Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - July/August 2018 - 57

photo-Geoffrey Smith

endocrine disrupting compounds-can enter waterways
from people illegally dumping trash or from flushing
medications down the toilet.
The medication take-back
boxes allow community
members to return unused
or expired prescriptions,
including narcotics, for safe
and eco-friendly disposal. The
take-back boxes are easy to use
and accept prescription and
over-the-counter medications
in solid, liquid, patch, cream,
ointment and spray form.
Inhalers, needles, syringes and
aerosols are not accepted.
Take time to do your part
and get into the habit of
cleaning out your medicine
cabinet and properly
disposing of unused, unwanted, The Pennsylvania Fish &
expired medications.
Boat Commission (PFBC)
To find other drug takepartnered with Geisinger in
back box locations across
2017 to open a medication
Pennsylvania, visit
take-back box in the lobby of
PFBC's headquarters.
www.geisinger.org/takeback.

photo-Andrea Feeney

began its community Medication Take-Back Program in
2012 and has collected over 10,000 pounds of medications.
The overarching goals of the program are to increase the
quantity of unused medications being removed from the
home and to increase the proportion of these medications
being properly disposed, decreasing the abuse of
prescription drugs by teenagers, decrease the unintentional
overdose of medications by children and the potential
negative impact of medications on our environment.
The Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission (PFBC)
partnered with Geisinger in 2017 to open a medication
take-back box in the lobby of the agency's headquarters,
located at 1601 Elmerton Avenue, Harrisburg, PA 17110.
According to PFBC Executive Director John A. Arway, in
addition to providing a way for citizens to properly and
safely dispose of unused medications, the effort will also
help improve the health of the Susquehanna River and its
Smallmouth Bass population.
"Research shows that chemicals found in medications
are being absorbed by fish and are contributing factors
to various problems, including lesions on young-of-year
Smallmouth Bass and intersex fish, in which male fish
develop female egg cells," said Arway. "When we reduce
the amount of medications entering our waterways,
we help protect the environment and the aquatic life in
the waterways." These chemical contaminants-called

photo-Geoffrey Smith

In addition to providing a way for citizens to properly and safely dispose of unused medications, the effort will also help improve the
health of the Susquehanna River and its Smallmouth Bass population.
1

Frequently Asked Questions on the NCPA Prescription Drug Disposal Program, Dispose My Meds [factsheet on the Internet]. Alexandria
(VA): National Community Pharmacists Association; [cited 2015 Jul 29]. Available from: http://www.ncpanet.org/docs/default-source/
default-document-library/ncpa_pdp_faqs.pdf
www.fishandboat.com

Pennsylvania Angler & Boater * July/August 2018

http://www.geisinger.org/takeback http://www.ncpanet.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/ncpa_pdp_faqs.pdf http://www.ncpanet.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/ncpa_pdp_faqs.pdf http://www.fishandboat.com

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