Because of the inability to filter out contaminants, fish and marine life off South Florida’s coast are being exposed to high levels of pharmaceuticals.
Results from aStudyFlorida International Universitys Coastal Fisheries Research Lab has identified 58 pharmaceuticals in 93 bonefish. These bones were collected along a 200-mile stretch south Floridas coastline over a period of three years. Researchers found 16 different drugs in one fish in one case.
Although the study has not been published yet, Dr. Jennifer Rehage (lead researcher and associate professor at Florida International University’s Institute of Water and Environment) said that she and her coauthors plan to submit it to a peer reviewed journal.
She stated that they decided to publish the research findings before publication due to the bipartisan infrastructure bill passed in Congress in 2021. This bill allowed them to draw attention to key areas such as the deficiencies in water treatment and regulation that allow for pharmaceutical contamination.
In November 2021, Congress approved President Joe Biden’s $1.2 billion infrastructure bill. Over five years, it provides federal funding totaling more than $500Billion for improving roads, bridges and energy systems. The states will receive the majority of these investments, and they will decide which sectors will benefit.
Dr. Duane De FreezeThe study was a contribution to existing research by a marine biologist and executive Director of Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program. It examined the presence of contaminants within bonefish, an extremely important recreational sport fish of high economic value.
Freeze said that if you look at the research that has been done over the past couple of decades, it is clear that toxicants as well as other emerging contaminants of concern have been identified in our wastewater systems.
He stated that previous Florida studies had shown that wildlife can be exposed to some endocrine disruptors and human antibiotics.
He said that it was not surprising that some of these chemicals would be found in the tissues or organs of marine organisms.
Unregulated contaminants
Rehage stated that Florida has one-third of all households having septic tanks, while two-thirds have sewerlines. Florida’s conventional wastewater treatment does not remove pharmaceuticals.
It is in our drinking water. Rehage also stated that it is in our fish, which we eat. Rehage added, “The risk is very low because concentrations are extremely small.” No one knows what it means that we could be exposed to so many drugs over our lifetime.
Rehage pointed out that there are no regulations regarding the production and disposal of pharmaceuticals. They are not considered to be a contaminant.
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Alexandra Kuchta, spokesperson for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection said that the department worked with state health, agriculture, and wildlife conservation officials in order to determine whether environmental chemicals were present in fish taken from Florida waters.
Kuchta called pharmaceutical contamination an emerging issue and said that the environment protection department looks forward working with stakeholders as more science becomes available.
To screen the fish, blood tests were performed and tissue analysis was done. Prescription pharmaceuticals included heart medications, antidepressants, heart medications, blood pressure medications, and pain relievers. The same contaminants were also found on crab, shrimp, and small sea animals that bonefish eat as well as in sediment and water.
The 2018 study was initiated by a team of scientists from Florida International University, in collaboration with Swedens Ume University (University of Agricultural Sciences). The average number of pharmaceuticals found in South Florida waters was seven per fish. The contaminants were also found in fish taken from both urban and remote areas.
43 bonefish were also tested for contaminants in waters around the Caribbean, Bahamas and Puerto Rico.
The highest number of contaminants was found in one fish taken from Biscayne Bay by researchers. The fish was found to contain eight different antidepressants at levels that were as high as 300 times those prescribed for humans. The fish also contained antidepressants, stomach medications, opiates, and Parkinson’s drugs.
Researchers concluded that the levels of bonefish tissue and blood were high enough to cause biological effects. The research was funded by Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, a Miami-based nonprofit. This latest study is part of a growing body that has documented the presence pharmaceuticals, steroid hormones and personal care products in Florida’s coastal waters over the past three decades.
Aaron Adam, director for science and conservation at Bonefish Trust, said that the study’s methodology was rigorous and that the findings support previous research.
Sources of contamination
One earlier study,Published February 20, 2021, it found that pollutants could reach coastal waters or wetlands by groundwater flow or runoff in highly populated areas of South Florida.
South Florida is home to a variety of protected ecosystems. These include wetlands and coral reefs located close to major metropolitan areas.
Rehage said that global pharmaceutical production has been increasing at an alarming rate compared to other areas of concern, such as human growth or CO2 emission. She stated that most of the contaminants are caused by prescription drugs that people ingest or excrete. Effluent travels through a sewer line or septic system to the ocean or other bodies.
Adam stated that these waterborne chemical threats pose a significant threat for the flats fishing industry. It is an important part of Floridas recreational saltwater fishery. The flats fishery generates more than $9B annually and supports nearly 90,000. Adam added.
