Lead researcher Rebecca Klapper says that this experimental setup could actually be a reflection of the fishes’ reality.
The human body does not absorb medications 100 percent, so a trace amount is excreted in urine. Water treatment centers are unable to completely filter out all of those contaminant and can trickle down and affect the wildlife. Klapper sees the minnows as a way to gauge the long-term effects of Prozac in humans.
“It’s not just an environmental question but a human question as well,” she tells ABC News.
Changes in the minnows’ reproductive behavior were seen in as low concentrations as 1 microgram per liter, equal to a single dose of Prozac dissolved in over 5,000 gallons of water.
“They spent more time in their nest than they did interacting with the females,” Klapper says. At higher concentrations, that behavior switched from disinterest to outright aggression with the male fish started to attack and sometimes killing their mates.