# Is it ok to flush disposable contact lenses down the sink or toilet?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ok-to-flush-disposable-contact-lenses-down-the-sink-or-toilet/552357>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 2, 2010, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ok-to-flush-disposable-contact-lenses-down-the-sink-or-toilet/552357 "2010-09-02T07:16:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ok-to-flush-disposable-contact-lenses-down-the-sink-or-toilet/552357/21 "2010-09-04T00:15:19Z")

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I had a dog once that got a hold of a disposable contact lens in the wastebasket. He ate it and died a gruesome death. Without my contact lens, I couldn’t tell for myself, but I was told it was not a pretty sight.

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**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ok-to-flush-disposable-contact-lenses-down-the-sink-or-toilet/552357/22 "2010-09-04T05:02:51Z")

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> [@Canadjun](#):
>
> > [@robby](#):
> >
> > Anything that doesn’t break down immediately in water, like toilet paper and human waste, can end up contributing to backups. And if you live in a combined sewer overflow community, like many older cities, in heavy storm events, the combined sewers can overflow, sending everything into the nearest water body. And while human waste will rapidly decompose in the environment, the trash does not.
> 
> I have a colostomy. I don’t wish to discuss it at the moment (and it would be extremely off-topic for this thread anyway), but I’m curious what you would make of [Colo-majic liners](http://www.colostomymajic.com/liners.html) then :eek: They are plastic bags that fit inside a colostomy bag that you can pull out of the colostomy bag when it is getting somewhat full and throw in the toilet rather than using up expensive colostomy bags (which one disposes of by other means). Or, to put it more succinctly, what do you think of plastic bags of shit?

If it’s a plastic bag, it would be best if it were disposed of it in the trash. Ideally, the bag would first be emptied into a toilet, but I can see how this might not be feasible for you.

I gave a more complete [answer](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12871566&postcount=179) in the related tampon thread, along with a link to one municipality’s detailed list of items not to dispose of in sinks and toilets, as well as a list of “Do’s” and “Don’ts.”

While I see that these bags are marketed as “flushable” in the link you provided, there is no recognized standard for what “flushable” really means. All I can tell you is that the sanitary sewers are only designed to handle wastewater, human waste, and toilet paper. (In that other thread, in this [post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12872418&postcount=199), a poster linked to some recent problems the growing popularity of so-called “flushable” wipes have been causing.) The reason why plastic bags are problematic is because if they are sealed and stay intact, they can easily block a pipe or a pump. If they shred, they can wrap around a pump impeller.

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