Opioids and other drugs found in fish near water treatment plants

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]Low levels of opioids, anti-depressants and other drugs have already been detected in the aquatic animals.

[00:00:06]>> We need to know exactly how fast these compounds based from the body of the fish because that would be tell us a lot about if this maybe can have an impact on the fish or not.

[00:00:18]>> Once the fishing is complete, the fish are brought to this trailer doubling as a makeshift lab where the research begins. This part of the process sees the fish measured, weighed, and eventually dissected. We grind the fish and then we apply the technique that we have in the lab that is just basically uh with uh some solvents that we have >> with the makeup of opioids constantly changing these fish provide early data.

[00:00:41]>> We now are talking about fentanil tomorrow maybe no. So the idea is that we know what is actually now as our baseline.

[00:00:50]>> Those involved with the project say because concentration levels are so low people in contact with the water in the Grand River have nothing to worry about.

[00:00:58]But research on the fish is far from over.

[00:01:00]>> See if it has impacts on their survival, growth, and uh any of the other fitness measures that we're testing.

[00:01:08]>> These aren't your typical spring anglers. They're researchers from the University of Waterlue learning more about the local ecosystem and its surroundings.

[00:01:16]>> We're collecting uh small darters.

[00:01:18]They're very small species of fish that are very abundant here in the river. And we're trying to collect some and look at the impact of different uh inputs into the river.

[00:01:28]>> You won't see them using a rod and reel, but rather an electro fisher.

[00:01:33]>> There's actually a battery behind me uh and it's got a controller and then the electricity is going from one end here uh to uh to the tail. So, it's circulating electrical current, >> drawing the fish in with a goal to see how they're being impacted by nearby wastewater plants. The Grand River has uh over 30 wastewater treatment plants and throughout the course of a lot of studies we found that um some pharmaceuticals degrade and others are more persistent. and