01-40_WC_149_JUL-AUG26_PT - Flipbook - Page 29
Conversely, Cárdenas-Soracá said, “the fact the
compound is in the fish (may or may not) mean
it will impact the fish. We’re trying to understand
what the impact is.”
Servos said previously animals were not a focus
of study because the analytical capabilities to do so
were not yet available.
“Now we know it’s in the wastewater, the river
and getting into the animals and the question is,
does that matter? If you look at the bigger picture,
anything going down a toilet or a drain is going to
the wastewater treatment plant and the plants just
can’t keep up with the diversity of material that
society is generating,” he said.
“We need to be vigilant as to what is going
down that drain and work towards solutions or
at least understand what it is we’re doing to the
environment,” he added.
Servos added any new chemical going down
the drain just adds to the amount of compounds
interfering with bodies of water.
“We’ve got pesticides, organic contaminants, habitat
change..we have all these things going on in the
environment and our obligation is to understand what
it’s doing so we can protect sustainability and make
sure the next generation has the opportunities that we
have,” he said.
In the case of the fish examined in the University of
Waterloo study, Cárdenas-Soracá said, there was little
movement and “we went with the worst case scenario.
They don’t move too much and since they’re in a
certain spot of the river, they’re constantly exposed to
these compounds.”
“There’s a potential since the fish don’t move that
we’ll see the compound in the fish if the compound
is still there, so given three easy to find species in the
river, let’s see if we can see differences between them,”
she added.
Further information may come to light regarding
the effect of opioids and other compounds with
further study of different fish species with varying
physiologies, behaviours and in different locations.
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