Drugs in water wreak havoc on fish, wildlife

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Jeff Donn, Martha Mendoza and Justin Pritchard

AP

LAKE MEAD, Nev. - On a brisk morning, a flat-bottomed boat glides across the enormous reservoir that provides Las Vegas with drinking water and stores water for use in central and western Arizona. A rumble growls beneath the craft as two long, electrified claws extend into the depths. Moments later, dozens of stunned fish float to the surface.

Federal scientists scoop them up and transfer them into 50-quart ice chests for transport to a makeshift lab on shore. Researchers will club the 7-pound common carp to death, draw blood, snip out gonads and pack them in foil and dry ice.

The specimens will be flown across the country to laboratories where aquatic toxicologists are studying what happens to fish that live in water contaminated with at least 13 medications, from over-the-counter painkillers to prescription antibiotics and mood stabilizers.

More often than not, these tests bring unwelcome results.

A five-month Associated Press investigation has determined that trace amounts of many of the pharmaceuticals we take to stay healthy are seeping into drinking-water supplies and that a growing body of research indicates this could harm humans.

More evidence also points to the likelihood that some animals that live in or drink from streams and lakes are affected seriously.

Pharmaceuticals in the water are being blamed for severe reproductive problems in many types of fish. The endangered razorback sucker and male fathead minnow have been found with lower sperm counts and damaged sperm; walleyes and male carp have become what are called feminized fish, producing egg-yolk proteins made by females.

Female fish, too, have developed male genital organs. Also, sex ratios in some aquatic populations are skewed, and sexually abnormal bass produce cells for both sperm and eggs.

Problems with other wildlife are noted, as well: kidney failure in vultures, impaired reproduction in mussels, inhibited growth in algae.

"We have no reason to think that this is a unique situation," said Erik Orsak, an environmental-contaminants specialist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service working at Lake Mead. "We find pretty much anywhere we look, these compounds are ubiquitous."

For example:

• In a broad study under way, fish collected in waterways near or in Phoenix, Dallas, Chicago, Orlando and West Chester, Pa., have tested positive for an array of pharmaceuticals: analgesics, antibiotics, antidepressants, antihistamines, anti-hypertension drugs and anti-seizure medications.

• That follows a 2003 study in northern Texas, where every bluegill, black crappie and channel catfish researchers caught living downstream from a wastewater-treatment plant tested positive for the active ingredients in two widely used antidepressants - one of the first times the residues of such drugs were detected in wildlife.

• In several recent studies of soil fertilized with livestock manure or with sludge from treatment plants, American scientists found earthworms had accumulated those same compounds, while vegetables, including corn, lettuce and potatoes, had absorbed antibiotics. "These results raise potential human-health concerns," researchers wrote.

Elsewhere in the world - from the icy streams of England to the wild-game reserves of South Africa - snails, fish, even antelope show signs of possible pharmaceutical contamination. For example, fish and prawns in China exposed to treated wastewater had shortened life spans; Pacific oysters off Singapore had inhibited growth; and in Norway, Atlantic salmon exposed to levels of estrogen similar to those found in the North Sea had severe reproductive problems.

More than 100 pharmaceuticals have been detected in surface waters globally.

"It's inescapable," said Sudeep Chandra, an assistant professor at the University of Nevada-Reno who studies inland waters and aquatic life. "There's enough global information now to confirm these contaminants are affecting organisms and wildlife."

In November, at the annual Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry meeting in Milwaukee, 30 new studies related to pharmaceuticals in the environment were presented: hormones found in the Chicago River; abnormalities in Japanese zebra fish; ibuprofen, gemfibrozil, triclosan and naproxen in the lower Great Lakes.

Many of those studies refer to the heralded research at Lake Mead. There, on a recent morning, Steven Goodbred struggled to hold a large wriggling carp with both hands. On the outside, the carp looked fine, vibrant and strong, but the scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey assumed the worst.

"Typically, we see low levels of sex steroids, limited testicular function, low sperm count, that kind of thing," he said slipping the fish into a holding tank and closing the lid. "We'll have to wait and see about this fellow."

These carp live, eat, reproduce and die at the mouth of what amounts to a 30-mile-long drainage system that starts within toilets and sinks of the casinos, hotels and homes of Sin City.

About 180 million gallons of effluent are discharged into the channel each day from three wastewater-treatment plants. Daily sewage discharge is expected to increase to 400 million gallons a day by 2050.

The USGS and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service tracked the channel from its origins, before the inflow from the sewage plants, to where it empties into Las Vegas Bay in the lake. Their findings: The amount of endocrine-disrupting compounds (including hormone treatments and other chemicals affecting reproduction) increased more than 646 times.

Not far from the mouth of the drainage channel, amid fishing boats and sightseeing tours, water is sucked into a long pipe, destined for a drinking-water-treatment plant, then Las Vegas - thus beginning the cycle again.

