Brazilian scientists have detected traces of cocaine, caffeine, and common painkillers in sharks swimming near the Bahamas, highlighting growing concerns about marine pollution.
According to a report by the New York Post on Thursday, the sharks were not intentionally exposed to these substances.
Researchers linked the findings to rising levels of contaminants in waters affected by tourism and urban development, as detailed in a study published in Environmental Pollution.
Blood samples were collected from 85 sharks around Eleuthera, one of the Bahamas’ most remote islands, and tested for both legal and illegal drugs.
Of the samples, 28 sharks across three species tested positive, with caffeine being the most common substance detected, followed by acetaminophen and diclofenac, active ingredients in Tylenol and Voltaren.
Two sharks were also found to have traces of cocaine, which researchers suggested may have resulted from the animals consuming drug packets that entered the water.
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“It’s mostly because people are going there, peeing in the water and dumping their sewage in the water. They bite things to investigate and end up exposed,” said Natascha Wosnick, a study author from the Federal University of Paraná in Brazil.
The affected sharks were taken from popular tourist and dive areas, indicating that wastewater from boats and urban developments, potentially contaminated with pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs, was likely the source of exposure.
While the impact of these substances on shark behavior is still unclear, researchers observed changes in metabolic markers in the contaminated sharks.
Tracy Fanara, a Florida oceanographer not involved in the study, said this suggested the chemicals were causing stress and increasing energy expenditure as the sharks attempted to process the pollutants.
The study reportedly marks the first time cocaine has been detected in sharks in the Bahamas, and the first detection of caffeine in sharks anywhere in the world. Previous studies had only recorded trace cocaine in sharks off Brazil.