From a personal safety perspective, prescription drugs are often easily accessible and wind up in the hands of children, teens, or young adults or are sold to others. Abuse and overdose of prescription drugs is a leading cause of death in Palm Beach County. Locking up or disposing of unwanted medicines properly can help prevent unnecessary tragedies.
From an environmental perspective, many of the compounds in pharmaceuticals are not effectively removed in traditional wastewater treatment plants and there is now growing evidence that many of these are being found in trace amounts in our waterways and natural areas where they can bioaccumulate in the food chain..
