Douglas
Main, LiveScience Staff Writer
BOSTON
— Drugs taken by humans can have unintended side effects — on fish, in the
natural environment. Turns out, fish fed extremely low concentrations of an
antianxiety drug eat more quickly, and act bolder and more antisocial than
their un-medicated peers, a new study finds.
"We
can see profound effects at the low levels that we find in surface water.
Exposed fish are more bold," Jerker Fick, a co-author and researcher at
Umea University in Sweden, said at a news conference here at the annual meeting
of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
The
study looked at the effect of oxazepam (also known as Serax), used to treat
anxiety and panic in humans, on the widespread European perch fish. Researchers
gave the fish a concentration of drugs similar to that found in rivers and
streams in Sweden and elsewhere, according to a study published today (Feb. 14)
in the journal Science.
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