Eat fish, get hooked on Zoloft

Researchers introduce blue gill fish to baby fathead minnows to see how they react to predators. (MPR Photo/Ambar Espinoza)

Every time you pop that pill, there's a decent chance that trace amounts of the drug, unabsorbed by your body, will end up in the water system. Levels are far below that of a typical prescription, but long-term effects are so-far untested.

MPR reports that researchers at St. Cloud State University are finding anti-depressants in water can affect fish and other aquatic life. If a fish swims in Zoloft-infested waters and you eat the fish, it doesn't necessarily mean you'll be affected--things in your life will suddenly feel like they're going along swimmingly, no? But the SCS researchers are finding that the fish's reproductive and predator-protecting instincts change in ways that aren't good for health of the species...and, by association, not good for us. There's one more thing for Obama's new food and agriculture czar to look into...