Don’t flush theses items: Medications, cosmetic ingredients, and DEET found in our lakes, rivers and streams.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the City want residents to stop flushing unwanted medicines down the toilet. Better alternatives include taking the drugs to our medication collection site, in the lower level lobby of Fridley City Hall, for safe disposal by the police department. Cross off your name and address.
For those chemicals from personal care products, many can be mixed with cat litter to discourage ingestion—you throw them in the trash in a sealed container after they congeal. Special recommendations apply to liquid chemotherapy drugs (contact your pharmacist for details).
A new study released by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency confirms that lakes and streams across Minnesota are contaminated by a variety of pharmaceuticals like those to treat high blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes along with antidepressants; ingredients from personal care products, as well as endocrine-disrupting compounds. Endocrine systems, also referred to as hormone systems, are found in all mammals, birds and fish. They are glands located throughout the body, whose balance may be adversely affected by these compounds entering waterways. The insect repellent DEET, for instance, was detected in 91% of the lakes studied.
Lead author Mark Ferrey noted that the study found these compounds in surprising variety both upstream and downstream of wastewater treatment plants.