Stored in body fat Dolphins in the USA test positive for drug fentanyl
An examination of 89 dolphins from the Gulf of Mexico has shown deposits of pharmaceuticals in 30 animals. The powerful drug fentanyl was detected in the animals.
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- Researchers have tested the fatty tissue of 89 bottlenose dolphins for three chemicals for a study.
- 30 dolphins tested positive. The powerful drug fentanyl was detected in 18 of them.
- As some of the positive samples were taken back in 2013, the problem has apparently existed for some time.
Dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico have traces of human chemicals in them: both powerful opioids and muscle relaxants or sedatives are deposited in the animals' fatty tissue. This was discovered by researchers in a US study published in the journal "iScience".
The researchers took samples of fatty tissue from 89 bottlenose dolphins: Six biopsies were taken from dolphins that had already died.
One of three substances tested for was detected in 30 samples: the drug fentanyl, the relaxant carisoprodol and meprobamate, which is prescribed for anxiety.
Problem has existed for some time
Fetanyl was detected in 18 samples. 14 of the 89 bottlenose dolphins examined came from the area near the Mississippi Sound. They were taken and frozen in 2013, but account for 40 percent of the positive chemical findings. For Dara Orbach, who was involved in the study, this is a sign that "this is a long-standing problem in the marine environment".
The researchers are alarmed: "We really shouldn't be seeing pharmaceuticals in dolphins and in our waters," says study author Anya Ocampos. "Finding a drug as potent as fentanyl was really worrying, and we have virtually no idea how chronic exposure to these drugs affects our marine mammals."
The substances enter the water through inadequate treatment of wastewater, but are also introduced by manufacturers or through agriculture. Wastewater treatment plants in the US can render between 23 and 54 percent of the chemicals harmless.