New study claims anti-depressants are getting into the water
supply, making fish more relaxed and easier to catch. Scientists
say sleeping pills may be disturbing river ecosystems. They
claim that sedatives are turning fish into greedy, risk-taking
loners. The study watched the behavior of perch exposed to a
sedative which is carried into waterways through sewage. The
sedative is a the drug called oxazepam. It's used to treat
anxiety and insomnia. Well, they say it made the fish bolder and
less social. The fish, supposedly, left the safety of their
schools and went at it alone. The scientists say this behavior
made the fish more vulnerable to predators. Scientists say they
still don't know what all of this means. Many similar drugs have
been found downstream from sewage treatment plants as well. What
the researchers do know is this... The solution is not to stop
medicating ill people. The solution is to develop sewage
treatment plants that can catch the environmentally hazardous
drugs.