According to a study published in Environmental International, freshwater shrimp in the United Kingdom contain traces of illegal pesticides and cocaine. This surprising news has sounded the alarms about the quality of the watery environment that these animals are found in.
Discover our latest podcast
A polluted environment?
Scientists were surprised to find traces of cocaine, lidocaine (a local anaesthetic and a cocaine cutting product), ketamine and fenuron (an illegal pesticide) in this area that is both aquatic yet distant from big urban areas. It turns out some rural areas could be more contaminated than we think!
What are the effects on our health?
The presence of these substances in shrimp may seem dangerous for consumers, but a researcher in toxicology has claimed that the amount of these products found in the shrimp is quite weak and so the effects would also be weak. Which is reassuring… but for how long?
