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Reuters

Cocaine and ecstasy are just some of the drugs and pharmaceuticals that have been found in marine life in coastal waters around the UK, according to scientists at the University of Portsmouth and Brunel University London.&quot;We found cocaine in marine organisms, we found MDMA, we found methamphetamine. And these are in crabs, in oysters, in seaweeds, in worms that live in the sediment,&quot; Professor Alex Ford, a marine biologist at the University of Portsmouth, told Reuters.The ongoing study involved volunteer citizen scientists, all worried about the state of the water, collecting hundreds of samples from Chichester and Langstone Harbours that revealed high levels of potentially harmful chemicals in the water and wildlife.&quot;I&#x27;ve actually now stopped swimming,&quot; Rob Bailey, a former regular sea swimmer, told Reuters.&quot;My whole group was just disbanded because of the problem,&quot; he said.Bailey is a co-founder of the Clean Harbours Partnership, a group of swimmers, sailors and windsurfers who became concerned by a rising number of reports of illness in the area.They decided to find out exactly what is in the water and the risks posed to human health and the environment, with shocking results.&quot;Stopping swimming makes me feel very sad,&quot; he said.&quot;If you had someone throwing sewage on your cricket pitch, you wouldn&#x27;t be very happy, or on your football pitch, you wouldn&#x27;t be very happy, would you? But the same has happened here with our swimming activities.&quot;In 2021, Southern Water, who are responsible for treating water and sewage in the area, admitted more than 50 offenses of dumping illegal sewage into the environment between 2010 and 2015. The offenses were found to be caused by deliberate failings and the company was fined a record £90 million.Researchers say raw sewage is only part of the problem because what people consume is only partly metabolized on its way through our bodies, resulting in a myriad of compounds being flushed out to sea that can have a dramatic effect.&quot;If you cage a fish downstream of a sewage treatment plant, it will start to feminize within a couple of weeks. If you give a crab or a fish antidepressants, it will change its behavior in very much the way it was designed to change our behavior if we took that medication,&quot; Professor Ford said.<div>(Production: Stuart McDill)</div>

Cocaine and ecstasy are just some of the drugs and pharmaceuticals that have been found in marine life in coastal waters around the UK.

Cocaine and ecstasy are just some of the drugs and pharmaceuticals that have been found in marine life in coastal waters around the UK.

UK marine species exposed to cocaine and other drugs from sewage

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UK marine species exposed to cocaine and other drugs from sewage

Reuters

Published June 06, 2024 01:51 AM PHT

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Clean Harbours Partnership

United Kingdom

environment

nature

pollution

water pollution

University of Portsmouth

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