[ad_1]
According to new research, a platypus living in a creek or stream with sewage could be exposed to 50% of a daily daily dose of antidepressants in humans, simply by consuming its diet normal in insects.
A team of scientists, led by researchers from Monash University, analyzed insects and riverine spiders found in six Melbourne watercourses looking for traces of 98 types of pharmaceuticals.
The research, released Wednesday in Nature Communications, detected 69 types of pharma products in insects and 66 types in spiders. This suggests that pharmaceuticals have been transferred to spiders after eating insects.
The scientists then estimated the potential exposure of the main species that feed on invertebrates in these streams: platypus and brown trout.
"There are many studies that indicate that pharmaceuticals are in the water," said lead author Erinn Richmond. "What we did not know is that these pharmaceuticals are going through aquatic food webs.
"One of the alarming factors in this study is the number and type of drugs detected in these insects.
"We found 69 different pharmaceutical products."
The watercourses analyzed had varying levels of exposure to wastewater from treatment plants or other sources of wastewater, such as septic tanks or infrastructure that fleeing.
The number of drug types found and their concentrations were highest among insects collected in areas downstream of wastewater treatment plants or in highly populated areas with septic tank leaks.
But Richmond said even a suspected contamination-free site – Lyrebird Creek in Dandenong Ranges National Park – contained insects in which 41 different pharmaceutical compounds had been detected.
The types of medications detected include muscle relaxants, antihistamines, paracetamol, beta-blockers and small amounts of drugs for Parkinson's disease.
For some classes of drugs, such as antidepressants, the researchers estimated that trout and platypus could consume up to half the daily therapeutic dose in humans.
Scientists have said that pharmaceuticals making their way into the food webs are not a specific problem in Australia and could occur wherever medicines were consumed.
They said the amount of drugs detected was also "undoubtedly an underestimate", as they tested only 98 compounds and more than 900 pharmaceutical products were subsidized by the Australian Drug Benefit Plan. More than 1,400 are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.
But Richmond said that the consequences of exposure on wildlife would require additional research.
She added that individuals need to be aware of how they are eliminating unused pharmaceutical drugs and the need for stricter environmental guidelines.
"As time goes by, the use of pharmaceuticals around the world is increasing," she said. "There are benefits to taking drugs for us, but research clearly shows that these pharmaceuticals are crossing these food webs to expose insects, spiders and potentially birds, bats, fish and platypus."
Source link