Lake Mead stores all the water that flows to Maricopa, Pinal and Pima counties in the Central Arizona Project Canal, providing one-third or more of the annual resources for cities in those areas and an even greater percentage for farmers.

Water from Mead also flows down the Colorado River to the Yuma agricultural area, a rich source of winter vegetables.

"Lake Mead is a fortuitous worst-case scenario (for study)," said Greg Moller, an environmental toxicologist who studies water from Lake Mead at his lab at the University of Idaho.

"You've got the wastewater, you've got the documented impact on wildlife, and you have drinking-water uptake."

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/031...awater0310.html

[Ban Hammer 13,678]

them fish just need to say no to drugs....

[AnewKINDofFEELIN 0]

them fish just need to say no to drugs....

I think we should throw them all in jail.

[peejay 327]

Yes...and it will get worst and worst as we cram more people into the USA. Population trends predict another 100+ million added to the USA by 2050. That is not too far off. More people, less open spaces, more energy usage, more impact on natural resources, more impact on the environment, more polution, more pharmaceuticals in the water, etc.

What's the answer?

[Don_Joy's Prince 0]

them fish just need to say no to drugs....

I think we should throw them all in jail.

How about a new government program to get fish off drugs? We could spend millions of dollars with no result or even a harmful result, but we will feel good that we are doing something about the problem.

Then we can go on with self absorbed lives thinking that the responsibility is on somebody else since we pay our taxes!

[AnewKINDofFEELIN 0]

Yes...and it will get worst and worst as we cram more people into the USA. Population trends predict another 100+ million added to the USA by 2050. That is not too far off. More people, less open spaces, more energy usage, more impact on natural resources, more impact on the environment, more polution, more pharmaceuticals in the water, etc.

What's the answer?

Mother Earth will restore the balance sooner or later.

[Don_Joy's Prince 0]

Yes...and it will get worst and worst as we cram more people into the USA. Population trends predict another 100+ million added to the USA by 2050. That is not too far off. More people, less open spaces, more energy usage, more impact on natural resources, more impact on the environment, more polution, more pharmaceuticals in the water, etc.

What's the answer?

Mother Earth will restore the balance sooner or later.

Earth will survive with or without us. It is up to us to survive on our own.

I am sure we have a lot of room for more here. Some of those other countries may be to the breaking point.

[mawilson 2,133]

LAKE MEAD, Nev. - On a brisk morning, a flat-bottomed [...] female fish, too, have developed male genital organs.

That's really not good.

[AnewKINDofFEELIN 0]

LAKE MEAD, Nev. - On a brisk morning, a flat-bottomed [...] female fish, too, have developed male genital organs.

That's really not good.

Not at all. I sure as hell don't want my lady growing balls, so why would a fish?

[Ban Hammer 13,678]

LAKE MEAD, Nev. - On a brisk morning, a flat-bottomed [...] female fish, too, have developed male genital organs.

That's really not good.

hmm, that water goes to southern california.

[Heracles 417]

Yes...and it will get worst and worst as we cram more people into the USA. Population trends predict another 100+ million added to the USA by 2050. That is not too far off. More people, less open spaces, more energy usage, more impact on natural resources, more impact on the environment, more polution, more pharmaceuticals in the water, etc.

What's the answer?

Start off with better sewage treatment. More can always be done in this area. I am sure the standards vary greatly from county to county. Countries that have good drinking water tend to have dams located in uninhabited areas. As a starting point, the country needs to heavily invest in desalination plants.

The cramming is not the main issue here. It is how the growth is managed. I have been to so many new areas and just think what where the planners thinking. Where they built new communities with the attitude of we'll worry about the rest later.

[Don_Joy's Prince 0]

From the news report that I seen they said these drugs get into the environment by people flushing their leftover prescriptions down the toilet. They are not able to separate them out of the waste water with current sewage plants.

Also they said 30% of bottled water has trace amounts of the drugs also. Remember that bottled water has less stringent purity requirements then is required of tap water.

I agree that we also need desalinization plants and more nuclear power plants also.

So the big point is dispose of your drugs properly! Not down the toilet!

[HAL 9000 96]

This is a nightmare scenario starting to come to public attention.

Imagine taking a drug innocently, while roughly 40-50% of it is actually absorbed by your body... and the rest is flushed out of your system. Down the sewer.

This is most likely, given our current assumed rates of medication, the greatest source of drugs that end up in the places sampled. And it is very scary.

How can we analyze what overmedication means in a society that may actually need such overmedication due to our horrible personal health standards? This may be a case that goes into protecting the environment and those that do not want to receive these drugs in their diet. Be they non-bioactive or not.

[Heracles 417]

Well the country is not actually renowned for being tough on stuff like this. Just think of the chemicals available here which are banned in most other 1st world countries. There is always more that can be done but it will obviously cost time and money.

The federal government needs to have a serious look at this growing contamination problem.

Edited March 11, 2008 by Boo-Yah!

[mawilson 2,133]

Just think of the chemicals available here which are banned in most other 1st world countries.

Such as?