Prozac Residues in Fish

Michael Greger M.D. FACLM · November 25, 2010 · Volume 4

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Pharmaceuticals flushed into our waterways may end up contaminating fish.

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Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.

Not to worry, though—our fish may have Benadryl in it. Because so many drugs are excreted in our urine, when we pee them down the toilet, they can end up polluting our rivers and streams, and the flesh of the fish swimming in them.

In fish fillets, they found Benadryl, Cardizem, Tegretol, Lopid, Zoloft, and Prozac metabolites. The levels they found were really low, but what if these compounds bioaccumulate in tissue, or have unintended consequences from the complex mixtures of contaminants we’re exposed to?

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Ramirez, A. J., Brain, R. A., Usenko, S., Mottaleb, M. A., O'Donnell, J. G., Stahl, L. L., Wathen, J. B., Snyder, B. D., Pitt, J. L., Perez-Hurtado, P., Dobbins, L. L., Brooks, B. W. and Chambliss, C. K. (2009), Occurrence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in fish: Results of a national pilot study in the United States. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 28: 2587–2597. doi: 10.1897/08-561.1

Image in video thanks to vse-pro-geny.ru

Doctor's Note

For more on this subject, check out Ractopamine in Pork, and How Many Cancers Have Been Caused by Arsenic-Laced Chicken?

And check out my other videos on fish.

For more context, see my associated blog post: Mercury Testing Recommended Before Pregnancy.

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