Sunday Times 2
Should I flush it? Most often, the answer is no
View(s):It might seem harmless at first: a thread of dental floss tossed in the toilet. But even the tiniest of items can contaminate waterways. The small fragments of plastic are believed to be contributing to the growing problem of microplastic pollution. Pharmaceuticals, which are also flushed down the drain, have been found in our drinking water.
Larger products like wipes sanitary pads and tampons are also clogging sewer systems, resulting in billions of dollars in maintenance and repair costs. Wondering what’s safe to flush or wash down the drain? We spoke with several wastewater management experts who explained why many frequently disposed items belong in a garbage can, not the toilet.
Disposable wipes
Many wipes claim on their packaging to be “flushable,” but almost all of them contain rayon or viscose, said Rob Villée, executive director of the Plainfield Area Regional Sewerage Authority in Middlesex, NJ. “Unfortunately, the natural water bodies these get into do not have the heat or micro-organism levels to effectively degrade these,” he added. While toilet paper will break down in anywhere from a minute to four minutes, wipes take at least six hours to disintegrate, Mr. Villée said. Furthermore, the pumps at collection systems that move waste downstream to treatment plants cannot tear them apart.
Dental floss
Dental floss, which is usually made of nylon or Teflon, should also stay out of the toilet. “It seems like, ‘Oh, it’s just a little string,’ but it tends to wrap things up,” Mr. Villée said. “It’ll collect other things and make kind of a big wad of stuff. It’s incredibly strong.”
Contact lenses
When contact lenses are flushed down the toilet or washed down the sink, they do not biodegrade easily. As a result, they may make their way into surface water, causing environmental damage, research has shown. The lenses are also impervious to the bacteria that break down biological waste at treatment plants. “We discourage any kind of plastics because it can make its way through a treatment plant and end up in the receiving water,” said Vincent Sapienza, the commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.
Tampons
It is often assumed that tampons can be flushed down the toilet, in part because they are so small. But their absorbent materials, including the string, do not break down easily: They cannot be processed by wastewater treatment centers, and can damage septic systems. Kotex, Playtex and Tampax advise women to throw them away instead. “It’s best to simply wrap a used tampon in toilet paper and toss it in the garbage,” Playtex says on its website.
Medications
Wastewater treatment plants are not designed to filter out pharmaceuticals, so drugs that are disposed of in the toilet or the sink drain end up entering streams, rivers and lakes. The first major study to document this, conducted by the US Geological Survey, found low levels of organic wastewater compounds, including prescription and nonprescription drugs and hormones, in 139 streams across the US.
(Courtesy The New York Times)