Posted on 05/25/2018 1:04:24 PM PDT by Red Badger
Scientists at the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife have found that mussels in Seattle's waters are testing positive for opioids.
The finding suggests "a lot of people" are taking oxycodone in the Puget Sound, researchers say.
Scientists used mussels as a way to test pollution in Seattle's waters and discovered high enough oxycodone levels for the shellfish to test positive.
Mussels do not metabolise opioids, but some fish can become addicted.
Mussels are filter-feeders, which means they filter water for nutrients to nourish themselves. In the process, they end up storing pollutants in their tissues, which makes them a prime indicator species.
State researchers distributed clean mussels around the Puget Sound and extracted them months later to test the waters.
Of the 18 locations scientists used, three showed traces of oxycodone. The drug traces were not enough to get any humans high from consumption, but enough to indicate a problem, officials said.
"What we eat and what we excrete goes into the Puget Sound," Jennifer Lanksbury, a biologist at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, told CBS News affiliate KIRO.
"It's telling me there's a lot of people taking oxycodone in the Puget Sound area."
Washington's King County, home to Seattle and the Puget Sound, saw a record number of drug deaths in 2016, with 332 opioid-related overdoses, according to a University of Washington study.
Also in 2016, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated that nearly 300lbs (136kg) of pharmaceuticals, personal care products and industrial compounds ended up in the Puget Sound each day, some at high enough concentrations to negatively impact fish.
Kings County Wastewater Management told local media their system can filter many contaminants, but not specifically drugs.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
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. . . happy as a clam?
That's not the only possible issue. Is the content high enough that a consumer might test positive in a drug test? One claim of that could really hurt the shellfish industry.
Molly Malone must be reincarnated in Seattle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruNdU6bGE5E
LOL
That must be Russian sturgeon, no?
Filthy, stinking, hippie drug addict mussels.
Lots of cannabis stores there.
Maybe the cold water enhances the effects.
And then northwest liberals eat it. Yuck, but no big deal to the homo community.
You can’t smoke a joint under water. You can’t roller skate in a buffalo herd either.
Drug addicted Mollusks are holding up gas stations!
Since they reported it in the news, the area will have a lot more mussel lovers showing up.
But you can be happy
If you’ve a mind to.
Studies show they’re moving a little slower.....
“Time to open up a seafood joint.”
What, the opioids aren’t enough, so now you want to give them a joint also?
How would they keep it lit, exactly?
Drug tests use a cutoff, detectable levels do not equal a positive test. You would need to eats hundreds of pounds at a sitting and the metabolites would clear in a day or two.
Are they finding oxycodone or opioids? Are they calling all opioids oxycodone to make their legal case against the drug manufacturers?
That’s good. I’m glad they’re not like poppy seeds.
Oxycodone is a semisynthetic opioid ......
Oh really? I thought all sewer systems go through a water purification process that ultimately ends up as your drinking water?
Since when has any lake side or ocean side community been allowed to direct all their human sewage directly into the lakes, streams and oceans?
This article smells of BS.............
Septic tanks and outhouses..................
Water treatment removes biologicals and particulate matter. Dissolved chems remain in the water.
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