Water treatment plants were never designed to remove pharmaceuticals from water, so many drugs wind up downstream from the water plants, which then become part of our larger marine population.

Since most people just flush their unused or unneeded drugs down the toilet or in the garbage, in many cases, it winds up in the ocean.

The EPA has issued guidelines for properly disposing of unwanted pharmaceuticals, and here are White House guidelines for the proper disposal of prescription drugs.

The FDA advises that these drugs be flushed down the toilet, NOT thrown in the trash:

Some hybrid striped bass exposed to Prozac eventually began hanging vertically in the water and stopped eating.
Credit: Clemson University’s Institute of Environmental Toxicology

1. Actiq (fentanyl citrate)
2. Avinza Capsules (morphine sulfate)
3. Baraclude Tablets (entecavir)
4. Daytrana Transdermal Patch (methylphenidate)
5. Duragesic Transdermal System (fentanyl)
6. Fentora (fentanyl buccal tablet)
7. Meperidine HCl Tablets
8. OxyContin Tablets (oxycodone)
9. Percocet (Oxycodone and Acetaminophen)
10. Reyataz Capsules (atazanavir sulfate)
11. Tequin Tablets (gatifloxacin)
12. Xyrem (Sodium Oxybate)
13. Zerit for Oral Solution (stavudine)

See revised list as of March 2010

If you are concerned about all those contaminants being lawfully poured into our water, you may want to read about distilled water too. Why? Distilled water is used for CPAP machines, because household tap water isn’t clean enough for inhaling right into our lungs through a CPAP machine – now that’s scary stuff!

Just as frightening: everybody fishing downstream of a water treatment plant is ingesting a lot more pharmaceuticals than their doctor’s prescription calls for.

UPDATE 7/18/10: From National Geographic: Prozac Pollution Making Shrimp Reckless