Protect Our Water. Protect Our Environment.

Old prescriptions? Leftover pills?  Too often these extra pills end up in the wrong hands and the wrong places.  Keep everyone safe. There are convenient, safe medication “drop box” and drop off locations in Tillamook County at: Rinehart Clinic & Pharmacy in Wheeler, Rockaway Beach Police department, Tillamook City Police and Tillamook County Sheriff’s Office during the open hours.

Flushing or dumping prescription medication down a drain is not a good way to dispose of your meds. Since Tillamook is “the land of many waters” even small amounts of medication can enter the environment, contaminate drinking water, and affect people and wildlife. Help protect Oregon’s most precious resources by taking your meds back to secure collection boxes.

Find the collection box nearest you at www.takemedsseriouslyoregon.org/disposal/disposal

Protect our drinking water

Pharmaceutical residues can affect people. Traces of medication have been detected in the drinking water of 24 major metropolitan areas across the country serving 46 million people.

Protect our lakes and rivers

Another study showed that 80 percent of the sampled streams in the U.S. contain small amounts of prescription and over the counter medicines, personal care products, and other chemicals. Sewage treatment systems cannot remove all medications from water that are released into lakes, rivers or oceans. As a result, fish and other aquatic life have shown adverse effects from medicines in the water. And small amounts of medicine have been found in our drinking water from these sources.

 

Sources

The Associated Press. (2018). Pharmaceuticals found in drinking water.

United States Geological Survey. (2018). Wastewater contaminants in U.S. streams.

 

 

 

 

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