Eels are getting high on cocaine in Britain's drug-polluted rivers, say researchers
Survival of critically endangered species may be threatened by drug-contaminated waters


Cocaine flushed into rivers is making critically endangered eels “hyperactive” and threatening their survival, new research suggests.
Traces of the drug routinely make their way into Britain’s waters after passing through users’ bodies, and could be causing serious health problems for some fish, according to the study.

Previous research has found residues of illegal drugs including cocaine, amphetamines and ecstasy in European lakes and rivers, including the Thames.

The drugs end up in surface waters in highly populated areas after passing through sewage treatment plants, but scientists say little is known about the ecological impact.

In the new study, biologists at the University of Naples Federico II put European eels in water containing a small dose of cocaine – similar to the amount found in rivers – for 50 days.

They found the fish “appeared hyperactive” compared to eels which had not been kept in waters containing cocaine.

The drug accumulated on the brain, muscles, gills, skin and other tissues of the cocaine-exposed eels, researchers said.
The eels' skeletal muscle showed evidence of serious injury, including muscle breakdown and swelling, which had not healed 10 days after they were removed from the drug-contaminated water.

“This study shows that even low environmental concentrations of cocaine cause severe damage to the morphology and physiology of the skeletal muscle of the silver eel, confirming the harmful impact of cocaine in the environment that potentially affects the survival of this species,” said the authors of the study, published in Science of the Total Environment.


European eels spend their first five to 20 years in fresh or brackish water before migrating more than 3,700 miles to their breeding ground in the Sargasso Sea, a region of the north Atlantic Ocean. From there, the eels’ larvae drift for nearly a year back towards Europe.

But numbers of young eels arriving in the continent have dwindled by more than 90 per cent since the 1980s, according to the IUCN “red list” of threatened species.

Anna Capaldo, a research biologist and lead author of the study, said the increased dopamine levels caused by cocaine may stop eels reaching sexual maturity.
“It is likely that in this condition, the reproduction of the eels could be impaired,” she told National Geographic.
She added: “All the main functions of these animals could be altered.”
In 2015, scientists at the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction revealed London to have Europe’s highest concentration of cocaine in sewage, with average daily concentration of the substance in waste water at 737mg per 1,000 people.
In 2005, a team of researchers in Italy found large quantities of a cocaine by-product called benzoylecgonine - found in the urine of the drug users - in the River Po in northern Italy, carrying the equivalent of nearly 4kg (8.8lb) of cocaine on a daily basis.


I found this rather interesting...

Im not sure I believe this, would it really happen like this?

Im not sure I believe this, would it really happen like this?

Corridors of powder: Drug scandal at the Houses of Parliament after traces of cocaine are found on toilets across Palace of Westminster
Evidence of class A drug use detected in UK's seat of power
Chemical swabs found substance on toilet seats and hair dryers
Drug was also found in toilets close to MPs' offices, away from public areas

Evidence of cocaine use has been found inside toilets at the Houses of Parliament, including some just yards from MPs' offices.
Traces of the class A drug were found in nine toilets throughout the Palace Of Westminster, the meeting place of the UK's political elite.
The powder was detected in toilets used by guests at Parliament's bars, as well as cubicles a few yards away from MPs' offices - areas where members of the public are restricted from going.

The drug use was uncovered using cocaine indicator swabs, which come up with blue blotches when rubbed on surfaces where the drug has been laid out in lines, such as toilet seats and hairdryers. The swabs are used by the police and customs officers.
As Parliament’s toilets are cleaned regularly, the white powder must have been snorted in the past few hours, according to reporters from The Sun, who did the testing.

Users would have to smuggle the drug past extensive security checks and 500 police officers and guards.
The reporters, acting on a tip-off from a House of Commons insider, claim to have found evidence of the drug in the cubicles of the toilets outside Strangers’ Bar and in private areas close to MPs' offices.

Tory MP Douglas Carswell was scathing about the find.
He said: 'With decadence comes something rotten. It suggests there is something rotten about the institution itself.'
On two occasions cannabis has been confiscated at Westminster's entry checkpoints since the start of 2008, according to a Freedom of Information request.
A Parliamentary spokesman said: 'Parliament is a public place and we welcome over a million visitors a year who have either direct access to these facilities or access when accompanied.
'Clearly, it is inappropriate to monitor what happens in toilet facilities. In addition, we have issued over 14,000 passes, held by contractors and other third parties, as well as staff of both Houses, Members and their staff.
'Consequently, it is impossible to know who may be involved. Our security searches are focussed on preventing harm to others and the building, not the detection of small amounts of drugs.
'Parliament takes the issue of substance misuse very seriously and offers a range of welfare and health support services for those who need them.'
A few days ago a Parliamentary watchdog said MPs should have an 11 per cent pay rise to £74,000 a year.
In 2005 a German television station found traces of cocaine in 41 of 46 lavatories tested at the European Parliament in Brussels.