10 Items You Must Never Pour Down the Drain

Medication

The Alarming Risks of Flushing Medication Down Drains

Many mistakenly think flushing medication is harmless. They assume pills dissolve instantly, but the reality is far graver. Medications can contaminate water supplies, posing serious environmental and health threats.

Flushed drugs don't vanish. They may remain intact or partially dissolve, polluting water sources. While filtration systems tackle most germs, they aren't designed to remove pharmaceuticals. Drug traces can persist in drinking water and ecosystems, harming aquatic life and impacting humans.

Medications in water can disrupt animal hormones, leading to reproductive issues and declining populations. They also fuel antibiotic resistance as leftover drugs affect bacteria in the environment.