The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) yesterday praised the efforts of the TakeAway medication disposal program to limit the amount of medication drugs entering Iowa’s waterways.

The DNR partnered with the Iowa Board of Pharmacy and the Iowa Pharmacy Association in 2009 to develop TakeAway, a state-funded program that operates in 415 Iowa pharmacies and has collected more than 17,000 pounds of unused medication.

DNR Deputy Director Pat Boddy said at a press conference that in monitoring Iowa’s rivers and streams, the DNR has found many chemicals common in prescription and over-the-counter drugs, making the efforts necessary.