Considering a growing awareness of all the chemicals like the health-harming herbicide atrazine hiding in your drinking water, you may be relieved, or a little alarmed, to learn the FDA has finally taken a tiny step in the right direction toward cleaner water. But it requires your attention and cooperation, however.

Why? Late last month, the FDA issued an advisory on its Web site (see link below) about the safe disposal of outdated medicines in your home by flushing them down your toilet. And, like most folks, you may have been dumping all of your unused medicines down the water closet for a long time without thinking about the consequences.

The list of "safe" medicines you can flush down the toilet is severely limited to 26 medicines, according to the FDA. Some of them may ring a bell in the pop culture side of your brain because they have been linked to highly publicized cases of drug abuse. Among the most recognizable:

* Demerol

* Dliaudid

* OxyContin

* Percocet

This FDA advisory comes on the heels of a Ball State University study that detected trace amounts of acetaminophen, lithium, caffeine, dimethylxanthine (a caffeine byproduct) and continine (a nicotine byproduct) in freshwater ecosystems supplying central Indiana with 85 percent of its surface water.

That's just the tip of iceberg, according to this disturbing study done last year by the Associated Press about traces of an overwhelming array of drugs found in water supplies accessed by at least 41 MILLION Americans.

FDA.gov October 20, 2009

Chicago Tribune October 21, 2009

PhysOrg October 20, 2009