When humans take medications, traces of the drugs end up in their sewage. The water treatement facilities don't filter them out, so the chemicals are in the water when it is sent into streams. Medications for mental health disorders can affect animals that have the same molecules in their brains. A recent experiment in Sweden tested the effect of water tainted with oxazepam, a drug used in anti-anxiety medications, on young perch. The researchers found that the fish in the spiked water swam and ate faster and became more anti-social. If the fish are less social, this can lead to a higher predation rate. If the fish eat faster, they may eat more taking away food from other species, therefore throwing the ecosystem out of balance.
I found this article to be really interesting. I just thought that drugs in the water could just kill an animal if there was too much of it. I had no idea it could affect their brains which would also affect their ecosystem. If it is possible, sewage treatment plants should try to rid the water completely of these drugs. It is interesting that a small concentration of something can go a long way in an ecosystem.
NOS Themes:
Science is based on evidence: The researchers used evidence from a controlled experiment to back up their claims of the fish's behavior.
Role of motivation and curiousity: The scientists were curious to see if the drugs affected the fish's behaviors.
Link to article: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/348290/description/Antianxiety_drugs_affect_fish_too
Further Reading:
http://www.bu.edu/sjmag/scimag2005/features/drugsinwater.htm
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/451101/perch
I had never though about how human medication waste affects all types of ecosystems. The way a fish thinks is something that really could change an entire ecosystem when it comes to what they eat and in what quantity. As talked about in your first related article link, our sewage treatment plants have no way of filtering out pharmaceuticals, which is a huge problem for future ecosystems. I agree that sewage treatments plants should find a way to filter these chemicals out to preserve precious ecosystems. This article, (http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/wwvisit.html), explains the process of sewage treatment. Chlorine is used to kill bacteria, but does not have an effect on the harmful human pharmaceuticals that have become such a big problem.
ReplyDeleteIt makes me wonder, does a solution even exist to solve this problem?
Another nature of science theme that I saw is the role of chance. It would be very hard to repeat this experiment in the wild and see how the rest of the ecosystem reacts to these fish because fish in nature have the chance of being exposed to many different drugs. Scientists aren't yet sure the drug mixtures enhance or counteract other medications.
ReplyDeleteI looked at this link that Jordan posted in the further reading section:http://www.bu.edu/sjmag/scimag2005/features/drugsinwater.htm
They suggest that reverse osmosis is a technique that would probably be a very effective solution for treating waste, which answers Amy's question about a solution. In this technique water is forced through a semi-permeable membrane, which leaves behind pollutants.It is effective but very costly, so it probably won't be required until an even more definite link is found that proves this is dangerous.
Marla Albanese 3rd hour
ReplyDeletehttp://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Po-Re/Pollution-of-the-Ocean-by-Plastic-and-Trash.html
As I read your article I became interested in how else the human population affects marine life, and medicine isn't our only problem. As many might guess pollution plays a large role in marine creatures' lives. Plastic and other products are commonly mistaken for food and are eaten at sea by birds, turtles, and even whales. This can choke them, poison them, or simply make them think they are full when this substance has no nutritional value; the point is our faults kill them. Scientists and environmental groups have examined the problem of marine waste and its effect on public health and wildlife, but they only solution is to stop it so the populations and community as a whole aren't affected.