Improperly disposing over-the-counter and prescription medications, such as flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash while they’re loose or still in their container, is potentially harmful to the environment and to those who may get a hold of them.

To help residents find an outlet to safely dispose of their old medications, Johnson County is participating in National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day. Burleson will have a drive-thru site on Saturday at the Old Municipal Service Center.

Flushing unwanted or expired medicine down the toilet is not advised, said Bill Pannell, water utilities superintendent for the city of Cleburne.

“Many years back there was an area here in the United States involving an aquatic species. Birth control pills in the wastewater were going into this body of water,” Pannell said. “The estrogen was affecting the fish and their behavior. When they were laying eggs, the eggs were not full.”

Pannell said a large concentration of prescription drugs in the water can be problematic, and medications that would advise users to flush the toilets is something he hasn’t seen in awhile.

“Unused medicines were getting in the hands of children. They could abuse pain relievers, so the safe thing they believed at that time was to flush them down the toilet so nobody would accidentally ingest them. When I see those labels, I just assume it’s an old school thought process ... the safest thing is don’t flush them,” Pannell said.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, or “PPCPs,” dissolve easily and don’t evaporate at normal temperatures or pressure, so they make their way into the soil and into aquatic environments through sewage, irrigation with reclaimed water and sewage sludge.

But it can also be harmful to leave medicine sitting in a cabinet, lying around, thrown loosely in the trash or where someone else can get their hands on them.

Adam King, commander of the Stop the Offender Program Special Crimes Unit, said prescription drug abuse is a problem.

“It takes up a large portion of our time up here and it’s a very big problem. People think that because it’s a pharmaceutical drug, it’s not addicting or dangerous,” he said. “It’s just as big of a deal and it’s potentially just as dangerous.”

Prescription drug abuse can start with what’s in the medicine cabinet, King said, but sometimes abusers take it a step further.

“The more common way is just stealing them, but we see false or altered scripts, doctor shopping where they go around and have doctors prescribe them medicine unaware that they’re also being treated somewhere else, or we see people go into Mexico and smuggle them back in just like they would with cocaine,” King said.

If you need to get rid of either prescription or over-the-counter medications, contact your state or local waste management authority to determine if the medications are considered hazardous waste so they can help you find a safe way to dispose of them. The medication might have specific disposal instructions on the label or other accompanying patient information, according to the EPA. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy’s federal guidelines also suggest taking the prescription drugs out of their original container and mixing them with an “undesirable substance,” like coffee grounds or cat litter so it’s less appealing to children, pets or someone who may intentionally go through your trash.

It’s also advised to put them in a sealed bag or other container to prevent the medicines from leaking or breaking out of the garbage bag, the ONDCP said.

King said he recently found a pan on the side of the road as he was driving.

“It was full of somebody’s prescription medications,” King said. “It’s not the best thing to do. God knows who would’ve found those. Just throwing away the drugs can put them in the wrong person’s hands.”

The Drug Enforcement Administration, which hosts the national event, had a Take-Back Day in April and collected a record-breaking 552,161 pounds of expired or unwanted medications from residents. More than 5,000 sites were open for safe and proper disposal in all 50 states and U.S. territories. In the four Take-Back Days to date, the DEA and its state, local and tribal law enforcement and community partners have collected more than 1.5 million pounds of expired or unwanted medications.

Those interested in dropping off unwanted or expired medications, either prescription or over-the-counter, can stop by Take-Back Day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Old Municipal Service Center, located at 133 N. Main St. in Burleson.