What happens when minnows take a chill pill?

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What happens when minnows take a chill pill?

St. Cloud State University research found that minnows exposed to antidepressants, whose residues end up in local waters, are more laid back - which is not so great for survival.

By TOM MEERSMAN, Star Tribune

Last update: December 22, 2008 - 12:06 AM

, Star Tribune

That dose of Prozac, Effexor, Wellbutrin, Zoloft or Zyban doesn't disappear once you swallow it.

Some of it flows through your body into toilets, sewer lines, wastewater treatment plants and eventually into lakes and rivers.

Multiply that by millions of people, and tons of diluted but biologically active drug residues end up in the drink.

"We don't have a clue about how these drugs really behave together," said Schultz, assistant chemistry professor at Wooster College in Ohio.

Scientists at St. Cloud State University want to answer some of those questions by studying what happens to fathead minnows when they're exposed to antidepressants. The results have been surprising.

They've found that fish eggs and hatchlings doused with drugs are more laid back than those raised in cleaner water. That may be a death sentence in nature; they could be gobbled up by larger fish before they can escape, said Meghan McGee, a graduate student in cellular and molecular biology.

At St. Cloud State's aquatic toxicology lab, McGee works with lab director Heiko Schoenfuss, an anatomy professor who has been studying pharmaceuticals and fathead minnows for several years.

In the latest experiment they raised hundreds of eggs and hatchlings under different concentrations and combinations of anti- depressants. One by one, McGee placed a 12-day-old minnow, a quarter-inch sliver of silver, into a petri dish. She then activated a microvibrator at the bottom of the dish to create waves to simulate an approaching predator and counted how many milliseconds the minnow took to react.

"We literally mounted a little vibrator chip that came out of my wife's cell phone," said Schoenfuss. "She wasn't too happy about that, but it worked like a charm."

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What happens when minnows take a chill pill?

St. Cloud State University research found that minnows exposed to antidepressants, whose residues end up in local waters, are more laid back - which is not so great for survival.

By TOM MEERSMAN, Star Tribune

Last update: December 22, 2008 - 12:06 AM

, Star Tribune

That dose of Prozac, Effexor, Wellbutrin, Zoloft or Zyban doesn't disappear once you swallow it.

Some of it flows through your body into toilets, sewer lines, wastewater treatment plants and eventually into lakes and rivers.

Multiply that by millions of people, and tons of diluted but biologically active drug residues end up in the drink.

"We don't have a clue about how these drugs really behave together," said Schultz, assistant chemistry professor at Wooster College in Ohio.

Scientists at St. Cloud State University want to answer some of those questions by studying what happens to fathead minnows when they're exposed to antidepressants. The results have been surprising.

They've found that fish eggs and hatchlings doused with drugs are more laid back than those raised in cleaner water. That may be a death sentence in nature; they could be gobbled up by larger fish before they can escape, said Meghan McGee, a graduate student in cellular and molecular biology.

At St. Cloud State's aquatic toxicology lab, McGee works with lab director Heiko Schoenfuss, an anatomy professor who has been studying pharmaceuticals and fathead minnows for several years.

In the latest experiment they raised hundreds of eggs and hatchlings under different concentrations and combinations of anti- depressants. One by one, McGee placed a 12-day-old minnow, a quarter-inch sliver of silver, into a petri dish. She then activated a microvibrator at the bottom of the dish to create waves to simulate an approaching predator and counted how many milliseconds the minnow took to react.

"We literally mounted a little vibrator chip that came out of my wife's cell phone," said Schoenfuss. "She wasn't too happy about that, but it worked like a charm."

[Guest guest]

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What happens when minnows take a chill pill?

St. Cloud State University research found that minnows exposed to antidepressants, whose residues end up in local waters, are more laid back - which is not so great for survival.

By TOM MEERSMAN, Star Tribune

Last update: December 22, 2008 - 12:06 AM

, Star Tribune

That dose of Prozac, Effexor, Wellbutrin, Zoloft or Zyban doesn't disappear once you swallow it.

Some of it flows through your body into toilets, sewer lines, wastewater treatment plants and eventually into lakes and rivers.

Multiply that by millions of people, and tons of diluted but biologically active drug residues end up in the drink.

"We don't have a clue about how these drugs really behave together," said Schultz, assistant chemistry professor at Wooster College in Ohio.

Scientists at St. Cloud State University want to answer some of those questions by studying what happens to fathead minnows when they're exposed to antidepressants. The results have been surprising.

They've found that fish eggs and hatchlings doused with drugs are more laid back than those raised in cleaner water. That may be a death sentence in nature; they could be gobbled up by larger fish before they can escape, said Meghan McGee, a graduate student in cellular and molecular biology.

At St. Cloud State's aquatic toxicology lab, McGee works with lab director Heiko Schoenfuss, an anatomy professor who has been studying pharmaceuticals and fathead minnows for several years.

In the latest experiment they raised hundreds of eggs and hatchlings under different concentrations and combinations of anti- depressants. One by one, McGee placed a 12-day-old minnow, a quarter-inch sliver of silver, into a petri dish. She then activated a microvibrator at the bottom of the dish to create waves to simulate an approaching predator and counted how many milliseconds the minnow took to react.

"We literally mounted a little vibrator chip that came out of my wife's cell phone," said Schoenfuss. "She wasn't too happy about that, but it worked like a charm."

[Guest guest]

http://www.startribune.com/local/36549344.html?elr=KArksD:aDyaEP:kD:aUt:aDyaEP:kD:aUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

What happens when minnows take a chill pill?

St. Cloud State University research found that minnows exposed to antidepressants, whose residues end up in local waters, are more laid back - which is not so great for survival.

By TOM MEERSMAN, Star Tribune

Last update: December 22, 2008 - 12:06 AM

, Star Tribune

That dose of Prozac, Effexor, Wellbutrin, Zoloft or Zyban doesn't disappear once you swallow it.

Some of it flows through your body into toilets, sewer lines, wastewater treatment plants and eventually into lakes and rivers.

Multiply that by millions of people, and tons of diluted but biologically active drug residues end up in the drink.

"We don't have a clue about how these drugs really behave together," said Schultz, assistant chemistry professor at Wooster College in Ohio.

Scientists at St. Cloud State University want to answer some of those questions by studying what happens to fathead minnows when they're exposed to antidepressants. The results have been surprising.

They've found that fish eggs and hatchlings doused with drugs are more laid back than those raised in cleaner water. That may be a death sentence in nature; they could be gobbled up by larger fish before they can escape, said Meghan McGee, a graduate student in cellular and molecular biology.

At St. Cloud State's aquatic toxicology lab, McGee works with lab director Heiko Schoenfuss, an anatomy professor who has been studying pharmaceuticals and fathead minnows for several years.

In the latest experiment they raised hundreds of eggs and hatchlings under different concentrations and combinations of anti- depressants. One by one, McGee placed a 12-day-old minnow, a quarter-inch sliver of silver, into a petri dish. She then activated a microvibrator at the bottom of the dish to create waves to simulate an approaching predator and counted how many milliseconds the minnow took to react.

"We literally mounted a little vibrator chip that came out of my wife's cell phone," said Schoenfuss. "She wasn't too happy about that, but it worked like a charm."