Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, they're brain stuff, Lauren vocal bomb Here. Forty years have gone by. It's the debut of the popular antidepressant fluoxetine, popularly known by the trade name Prozac. It's in a class of antidepressants called S s R eyes that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. They give the brain a little boost in serotonin, the
chemical in the brain thought to affect happiness. After all this time, it's still the most effective and popular antidepressant on the market, and experts say it's not getting replaced anytime soon. And since demand for the drug is rising each year, it looks like more fluoxetine will be in our medicine cabinets, and as a result, that means we'll have more fluoxetine in our environment, and researchers want to
know what it's doing. It's not news that we ingest all kinds of chemicals oral contraceptives, antibiotics, mood enhancers, and even caffeine that end up in our toilets since our bodies can't entirely metabolize them, and after they're flushed, chemicals like fluoxetine and up in rivers and streams, and after that in the oceans. What effect these chemicals have on ecosystems once they show up isn't well understood, but study found that even small doses of the drug can render
the notoriously aggressive Siamese fighting fish uncharacteristically chill. A new study published in the journal Ecology and Evolution examines the effect of flu oxytine on shore crabs on the Oregon Coast and finds exposure to the drug might be making them careless in their foraging habits. A Portland State University research team exposed shore crabs in a lab to trace amounts of fluoxetine at levels that have been detected on
the organ shore. Over the course of sixty days. They found these crabs forged more during times of the day they typically stay hidden, exposing them to the threat of predation. These crabs also fought more with others in their species,
sometimes killing or being killed in the process. A researcher, a Lease Grantic, a professor in Portland State University's Department of Environmental Sciences and Management, sudden to press release the changes we observed in their behaviors may mean that crabs living in harbors and estuaries contaminated with fluoxyitine are at
a greater risk of predation and mortality. Further research is needed to learn how this and other pharmaceutical waste will affect our oceans and what we can do about it. But for now, you can help a little by contacting your doctor or pharmacy to dispose of any unwanted medications instead of throwing them in the trash or toilet. Today's episode is written by Jesselyn Shields and produced by Tyler Klang.
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