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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Freshwater mussels not doing so good on Prozac in waterways |
| 2006-09-15 |
| I had a hard time figuring out just where I should put this article, so I flipped a coin and put it here in SAPT. A new laboratory study suggests that exposure to Prozac can disrupt the reproductive cycle of freshwater mussels, potentially increasing their risk of extinction. "We be mellow, but we got larvae release problems." The study, one of the first to examine the ecotoxicological effects of Prozac (fluoxetine) on native freshwater mussels, found that the drug caused females to prematurely release their larvae, essentially dooming them. The findings were presented on Sept. 11 at the 232nd national meeting of the American Chemical Society. "The results from this study were quite alarming," said co-investigator Rebecca Heltsley, a National Research Council Post-Doctoral Fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Hollings Marine Laboratory in Charleston, S.C. "When larvae are released too early, they are not viable, which only contributes to the problems faced by struggling populations of native freshwater mussels." "Where are our children? I don't know. Chill out, man. Bring down the intensity 10db, will ya?" About 70 percent of the nearly 300 species of freshwater mussels native to North America are extinct, endangered or declining, according to Heltsley. In the past 100 years, no other widespread North American animal group has experienced such notable collapse, she added. In some cases, native mussels have been crowded out by invasive species such as the zebra mussel, Heltsley said. In others, native mussels have been devastated by increased sediment loads in rivers, habitat alteration and loss, or killed off by pollutants. "The presence of Prozac and similar drugs in U.S. rivers and streams has likely compounded the problem," Heltsley said. "It's a big concern because freshwater mussels are such an imperiled group." Prozac, one of the nation's most prescribed anti-depressant medications, helps relieve depression by increasing the brain's supply of a neurotransmitter called serotonin. But like many prescription drugs, some remnants of Prozac ultimately are mixed into wastewater that reaches rivers and streams, Heltsley said. Recently, University of Georgia researchers who found traces of Prozac in fish and frogs concluded the drug slowed the development of these animals. In their study, Heltsley, along with lead investigator Gregory Cope of North Carolina State University and other colleagues, placed female freshwater mussels carrying larvae into tanks containing laboratory water with varying concentrations of fluoxetine, the active ingredient in Prozac. The Prozac concentrations, which ranged from 0.3 to 3,000 micrograms per liter, mimicked those previously found in surface waters of lakes and streams. They also exposed a similar set of mussels directly to serotonin. Within 48 hours, the mussels in both groups had released their larvae prematurely. "Protecting freshwater mussels and other aquatic life that are susceptible to the unintended consequences of exposure to pharmaceuticals in our rivers and streams will take a concentrated effort," Heltsley said. "These efforts could include the development of more efficient wastewater treatment facilities that can filter out these products before they reach our waterways." Freshwater mussels have a key role in the ecology of rivers and streams, Heltsley emphasized. They filter large volumes of water for food each day, thereby helping filter contaminants and excessive nutrients from water and serving as an early warning of water quality problems. They also are an important source of food for muskrats, otters, fish and other animals. Heltsley and her colleagues are evaluating surface water and sediment samples from a natural water system and will compare the results of this work with the results of their laboratory based study. This just goes to show that the old adage, "The solution to pollution is dilution" does not necessarily solve polution problems these days. |
| Posted by:Alaska Paul |
| #5 why are so many people on prozac to begin with? I'm thinking the stresses of modern life are pushing us humans out of our operating range. We have parameters: we were not designed to work 50-hour weeks and then again on weekends. Sitting in a desk chair. Obesity a major problem, mental health a major problem. Loneliness a major problem. People were originally social, tribal beings who worked and hunted and fished, then sat around the campfire talking and socialising with extended family at night. Extended family helped with child rearing. We have gone too far from what we evolved to do and it's causing problems. I reckon for our own mental health we need to cut down working hours: job share for example. This helps cut the unemployment rate and makes work more fun than stressful. Maybe we need to take lower wages but the upshot is we have more time to spend with family. More people feel involved in the community and less people take prozac. We need to change our ways I think this is a marker or indicator that all is not well with us, not just the freshwater mussels. |
| Posted by: anon1 2006-09-15 23:57 |
| #4 Too tranked out to get it on. Poor little critters. And, yes, this is a huge problem. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-09-15 23:08 |
| #3 This is a big deal. The whole prescription drug industry is eventually coming under fire for this dilution/pollution. |
| Posted by: Snereting Omeretch6894 2006-09-15 20:34 |
| #2 Your tax dollars at work. And tell me again about how we can't afford to improve (choose one): port security, the air traffic control system, the interstate highway system, border security. But we can study zoned out bivalves... |
| Posted by: USN, ret. 2006-09-15 16:00 |
| #1 Interesting. What about the effect on zebra mussels (a fresh-water "invasive species")? |
| Posted by: Spot 2006-09-15 15:51 |