Platypus eating a normal insect diet could ingest at least 69 drugs, research reveals

Insects near waste water could give a platypus or trout half a human dose of antidepressants

Lisa Cox

Tue 6 Nov 2018 17.00 GMT Last modified on Tue 6 Nov 2018 17.01 GMT

A platypus living in a creek or stream with waste water could be exposed to 50% of a human daily dose of antidepressants just by eating its normal diet of insects, according to new research.

A team of scientists, led by researchers at Monash University, has analysed insects and riparian spiders found in six Melbourne streams for traces of 98 different types of pharmaceuticals.

The research, published in Nature Communications on Wednesday, detected 69 different types of pharmaceuticals in insects and 66 types in spiders. It suggests the pharmaceuticals were transferred to spiders after they consumed insects.

The scientists then estimated what the potential exposure could be for the main species that feed on invertebrates in those streams: platypus and brown trout.

“There’s many studies that exist that tell us that pharmaceuticals are in the water,” said the study’s lead author, Erinn Richmond. “What we didn’t know is are these pharmaceuticals moving through aquatic food webs?

“One think I think is alarming about this study is the sheer number and types of drugs detected in these insects.

“We found 69 different pharmaceuticals.”

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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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