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Sharks off Rio de Janeiro test positive for drug

Sharks off the coast of Brazil's party city Rio de Janeiro have evaluated favorable for drug.

The predators were consuming the potent stimulant due to its continuous release from insufficient sewage treatment centers and clandestine refining operations, scientists composed in a study published in Science of The Total Environment.

Some may also have actually assaulted bricks of cocaine which traffickers had lost at sea off the coast of Brazil, one of the world's biggest markets for the drug.

Of the 13 specimens of Brazilian sharpnose shark researchers tested over almost three years, all provided cocaine in their muscle and liver tissue, according to the study by the Oswaldo Structure Cruz, an institute of science, technology and health.

It is required to perform specific studies to identify the specific effects of this contamination on animals, stated Rachel Ann Hauser-Davis, a biologist from the IOC Environmental Health Assessment and Promotion Laboratory, in a statement.

It is thought that there might be an influence on the development, maturation and, potentially, the fecundity of sharks, because the liver contributes in the advancement of embryos.

The scientists gathered the samples between September 2021 and August 2023 as they monitored environmental impacts of contamination on marine life.

Due to the fact that sharks were predators, Hauser-Davis said they were main figures in the food chain and were considered sentinel. types that might provide early warnings about environmental. risks to human beings.

The scientists did not list what impacts cocaine and other. leisure drugs may have on sharks, although other studies. have actually revealed brown trout can become addicted to methamphetamine.

Researchers elsewhere have documented that other pollutants. like antidepressants, heavy metals, and contraception. medications are also making their way into rivers, lakes and. oceans.

(source: Reuters)