[Pharmwaste] Cocaine in the Water is Hurting River Eels

[Deborah DeBiasi]

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-09/documents/fish-news-aug2018.pdf?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery



Cocaine in the Water is Hurting River Eels

Smithsonian.com reported on June 20, 2018, that the Earth’s waters are
being laced with prescription and over-the counter medications. Some of
these drugs are caffeine, antibiotics, and personal care products. Marine
environments are also tainted with illegal drugs, and a recent study
demonstrates just how harmful these illicit substances can be to aquatic
wildlife. As Michael Marshall reports for *New Scientist*, researchers in
Italy have found that small amounts of cocaine in water can make eels
hyperactive and cause significant muscle damage.



These findings are disconcerting, because European eels (*Anguilla anguilla*)
in the wild are critically endangered with their future compromised by
factors like habitat-loss, dam construction, pollution, and over-fishing.



The researchers first took 150 European eels that had been raised on farms
and divided them into several different tanks. Some of the tanks contained
small amounts of cocaine—20 nanograms per liter, which corresponds to the *Fish
and Shellfish Program, August 2018 *mean concentration of the drug that has
been detected in surface waters—and some were filled with tap water. The
eels were kept in the tanks for 50 days. Then two groups of the
cocaine-exposed eels were placed in tanks of cocaine free water—one group
for three days, the other for ten.



At the end of the experiment, the eels were killed and dissected for
analysis. The results, published in *Science of the Total Environment*,
showed that the cocaine-exposed eels suffered a host of adverse health
effects.



While the experiment was ongoing the eels swam unusually fast but otherwise
seemed as healthy as the drug-free eels. Their insides, however, told a
different story. According to Joshua Rapp Learn of *National Geographic*,
the researchers found that cocaine had accumulated in the animals’ muscles,
brains, gills, skin, and other tissue. Their muscles were swollen and even
showed signs of fiber breakdown.



European eels spend up to 20 years in fresh waters then undertake a vast
migration across the Atlantic to spawn in the Sargasso Sea east of the
Caribbean. “This means that, in addition to sufficient energy reserves, the
eel needs a healthy skeletal muscle and an efficient aerobic metabolism in
order to complete successfully its migration,” the study authors write. If
their muscles are damaged, the eels’ ability to complete the journey could
be compromised.



There are a number of ways that drugs can end up in rivers, streams, and
other bodies of water. Sometimes, they are improperly discarded—flushed
down the toilet, for instance. In addition, human bodies only metabolize a
small amount of the drugs that are consumed. The rest is excreted in urine
or feces and can end up in wastewater, according to Harvard Health
Publishing.

Studies have shown that a host of animals are affected by the drugs that
pollute marine environments. In 2016, for example, oysters from two Oregon
bays were found to contain traces of medications like antibiotics,
antihistamines, and pain relievers. Fish with both male and female sex
traits have been found in Northeastern waterways, and scientists believe
that hormones from birth control pills might be contributing to the
problem.



And, as the authors of the recent study point out, drugs in the water could
potentially have negative implications for humans. It’s possible that
people who eat European eel may inadvertently be consuming cocaine, too:
“Since the skeletal muscle is the edible part of the eel, and
bioaccumulates cocaine to a large extent, these results suggest the
possibility that cocaine could be taken by humans with food, although
further studies are needed to verify this hypothesis,” the researchers
write.



Reference

Capaldo, A., G. Flaminia, M. Lepretti, G. Paolella, S. Martucciello, L.
Lionetti, I. Caputo, and V. Laforgia. 2018. Effects of environmental
cocaine concentrations on the skeletal muscle of the European eel (*Anguilla
anguilla*). *Science of the Total Environment *640-641:862-873.



Source:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-cocaine-water-harms-european-eels-180969421/?utm_source=smithsoniantopic&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20180624-Weekender&spMailingID=34831632&spUserID=Njc0NzAwMjU5MjcyS0&spJobID=1302279221&spReportId=MTMwMjI3OTIyMQS2
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