He stated that prescription medication users seem to be the most likely source of chemical contamination. Only a small percentage of drugs are absorbed by the bodies. Adam stated that we excrete any pharmaceuticals that are not absorbed by our bodies. He also said that there were no regulations regarding the disposal of pharmaceuticals in wastewater.
He also expressed concern that pharmaceuticals, as well as nutrients from stormwater, agricultural land, or treatment plants, were entering the aquifer which is the main source for drinking water for most of the state.
Through wastewater discharges, the chemicals can get into groundwater and coastal waters. Red Tide, a harmful algal bloom, can be caused by nutrients in the water. The blooms are caused in large quantities by Karenia brevis, a microscopic plant-like organism that eats on the nutrients.
A recent report by the state task force on harmful Alga Blooms estimated that nearly $1 billion in revenue was lost and that $178 million more in tax revenue was lost in 23 counties along the Gulf coast as a result a prolonged Red Tide which lasted from 2017 to 2019.
Fish contamination can be caused by the same wastewater sources as the nutrients.
Adam stated that we need to immediately improve infrastructure, both for the removal of pharmaceutical contaminants and for removing more nutrients.
Targeting the problem
In his early days as governor, Gov. Ron DeSantis declared that he would prioritise Florida’s environment as well as water quality improvement through funding programs, enabling legislation, and in his early days in office. His tenure saw the passage of the 2020 Clean Waterways Act, and the establishment a wastewater grant program.
Christina Pushaw, the spokesperson for the governor, said that the governor’s environment budget recommendations for next year include $195 million to improve water quality.
Pushaw stated that most of the funding will be used to support critical infrastructure, as well as projects to improve wastewater treatment facilities and provide advanced wastewater treatment. These investments are vital to meet the state’s nutrient reduction targets in key water bodies.
Advocates say that the state measures have so far failed to require private housing developers or better regulatory safeguards to invest in better treatment facilities.
The adverse effects of excess nutrients and pharmaceuticals that feed harmful algal blooms in Florida’s coast waters are compounded when they are present in Florida’s waterways. The Environmental Protection Agency says that there is strong evidence that fish and other marine mammals are negatively affected by exposure to endocrine disruptors, a group of synthetic chemicals.
According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), endocrine disruptors may have an impact on wildlife and humans, including reproduction, development, immune system, and reproduction. Endocrine disruption can be caused by a wide range of substances, including pesticides and pharmaceuticals.
Studies have shown that hormone-containing or mimicking pharmaceuticals like birth control pills can cause male fish to develop ovaries.
According to the bonefish contamination research, anti-anxiety drugs such as Valium can cause fish become more active, less social, and take more risks. This makes them more likely to be eaten or prey. According to the Florida International researchers, overall, the effect is lower survival rates of the fish.
The researchers stated that the effects of pharmaceuticals in the water on fish may be permanent due to changes in brain chemistry following exposure. They noted that this is similar to the way opioids like Oxy affect people who become addicted to them. According to the researchers, if pharmaceuticals make fish more skittish than usual, they will continue to be so, even if the pharmaceuticals have been removed.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 45.8 percent of Americans had been prescribed drugs in the past 30 days. Central nervous system stimulants were the most prescribed drugs for children aged 12-19 years. Antidepressants were prescribed most often to 20-59-year olds.
Despite the fact that many Americans have ingested or flushed down drugs for decades, there are not any regulatory controls in place to control their release into the environment or monitor the potential risk they pose to ecosystems or human populations.
The Center for Biological Diversity, a Florida-based organization, petitioned the EPA in January 2010 to establish water quality criteria for endocrine disrupting chemical under the Clean Water Act.
The center argued that science proved that endocrine disrupting chemical persist in water bodies across the nation, mostly through runoff or treated wastewater discharges. According to the biological diversity center, the chemicals have profound effects on the fauna and flora that depend on them.
The EPA rejected the petition’s September 2011 response.
Jaclyn López, Florida director of biological diversity center, stated that pharmaceuticals are in the water because we discharge our treated wastewater directly into our surface waters. In this way, we expect to have swimmable, fishable, and sometimes drinkable waters. She stated that these activities will not be regulated until the EPA establishes water-quality criteria for endocrine-disrupting chemicals.
Glenn Compton of Manasota-88 said it was an unfortunate situation and that although the problem of pharmaceutical contamination is well-known for over 30 years, little has been done to monitor the levels of pharmaceuticals in the wastewater supply. That has to change.
Compton said that he didn’t see any improvement in the near term. We need to see changes at the state level. Policymakers must understand the importance and the things that are needed to improve water quality in Florida.
This story was reported by Aman Azhar Inside Climate NewsPulitzer-Prize-winning nonprofit news organization that focuses on climate change, energy, and the environment.