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A recent study led by Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Fla., found that certain newborn wild sharks in Florida’s waters show traces of human pharmaceuticals in their blood.
The levels scientists found in newborn bull sharks in the Caloosahatchee River were not high enough to pose a health risk to the sharks but warranted continued monitoring. The study was supported by the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The researchers explained that bull sharks, which are typically the only sharks regularly found in fresh water, are exposed to treated wastewater close to its source. Wastewater often contains pharmaceutical ingredients from humans that are not picked up in the wastewater treatment system, which is designed to eliminate organic contaminants like bacteria and viruses.
The U.S. Geological Survey has found that many streams across the country contain pharmaceutical pollution albeit at low levels. Research into the presence of such drugs in wild fish and sharks is relatively new.
The Mote study, released May 1, 2009, based on 2006-2007 found trace amounts of a birth control drug and various antidepressant drugs in newborn bull sharks. Scientists did not find any shark with traces of all drugs detected. The study compared the blood of newborn sharks found in two different rivers — one with several wastewater treatment plants and another that has no treatment plants. Only sharks found in the Caloosahatchee River, along which treatments plants are located, had measurable evidence of human drugs.
