LOWELL — Neighbors and a nearby business owner were not terribly surprised on Wednesday when they heard that the U.S. Postal Service plans to move a collection box on Appleton Street after a mail carrier found several needles and syringes inside.

The carrier found “a few” syringes in the box while collecting mail inside during his regular rounds on Monday, according to regional Postal Service spokesman Steve Doherty.

The box is at the corner of Appleton and South streets.

“In the interest of safety and the security of the mail, we are in the process of relocating the collection box,” Doherty said.

No mail carriers have been injured, he said.

Doherty said the syringes were dumped through the letter slot. No one could gain access to retrieve them, he said.

Franklin Disla, a tax preparer whose office is located on the other side of Appleton Street, said his mailman had already notified him of the upcoming change since he uses the blue mailbox for some of his business-related mailings.

Disla said he will probably start dropping off his mail at the post office instead.

“This area is very popular and you see needles even on the sidewalk,” Disla said, noting that he’s also seen needles in parks and downtown Lowell.

Disla said he wasn’t surprised by the news since people tend to gather on the corner of Appleton and South streets most mornings and afternoons.

Michael Kane, who lives nearby, said he has never found a needle personally, but he nodded toward a pile of litter nearby as he said it wouldn’t surprise him if he did.

Kane said he wishes the city would invest more in the Appleton and Middlesex streets area, noting that it’s a “bad area” for drug activity.

Another neighborhood resident, Ana Foley, who lives on Jackson Street with her nearly 1-year-old child, said she just found a needle a few days ago as she was getting into her car.

“I’m familiar with the epidemic and crisis, but to see it first hand was still jarring,” Foley said.

Rick Barry, director of operations for Trinity EMS, said ambulance crews have gotten 47 requests to pick up needles in just the last 30 days in Lowell, with the locations of those spread across the city, from Appleton Street to Christian Hill.

“It’s really in all neighborhoods of the city,” Barry said.

He said some of the requests end up involving needles used for real medical purposes, and also noted that some of the 47 requests involved multiple needles.

Police recently found 19 needles while clearing out an area near The Sun’s offices on Dutton Street where addicts were using drugs, and yet another needle remained on the ground nearby Wednesday even though the area had been cleared of the brush drug users used to hide in.

Barry said ambulance crews respond to calls reporting needles found in public, secure them in plastic boxes and then have a biohazard disposal company safely dispose of them.

It is illegal to dispose of hypodermic needles in regular trash containers in Massachusetts, so anyone who finds a needle in a public should contact either Lowell police via their business line at 978-937-3200, or contact Trinity directly at 978-441-9999.

Lowell police Capt. Timothy Crowley said anyone who finds a needle should avoid touching it, especially if they are uncapped, and let police or Trinity know if the needle is in an area that’s frequented by children.

A new location for the postal box is being reviewed by postal service delivery and operations staff, Doherty said.

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