Matthew Supple
Soc 202
American fish are drugged. That is, the drugs that American's take run their course and end up in the sewers and thus, in the fish. Studies have reveal numerous pharmaceuticals that treat depression, blood pressure, high cholesterol allergies and bipolar disorder, just to name a few. The filtering systems we use don't remove ALL of the chemicals in the sewage and so it cycles into the fish, into people, and back into the sewer. This cycle my lead it to increase as the years go on. Fortunately for humans, the concentrations aren't nearly high enough to have an effect on us but the effects on the wildlife is yet unknown. Smaller creatures are effected by small concentrations of the chemicals so it won't take long for enough to build up to cause problems. Not only are the chemicals building up in the fish but it's also polluting the water.
There should really be more testing done on the potential consequences and the possible courses of action. There also needs to be more research on how to better filter the pharmaceuticals out of the water more thoroughly. This study also points out the secondary issue of American reliance on medication, to the extent it's building up in river fish and frogs, potentially poisoning other Americans. The other implications can't be known with this because there is insufficient data on the true spread of the chemicals and the concentration in different areas.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/03/26/fish-are-on-anti-depressants-allergy-meds-and-a-host-of-other-pharmaceuticals/
1 comment:
This article is really eye opening. Just to think what all is in our water. Just because we cant see it doesnt mean its not there. THe fact that its not a large enough amount of pollution to affect us is good. However, it is still impacting the fish and whatnot. Eventually the buildup will affect us. But until then we will probably not do anything about it.
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