Viagra Contamination in Utah Lake Carp
Reported to UtahDiving.com by E. Recht
Medical doctors, flush with excitement about the effectiveness of Viagra in treating erectile dysfunction, never anticipated the environmental consequences. Now scientists say the drug is accumulating in Utah Lake through sewage outflow from nearby cities.
| Many drugs are excreted through the urine. This is usually not a problem. When the urine is flushed into the community system, any drugs in the urine degrade rapidly. |
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| However, researchers are finding that Viagra is unusually stable, and resists breakdown during standard wastewater treatment processes. "It's a really stiff molecule." says Ima Woody, spokesperson for the research team. "And because Utah Lake has little outflow, the drug is accumulating there." |
The problem was first suspected when the annual May carp spawn lasted until mid-July, and several water skiiers were injured in collisions with large matts of floating carp eggs.
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Now that the female carp have completed egg-laying for the year, the male carp are becoming aggressive. Recently, several female swimmers near the American Fork boat harbor were mobbed by excited carp. Although no one was injured, the swimmers reportedly were "totally barfed out." |
UtahDiving.com will provide further details as this story unfolds.
