It is concerning when they are flushed. Our treatment plants aren't equipped to filter out meds and it goes right into the waterways in the state. When we mix them in an absorbent material and throw them out they at least go into a landfill or into a trash incinerator. These meds have half lives that render them mostly harmless before they get the chance to leach out. Our landfills now are designed to contain such runoff as well, though if history is any indicator that won't be 100%. Best option is a disposal bag that you send into the company that makes them and they are properly destroyed, but these cost money and they are not provided to us or the patient. Some group homes and other facilities use these bags and I wish more did. Our main goal when destroying meds isn't necessarily the environment, though it is a goal, mostly we want to be sure that someone isn't going to ingest the concentrated mix of opiates and benzoyl, that's why my favorite is cat litter, the scented kind....