Study Shows Ocean Fish Loaded With Pharmaceuticals

A new three-year study reports that pharmaceuticals are filling the ocean, causing fish to consume the substances and become literally filled with drugs.

Scientists at Florida International University and the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust (BTT) analyzed 93 different fish off the coast of Florida and each one had drugs of some sort in its system. The average fish had seven different prescription drugs found throughout their body — some as many as 16.

“We found pharmaceuticals everywhere and there was no place where basically a fish could be unexposed to pharmaceuticals and that was a surprise,” Nick Castillo told a local  in South Florida.

Castillo added that just as these drugs cause changes in humans, they could also be affecting the behavior of fish.

“So it could be making a fish more bold, they’ll take risks. They can get eaten more frequently. It can affect their reproduction,” Castillo added. – READ MORE