SAN ANTONIO -- Some local 8th graders are hoping to make a big impact on the safety of San Antonio's drinking water. A team at N.E.I.S.D.'s STEM Academy beat out thousands of other teams across Texas and other surrounding states in an Army-sponsored competition.
The competition centers around science, technology, engineering, and math -- also known as STEM. Experts say STEM training is going to be the driving force in tomorrow's workplace.
Jocelyn Hernandez and Nathaly Salazar, 8th graders at NEISD's STEM Academy have been researching what happens when people flush their unused pills down the toilet or throw them in the trash. And what they found out might surprise you.
"As you can see here, these were the plants that we watered with pharmaceuticals," Jocelyn said, showing us some trays of soil.
The 8th graders watered one tray of soil with pure, distilled water and found that plants grew tall and healthy. But the water they poured on the soil in the other tray was contaminated with common medication. Plants in the contaminated soil didn't grow -- in fact, their seeds didn't even begin to sprout.
"Even though it's not going to affect us now, we have to preserve our environment for future generations," said Jocelyn. "Especially in how we dispose of our medications."
Jocelyn explained, medications that are flushed down the toilet or dumped in the trash can contaminate San Antonio's future water supply.
But the girls' research didn't stop there.
"They did a survey," explained Sandra Geisbush, a science teacher at the STEM Academy. "And over 80 percent of the people that took the survey had no idea what the proper way to dispose of pharmaceuticals actually is."
So the 8th graders are determined to change that. Jocelyn and Nathaly have developed a prototype for people to safely store discarded medication, in between the drug "take back" days sponsored by SAWS and the DEA.
"The system does work well, but since the take back days aren't very often, a lot of the medication still gets disposed of improperly," commented Nathaly.
The girls are also campaigning for pharmacies to develop their own drug take back programs to make proper disposal more accessible and convenient.
They've developed their own website to help with public awareness and outreach. To check it out,
click here.
And for more information on how to properly get rid of expired or unused drugs,
click here.
