Sharks in the Brazilian coastal metropolis of Rio de Janeiro have tested positive for cocaine, suggesting large quantities of the drug are being consumed in the city and dumped into the sea via sewage, scientists say.
Researchers from the Oswaldo Cruz Institute discovered the drug in the livers and muscles of 13 sharpnose sharks, according to the study published in the journal Science of The Total Environment.
“In Brazil, studies have already shown cocaine contamination of water and some aquatic animals, such as mussels. Our analysis is the first to find the substance in sharks,” said pharmacist Enrico Mendes Saggioro, one of the researchers responsible for the discovery along with biologist Rachel Ann Hauser-Davis.
Sharks important for ecosystem
According to the biologist, sharks, as predators, play a central role in the food chain of the marine ecosystem: they can be used to detect environmental damage, including various forms of pollution.
According to the latest World Drug Report published in 2024 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Brazil is among the largest consumers of cocaine in the world. According to the available studies, researchers assume that the drug ends up in the sea mainly through the discharge of cocaine waste into sewage.
The impact is being investigated
To determine the exact effects of cocaine exposure on animals, specific studies are needed. “It is suspected that it affects growth, maturation and possibly fertility in sharks, because the liver is involved in embryo development,” says biologist Hauser-Davis.
Source: Krone
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