More Hot State News Effecting Differently-Abled!!! I. Dumping Your Drugs by Linda Milloy Your toilet bowl may be the time-honored venue for dumping expired or unused drugs/medication, but waterways could suffer for it. The U.S. Geologic Surgery has been studying the nation’s waterways for years & detected trace levels of chemicals commonly found in prescription drugs in 80 percent of streams tested across the country. Now researchers suspect hormones & antidepressants may be one of a few things responsible for mass harming of fish. The US Environmental Protection Agency is on the march to gauge the health & environmental impact of pharmaceutics in water. What should you do with your drugs? Currently there are no government guidelines, so pharmaceutical experts recommend: 1. Find out if your local pharmacies take back medications. Some have days designated for drop-offs. 2. Check to see whether your area has a community household hazardous waste collection program. 3. Go to www.epa.gov/epahome/state.htm for local phone numbers. If you must use your garbage can, take these precautions: 1. Keep the medication in its original container. Scratch out your name for security purposes. 2. Add a small amount of water to pills or an absorbent material like flour to liquid medications to discourage the medication use by someone else. 3. Put the containers in a paper bag or a yogurt container to conceal the medication container. Then toss the container as close to your actual trash pickup day as possible. ======================================================= II. Plastic Bags As We Know Them---recent recommendations by the EPA have resulted in a change of grocery store bags! Soon only paper bags will be available until plastic bags can be re-designed to decompose, as well as, become harmless to wildlife. This change could be a problem for people who find the plastic bag useful or perhaps necessary. ##