Toxic fish found in Orlando waterways

Perhaps you've heard fish are full of nutrients, but they shouldn't be full of what you keep in your medicine cabinet. A new study released Wednesday from Baylor University says fish taken from one Orlando River showed trace signs of prescription drugs like anti-depressants. The good news is, these are only trace amounts and not enough to harm you.

Prescription drugs make their way into rivers through human waste; wastewater is cleaned and pumped into rivers. This study took fish from rivers across the country.

In Orlando, they went to the Little Econlockhatchee River for a sample. There, they found residue of seven pharmaceuticals and two personal care products, including trace amounts of perfumes, soap and chemicals.

"Those levels, if you were to look at a daily consumption estimates for humans, would require a human to eat literally thousands of meals of these fish to obtain one daily dose," said Dr. Bryan Brooks, Associate Professor of Environmental Sciences at Baylor and an aquatic toxicology expert. Brooks is also co-lead investigator on the study.

Those trace amounts might not hurt humans, but Brooks said they could affect aquatic life, though researchers are unsure how.

Some studies show too many anti-depressants in fish could cause behavioral changes, impacting everything from aggression, mating and other survival skills.

Those who fish on the Little Econ River said the study results didn't surprise them. Even if there is no negative effect on humans, fisherman James Holt said, if something happened to the fish, there would be no point for him to return to the banks of the Little Econ.

Researchers said this doesn't mean water treatment plants aren't doing their job. Brooks added that the plants are not designed to remove all the chemicals. There are no federal guidelines or standards for pharmaceuticals in wastewater. The Environmental Protection Agency paid for this study to get a better understanding of the process.