The Presence and Severity of Pharmaceuticals in the Environment as a Big, New Thing
Their “high-falutin’ science,” as staff biologist Stephanie Leggett called it, involved catching juvenile bull sharks to determine the health risks prescription drugs pose to wildlife in the Caloosahatchee River.
Specifically, they’re investigating cholesterol-lowering drugs such as Lipitor, synthetic estrogen from contraceptives such as Ortho Evra, and antidepressants such as Paxil and Prozac.
Although pharmaceuticals are constantly flushing into coastal systems, mainly from human excretion through wastewater discharge, research on the effects is sparse. (…)
After 43 empty hooks, the team pulled a 3- to 4-year-old male bull shark on deck — bull sharks are very aggressive and considered by many scientists to be the most dangerous shark in the world, but often when hauled on board or brought to the side of a boat, they’re remarkably docile.
During the next 10 minutes — the fish was in a live well for two of those minutes — the researchers measured it (54 inches), took 6 milliliters of blood to test for drugs, clipped a small piece from the top of the dorsal fin and inserted a tag at the base of the dorsal fin — silicone-rubber discs on the tag absorb pharmaceuticals from whatever water the shark swims through. Then the shark was put back in the water. (…)
Researchers at the University of Georgia have found that low-level exposure to a widely used group of antidepressants, which include Prozac, Zoloft and Paxil, delays both development in fish and metamorphosis in frogs. { News Press | Continue reading }
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