Comments on: Nine out of ten transgendered carp prefer Prozac to Zoloft

Nine out of ten transgendered carp prefer Prozac to Zoloft

scblackman — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 06:41:16 -0800

The Ty-D-Bol Man looks pretty mellow today. When I was younger, my father - a pediatrician - would routinely clean out the medicine cabinet of old cold medicines, antibiotics, high potency barbiturates, illegal diet pills and other nostrums. Rather than throw them into the garbage "where someone might get their hands on them" he would flush them down the toilet (just like the poison control people recommend). Apparently in doing so he was making sure that everybody got them. Think the quantities are too small to make a difference? Not so, say Canadian fish, who seem capable of getting confused by the residue from birth control pills and changing gender. Don't worry too much about them, though. They're all on Prozac, so they're OK with it. [NB: see comments for .pdf version of first link]

By: scblackman

scblackman — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 06:42:48 -0800

I've archived a .pdf of the Nature Medicine article that prompted this here, just in case you can't get the full text for some reason.

By: headspace

headspace — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 06:44:47 -0800

Excellent post, thank you.

By: Plutor

Plutor — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 06:57:32 -0800

"Think the quantities are too small to make a difference? Not so, say Canadian fish, who seem capable of getting confused by the residue from birth control pills and changing gender." Not to mention talking! We need to start dumping more birth control pills, if you ask me!

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 07:00:39 -0800

American fish would never get confused and switch gender! It's more evidence that Canada is a lot like that swishy European continent!

By: slimepuppy

slimepuppy — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 07:01:04 -0800

Woah, no wonder I feel better if I drink several pints of water a day.

By: slater

slater — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 07:28:30 -0800

Canadian fish are total flip-floppers!

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 07:29:37 -0800

And their dolphins are total flippers!

By: Capt. Bligh

Capt. Bligh — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 07:55:46 -0800

My guess is that the amount of medicine is a drop in the bucket compared to the other stuff that goes down our drains everyday. For example, there have been several sewer explosions caused by dumped paint thinner. And then there is the fertelizer and pesticide runoffs from the farms... .

By: piscatorius

piscatorius — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 08:02:47 -0800

Great post.

By: eener

eener — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 08:03:21 -0800

My mom died three weeks ago. I was her caretaker. Since then, I have ground up a ton of pills in the garbage diposal. WHoopsie!

By: cybercoitus interruptus

cybercoitus interruptus — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 08:40:21 -0800

Great post. I used to bring old rx to my pharmacy for disposal in my home town, but when I tried to do it here in Boston the pharmacist looked at me like I was nuts. Googling didn't help, so now I've got a collection of expired drugs waiting for my next trip back home. Now I'm wondering - how did my old pharmacy dispose of them "properly"?

By: Secret Life of Gravy

Secret Life of Gravy — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 08:48:15 -0800

It's not just the toilet. Today we are being told not to use the garbage disposal-- that solid materials should be composted or thrown in the trash rather then put more material into the recycled water system. And grease is a big no no. The lazy, crazy, hazy days of pouring your cooking oils down the sink are over!

By: solipse

solipse — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 08:52:31 -0800

Frankly, anyone who ingests pills they picked out of the trash deserves whatever happens as a result. Better to protect the instinctually-ignorant animals over the willfully-ignorant humans. Just throw your pills in the trash.

By: scblackman

scblackman — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 09:04:28 -0800

Frankly, anyone who ingests pills they picked out of the trash deserves whatever happens as a result. MeFi Post: April 28, 2016 A frightening colony of Nyquil-abusing, antibiotic-resistant, dumpster divers with unusually low blood pressures and low cholesterol levels has been found living in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. Authorities are baffled as to the origins of this group.

By: Kickstart70

Kickstart70 — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 09:06:54 -0800

I have this question, which originally came up when discussing Mercury in fish.... If large amounts of ocean-going fish are contaminated with Mercury to a level that is dangerous for humans, how much Mercury is that? I mean, the ocean is BIG, there's a hell of a lot of water there, so the Mercury should be pretty dilute. The oceans are also very deep, and Mercury is heavier than water, so it should sink, right? Some of that goes for medicine too. That must be one hell of a lot of Prozac to even be detectable.

By: madamjujujive

madamjujujive — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 09:16:40 -0800

Thanks for a great post, scblackman.

By: DakotaPaul

DakotaPaul — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 10:29:16 -0800

Kickstart70, the mercury moves up the food chain in higher concentrations. It's called bioaccumulation .

By: rough ashlar

rough ashlar — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 10:49:16 -0800

If large amounts of ocean-going fish are contaminated with Mercury Think Mercury is an issue? Try PCBs. Then add plastic. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/05/0506_040506_oceanplastic.html http://www.oceansatlas.com/unatlas/-ATLAS-/chapter12.htm Now, let the plastic shards absorb 10,000 times the PCBs. http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Synthetic-Sea-Moore.htm YUM!

By: makonan

makonan — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 11:37:14 -0800

Now I'm wondering - how did my old pharmacy dispose of them "properly"? I've worked in enough pharmacies to say that they most likely flushed them down the toilet. The standard method I've seen hospitals use to get rid of discontinued IV antibiotics is to cut open the bags and dump them down the sink. Scary stuff, but a lot cheaper than hiring some outside company to come in and haul the stuff away.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 17:19:03 -0800

God, we humans are so freakin' stupid.

By: sneebler

sneebler — Sat, 29 Apr 2006 06:56:42 -0800

Kickstart70: That must be one hell of a lot of Prozac to even be detectable. Plus the part that is excreted in user's urine. There must be a hell of a lot of Prozac users out there.