Source: zerohedge.com
Mussels harvested from the Puget Sound are testing positive for opioids. The source of the drug is coming from treated sewage water being returned to the Sound. The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration estimates that 300 pounds of pharmaceuticals, personal care products and industrial compounds are introduced in to the Sound on a daily basis.
Mussels are filter feeder and they don't metabolize opioids. As they filter water that they need to obtain nutrients they also intake and store pollutants in the water. To determine the level of pharmaceuticals in the water, they took clean mussels and placed them at several locations. They were left for months and extracted. They were analyzed for drug levels they stored.
The analysis showed levels that were too lower to affect people consuming the mussels. The test did indicate that the level of opioids is increasing. Although the levels at this time are low, the increase should trigger an alarm as the concentration will reach a point were it will affect sea life as well as humans.
We have seen this predicament many times before and past solutions have been to ignore the problem until it is beyond repair. The recent events that come to mind is Fukushima, the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the Yucca mountain nuclear waste dump. Everyone of these and many that have not been mentioned, stirs up opposition for a few months and the matter is swept under the rug. When it is a big enough hazard or the health fallout is too great for it to be covered up, they just raise the levels of concentrations deemed hazardous.
Some may recall something called Agent Orange, even though this was the cause of a public outcry back in the 60s, today most don't know what it is with the exception of those that are still suffering from its aftereffects.
