Contact:

Helen Domske, NY Sea Grant, P: 716-645-3610, E: hmd4@cornell.edu

Buffalo, NY, April 17, 2012 - The 4th annual National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is Saturday, April 28, 2012 across the U.S. New York Sea Grant officials are encouraging people to participate in the opportunity to properly dispose of unwanted or unused prescription drugs to keep the pharmaceuticals out of the Great Lakes.

“Each day through improper disposal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products we add unwanted toxins to the finite system of freshwater that is the Great Lakes,” says New York Sea Grant Coastal Education Specialist Helen Domske, Buffalo, NY.

“National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is a great opportunity for people to properly clear their medicine drawers and cabinets of unwanted and unused products. We want people to stop flushing them down the toilet or the drain,” Domske adds.

Domske is the author of “Undo the Environmental Chemical Brew: Keep Unwanted Medications & Chemicals Out of the Great Lakes” (pdf). The four-page primer tells consumers how they can keep pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PCPs) out of surface waters and why it is critical to do so.

The New York, Illinois-Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania Sea Grant programs produced “Undo the Environmental Chemical Brew: Keep Unwanted Medications & Chemicals Out of the Great Lakes” with funding through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative of the US Environmental Protection Agency. The pamphlet is online at "NYSG's Resources for Returning Unwanted Medicines."

National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day collection site locations are found online (click here) and include most local police agencies.

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a statewide network of integrated research, education and extension services promoting coastal vitality, environmental sustainability, and citizen awareness about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources, has been “Bringing Science to the Shore” for more than 40 years. NYSG, one of 32 university-based programs under the National Sea Grant College Program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is a cooperative program of the State University of New York and Cornell University. The National Sea Grant College Program engages this network of the nation’s top universities in conducting scientific research, education, training and extension projects designed to foster science-based decisions about the use and conservation of our aquatic resources.