IT’S time to take the war on drugs to the ocean. A study in Florida has found evidence of a cocktail of medications contaminating the ocean’s food chain. Almost 60 different drugs, including heart medication, opioids, antidepressants, and antifungals are being found in rare bonefish – a species whose population...
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A study in Florida has found evidence of a cocktail of medications contaminating the ocean’s food chain.
Almost 60 different drugs, including heart medication, opioids, antidepressants, and antifungals are being found in rare bonefish – a species whose population has declined steeply in recent years.
More concerningly, they are also being found in their prey, meaning there is a chain of transmission from elsewhere in the ocean.
Of the almost 100 bonefish tested as part of the study, all returned a positive result for at least one pharmaceutical.
The researchers also studied 125 animals that bonefish prey on, including shrimp, crabs and small fish, with each also containing contaminants.
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