10 Unbelievable Details Surrounding England’s Cocaine Shrimp

6 /10 Toxicity Level

Pesticides can enter the streams and rivers through runoff. According to the EPA, the contaminants can pose health risks depending on how toxic the chemicals are, the amount in the water, and the level of exposure daily.

When small animals eat contaminated organisms in the water, others higher up the food chain are also at risk of poisoning and other health issues.

In Melbourne, Australia, a study found that gray trout and platypuses are exposed to certain drugs at a level comparable to 50% of prescribed human doses just from eating their otherwise natural diets.

5 /10 Lesson From Japan

England and Australia are not the only countries where such a case happens.

In Japan, a fertilizer company called Chisso Corporation was found responsible for waterways contamination due to improper disposal of methylmercury in Minamata Bay.

For more than 30 years, from 1932 to 1968, the shellfish in the bay were exposed to a high level of poisonous chemicals.

People who consume the contaminated seafood consequently contract a condition known as Minamata disease, which causes nervous system breakdown and, in some cases, physical deformities.

Shellfish can also accumulate microplastics, making their way up the food chain, including into humans.

4 /10 Lesson From America

In the United States, researchers found traces of oxycodone in bay mussels captured from Puget Sound in Washington State in 2018.

Scientists even found amphetamine, morphine, and MDMA in streams around Baltimore, Maryland, in 2016. A water contamination issue similar to what happens in Suffolk was observed in Canada in 2015.

An examination of drinking water in Ontario found a small amount of cocaine, which appeared to have originated from a wastewater treatment plant nearby.

The uncontrolled mixture of pharmaceuticals in the water system can trigger adverse reactions in animals and humans.

3 /10 Not An Isolated Case

Another study conducted in Victoria, Canada, in 2017 discovered that shellfish, of which the habitat was near areas where raw sewage was released into the environment, contain a combination of drugs, including ibuprofen and triclosan.

Several months before the Suffolk shrimp research was published in Environmental International, scientists found that the sewer water overflowing the Thames in London also had traces of cocaine.

London has the highest concentration of illicit drugs in its sewage compared to any city across Europe.

2 /10 Suffolk Study Purpose

Based on previous findings, scientists had already suspected the presence of cocaine in the rivers in Suffolk.

The study’s primary purpose was to present a method for measuring how severe the contamination was by calculating the level of drugs, pharmaceuticals, and pesticides in the samples (shrimps).

Furthermore, the research also aimed to estimate each chemical’s potential harm or effect on organisms in the environment.

At this moment, researchers could not find any evidence that eating shrimp from the water would cause severe health issues in humans.

1 /10 Likely Low Effect

The study concluded that the effect is probably low for almost all chemicals found in the shrimps, including cocaine and amphetamine.

There is not enough amount to cause any harm to humans from a single meal. However, the long-term effect of constant exposure remains unclear.

Despite the low risk, cocaine and other illicit drugs in wildlife are surprising. It would not be too surprising if the study were conducted on the River Thames in London, but this finding came up from a much more rural area.