Limpets under threat due to rise in antidepressant use, scientists warn

Henry Bodkin 

8 OCTOBER 2018 • 6:02PM

Limpets are being killed due to the rise in antidepressant use which means they struggle to cling onto rocks, scientists have warned.

A new study argues that aquatic creatures in and around the UK are now “bathing in a soup” of the drugs after prescription rates doubled in the last ten years.

Experts have called for doctors to consider the effect on the environment before offering medication such as Prozac, saying its presence in the ecosystem can affect everything from a creatures’ growth and shape to its movement and feeding habits.

They also point to research indicating that antidepressants in waste water have caused shrimps to swim towards light, making them more likely to be eaten by predators.

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Limpet teeth set new strength record

18 February 2015 Last updated at 00:07

By Jonathan WebbScience reporter, BBC News

Engineers in the UK have found that limpets' teeth consist of the strongest biological material ever tested.

Limpets use a tongue bristling with tiny teeth to scrape food off rocks and into their mouths, often swallowing particles of rock in the process.

The teeth are made of a mineral-protein composite, which the researchers tested in tiny fragments in the laboratory.

They found it was stronger than spider silk, as well as all but the very strongest of man-made materials.

The findings, published in the Royal Society's journal Interface, suggest that the secret to the material's strength is the thinness of its tightly packed mineral fibres - a discovery that could help improve the man-made composites used to build aircraft, cars and boats, as well as dental fillings.

"Biology is a great source of inspiration as an engineer," said the study's lead author Prof Asa Barber, of the University of Portsmouth.

"These teeth are made up of very small fibres, put together in a particular way - and we should be thinking about making our own structures following the same design principles."

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