1
00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:06,680
Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, they're

2
00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:09,920
Speaker 1: brain stuff, Lauren vocal bomb Here. Forty years have gone by.

3
00:00:10,039 --> 00:00:14,000
Speaker 1: It's the debut of the popular antidepressant fluoxetine, popularly known

4
00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:16,400
Speaker 1: by the trade name Prozac. It's in a class of

5
00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:20,720
Speaker 1: antidepressants called S s R eyes that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.

6
00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:23,319
Speaker 1: They give the brain a little boost in serotonin, the

7
00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:26,800
Speaker 1: chemical in the brain thought to affect happiness. After all

8
00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:30,160
Speaker 1: this time, it's still the most effective and popular antidepressant

9
00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:32,760
Speaker 1: on the market, and experts say it's not getting replaced

10
00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:35,880
Speaker 1: anytime soon. And since demand for the drug is rising

11
00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:38,519
Speaker 1: each year, it looks like more fluoxetine will be in

12
00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:41,599
Speaker 1: our medicine cabinets, and as a result, that means we'll

13
00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:45,280
Speaker 1: have more fluoxetine in our environment, and researchers want to

14
00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:48,120
Speaker 1: know what it's doing. It's not news that we ingest

15
00:00:48,159 --> 00:00:52,080
Speaker 1: all kinds of chemicals oral contraceptives, antibiotics, mood enhancers, and

16
00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:54,840
Speaker 1: even caffeine that end up in our toilets since our

17
00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:58,840
Speaker 1: bodies can't entirely metabolize them, and after they're flushed, chemicals

18
00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:02,160
Speaker 1: like fluoxetine and up in rivers and streams, and after

19
00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:05,080
Speaker 1: that in the oceans. What effect these chemicals have on

20
00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:09,400
Speaker 1: ecosystems once they show up isn't well understood, but study

21
00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:12,119
Speaker 1: found that even small doses of the drug can render

22
00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:17,480
Speaker 1: the notoriously aggressive Siamese fighting fish uncharacteristically chill. A new

23
00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:20,760
Speaker 1: study published in the journal Ecology and Evolution examines the

24
00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:23,520
Speaker 1: effect of flu oxytine on shore crabs on the Oregon

25
00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:26,640
Speaker 1: Coast and finds exposure to the drug might be making

26
00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:30,440
Speaker 1: them careless in their foraging habits. A Portland State University

27
00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:33,199
Speaker 1: research team exposed shore crabs in a lab to trace

28
00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:36,080
Speaker 1: amounts of fluoxetine at levels that have been detected on

29
00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:39,320
Speaker 1: the organ shore. Over the course of sixty days. They

30
00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:41,959
Speaker 1: found these crabs forged more during times of the day

31
00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:45,440
Speaker 1: they typically stay hidden, exposing them to the threat of predation.

32
00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:48,880
Speaker 1: These crabs also fought more with others in their species,

33
00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:52,800
Speaker 1: sometimes killing or being killed in the process. A researcher,

34
00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:56,120
Speaker 1: a Lease Grantic, a professor in Portland State University's Department

35
00:01:56,160 --> 00:01:59,400
Speaker 1: of Environmental Sciences and Management, sudden to press release the

36
00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:02,280
Speaker 1: changes we observed in their behaviors may mean that crabs

37
00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:06,080
Speaker 1: living in harbors and estuaries contaminated with fluoxyitine are at

38
00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:09,840
Speaker 1: a greater risk of predation and mortality. Further research is

39
00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:12,880
Speaker 1: needed to learn how this and other pharmaceutical waste will

40
00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:15,320
Speaker 1: affect our oceans and what we can do about it.

41
00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:18,200
Speaker 1: But for now, you can help a little by contacting

42
00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:21,280
Speaker 1: your doctor or pharmacy to dispose of any unwanted medications

43
00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:29,160
Speaker 1: instead of throwing them in the trash or toilet. Today's

44
00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:32,240
Speaker 1: episode is written by Jesselyn Shields and produced by Tyler Klang.

45
00:02:32,639 --> 00:02:34,800
Speaker 1: For more on this and lots of other fishy topics,

46
00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:48,480
Speaker 1: visit our home planet, how stuff works dot com.