Allen County residents can cut medicine cabinet clutter, keep potentially harmful drugs off the streets and help the environment by participating in an unwanted-medication collection today at various sites throughout Fort Wayne.
The event is sponsored by Allen County TRIAD and conducted at select Walgreens sites, according to Jill Headrick, TRIAD chairwoman.
The free event is conducted as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency continues to study the possible effects of trace amounts of medications that have been detected in drinking water and the nation’s waterways.
Efforts include examining how the health care industry disposes of unwanted medications, a study involving fish tissue and a survey of sewage sludge to determine whether pharmaceuticals as well as personal care products like soaps and cosmetics are present, according to the EPA.
In addition to making homes safer, Headrick said the medication dropoff offered twice a year by Allen County TRIAD provides an environmentally safe alternative to flushing unwanted medications down the toilet.
“It’s basically flushed into our rivers and water system,” Headrick said.
The next TRIAD unwanted-medication collection will be Sept. 25.
