Antidepressant pollution
What are the consequences of medicating wildlife against anxiety and depression? Ida Emilie Steinmark reports
Although the effects of contraceptive drugs on fish and frogs are well known, the effect of antidepressant and antianxiety drugs in the environment is less understood. Knowing that benzodiazepines like Valium and Prozac are making their way into water systems, academic are studying their effects on fish in the lab. The fish thrive, showing less anxiety and increased feeding. But how does that behaviour translate to the wild, where being anxious can help fish avoid predators…?