Marine predators probably consumed the powerful stimulant either due to its release from sewage treatment facilities, or due to the dumping into the sea of quantities from illegal laboratories manufacturing the substance, scientists estimated in their article in the journal Science of The Total Environment.
Some may have bitten into packaged cocaine that traffickers lost, or dumped, at sea off Brazil, Latin America’s most populous country, which is among the biggest markets for the stimulant.
After lab testing 13 sturgeon shark samples over three years, the scientists found that all had traces of cocaine in their muscle and liver tissues, according to the study.
“Specific studies are needed to more precisely determine the consequences,” commented biologist Rachel Ann Hauser-Davis.
It is not excluded, he explained, “an impact on the growth, maturation and potentially the fertility of sharks, as the liver plays a role in the development of embryos”.
The scientists collected the samples between September 2021 and August 2023 as they studied the effects of environmental pollution on marine life.
Predators by definition, sharks have, as Ms Hauser-Davies pointed out, an important role in the food chain and are an “indicator species”, in effect a precursor to threats to humans from environmental pollution.
The scientists did not say what the effects of cocaine or other drugs are on the sharks. Other studies have shown that trout can become addicted to methamphetamines.
Scientists have documented in the past that other substances that pollute the environment, such as antidepressants, birth control drugs, heavy metals, etc., very often end up in rivers, lakes and oceans.
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