Why this matters for the Dart: sewage works were never designed to remove medicines, so what you flush or pour reaches the river in measurable amounts.
The rule: unused medicines go back to any pharmacy. Paint, solvents and garden chemicals go to the recycling centre. None of it goes down any drain, sink or toilet.
Modern sewage treatment removes a great deal, but medicines are designed to be biologically active at tiny doses, and they slip through. The water industry's Chemical Investigations Programme, which examined 74 substances at more than 600 sewage treatment works, found that although treatment substantially reduces the concentrations of many substances, "even the residual concentrations can be high in relation to the stringent water quality standards", and it flagged some painkillers, antibiotics and steroid hormones as of potential concern 32. Scientists call these leftovers pharmaceutical micropollutants: traces of drugs, far too dilute to see, but measurable in rivers and biologically active for the creatures living there.
This is not a distant, big-city problem. A University of York led global study of 258 rivers, published in 2022, found pharmaceutical concentrations above levels considered safe for aquatic organisms at a quarter of all sites sampled 33 34. Closer to home, research by the University of York and the Rivers Trust found pharmaceuticals at 52 of 54 sites monitored across England's ten national parks, and some rivers on Exmoor and in the Peak District had higher concentrations than major cities 35. Friends of the Dart's own Phase 2 water quality testing has included screening for pharmaceuticals in the Dart catchment 11.
Take unused medicines back to the pharmacy. Gather up out-of-date tablets, unused prescriptions, syrups, creams and inhalers and hand them in at any community pharmacy. This is not a favour they do you: accepting unwanted medicines for safe disposal is an NHS essential service that all pharmacies in England provide 31. As Cornwall Council's guidance puts it, do not flush medicines down the toilet, because doing so "can have an impact on our rivers and seas" 30. Why it helps the Dart: returned medicines are incinerated safely instead of dissolving into the sewage stream, and researchers see accessible take-back schemes as a key way to keep pharmaceuticals out of wastewater 36. How hard: easy, next time you pass a chemist.
Never bin liquid medicines down the sink either. The sink and the loo lead to the same place. Return liquids in their bottles to the pharmacy 30. How hard: easy.
Take paint, solvents and chemicals to the recycling centre. Leftover paint, white spirit, brush cleaner, engine oil, weedkiller and pesticides should go to a household waste recycling centre that accepts hazardous waste; GOV.UK has a postcode finder for your local service 37. Never pour them down a sink, an outside drain or onto the ground: an outside drain very likely leads straight to a watercourse (see how your home connects to the river), and even via the foul sewer these substances harm the treatment process. Let water-based paint dry out in the tin before disposal, and keep lids on solvents. Why it helps the Dart: a single litre of solvent or oil can pollute a long stretch of a small stream, and the Dart's tributaries are small streams. How hard: easy to moderate; it needs a car trip.
Store garden and DIY chemicals where they cannot spill. Keep them in original containers, off the floor, away from drains and watercourses, and buy only what you will use. Why it helps the Dart: most chemical pollution incidents start as storage and handling accidents, not deliberate tipping. How hard: easy.