As is so often the case, the Sunday Paper was way, WAY ahead of anyone else in reporting the pharmaceutical contamination of the water supply that the Associated Press is trumpeting today. We reported it in our July 15, 2007 edition. Here's the link to our story:
http://www.sundaypaper.com/More/Archives/tabid/98/ArticleType/ArticleView/ArticleID/350/PageID/350/Default.aspx
July 15, 2007 The Sunday Paper
Antidepressant contamination
Our happiness is killing our fish and frogs
By Colby Dunn
Prozac. Paxil. Zoloft. Lexapro. Wellbutrin. Cymbalta. We hear about them constantly. And all of us probably know at least 10 people that are on one of them—and maybe even more according to a recently released CDC study that names antidepressants the No. 1, prescribed drug class in the country. More than 118 million people are throwing back these so-called happy pills, and often to life-changing effect. But not everyone is jumping for joy at the antidepressant revolution. In fact, some fish and frogs are finding it difficult to jump at all, due to antidepressant exposure.
According to a study by researchers at the University of Georgia, fish and frogs are inadvertently soaking up these drugs. And unlike their human counterparts, they’re none the better for it. The study says that as a result, mosquitofish are having trouble reproducing and frogs can’t find their legs fast enough to make it out of the very edible tadpole stage.
“We’re scratching our heads right now as to exactly what this means,” says Marsha Black, leader of the study and an aquatic toxicologist at UGA. “You could see some population impact.”
These Prozac-popping fish and frogs aren’t nearly as content as you’d expect them to be. In fact, they’re more likely to die out the more they’re exposed to the drugs, which is bad news—especially considering that the prescription rate for antidepressants is going nowhere but up.
But the dilemma for our amphibious friends begs the question—how did they procure the Prozac in the first place? The answer is simple: wastewater. While we’re pretty good at keeping bad stuff out of our own water, the animal kingdom is often not so adept. Antidepressants that have been flushed, trashed or otherwise disposed of are breaking
down and seeping into ponds, streams and wetlands where wildlife feed
and flourish.
But it’s not just the Paxils and Zolofts of the world that find their way into fish and frog homes. Everything we use and get rid of, from other prescription drugs to shampoo to shoe polish blends into a not-so-tasty cocktail blooming in ponds everywhere.
These pollutants, known in the scientific community as “pharmaceuticals and personal care products,” or PPCPs, are also finding their way into human drinking water. The water that flows from your tap is, of course, well purified, but even there a close analysis would find harmless trace amounts of some surprising substances like Tylenol and sunscreen. In a 2004 study, England’s Environment Agency reported finding Prozac in the nation’s drinking water, and although no evidence of such a substance has emerged from American faucets, the increased intake of antidepressants suggests it might be only a matter of time before it’s found. The U.K. hands out only 24 million prescriptions per year for antidepressants, which seems meager compared to America’s 118 million.
However, even if the drugs never reach drinking water, they’re already doing damage in wastewater alone. Black and other researchers are concerned that the fish and frogs we know could one day be no more. For these animals, drug-induced developmental delays could mean a matter of life and death for their families and eventually their species.
Depression is often treated as a chronic condition, so prescription holders will use these drugs for months or years, possibly for life, making the environmental-contamination risk higher than for occasional-use medicines like ibuprofen or Tylenol. As a result, the risk for these animals is only getting higher, and though it is uncertain what the long-term effects will be, delayed development and reproductive complications can’t be good signs for any species, fish and frogs included.
While many question the human safety and wisdom of this burgeoning trend toward passing out Prozac prescriptions like candy, it is already clear that the animal world is beginning to suffer for it. And if the trend continues, they may soon be just a happy memory. SP