Environment Network (UPEN)

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January 2013

Is there something in the water?

Dr Alex Ford, a Reader in Biology from the Institute of Marine Sciences has been awarded £250 000 to study the effects of antidepressants on aquatic life. This award is part of a larger £4.7 Million grant, which is a consortium of UK and French scientists entitled Peptide Research Network of Excellence (PeReNE) which brings together pharmacologists, biochemists, biomedical scientists and ecotoxicologists. The University of Portsmouth element, of which Alex is a part, is headed up by Professor Darek Gareki from the School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences.

Dr Ford will be following up on his well publicised study on the effects of antidepressants on shrimp. To take these discoveries further, he and his team will be investigating if antipsychotic drugs can alter the gene expression through to behaviour of aquatic organisms at concentrations found in environment, following incomplete breakdown of the drugs, after sewage treatment.

Dr Ford said "this funding gives us the opportunity to study whether drugs aimed at regulating the neuro-hormones in humans can impact the biology of ecologically relevant aquatic species". "Organisms such as shrimps, worms and snails share similar neurological hormones to those of humans and as a result any drugs aimed at specifically altering them can also impact wildlife"

It is hoped that this study will contribute to our understanding as to whether human pharmaceuticals are damaging the health of the environment and will raise awareness to these issues, so that appropriate action can be taken.

The study started in Jan 2013 and runs until April 2015.