CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A new study from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi has revealed fentanyl and other pharmaceutical medications were found in common bottlenose dolphins along the Texas coastline.
Beginning in 2022, researchers from the university and other organizations, like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Precision Toxicological Consultancy, began collecting blubber samples from dolphins in Laguna Madre — located near South Padre Island — up to Corpus Christi Bay.
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Researchers were looking to see if opioids and pharmaceutical medications were inside the marine mammals.
The research project stemmed from an untargeted analysis of a dead dolphin in prior years that was found to have fentanyl in its blubber.
In 2022, the research team took samples from 89 dolphins; 83 were live and six were post-mortem.
Eighteen of the dolphins tested had fentanyl in their systems while 30 samples tested positive for other medications like sedatives and muscle relaxers, according to the study.
Researchers believe long-term, chronic exposure is why these drugs are being found inside dolphins.
However, they are not 100% sure how the drugs are getting into them.
“In all likelihood, although we don’t know with certainty, one possible route of exposure would be from wastewater treatment plants that are not treating pharmaceuticals,” Dr. Dara Orbach, assistant professor of marine biology at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, said.
Researchers suspect wastewater treatment plants could be a factor.
“Humans are consuming various drugs, including birth controls and Tylenol. They then excrete them into their toilets, and those drugs inside our water,” Orbach said.
The same goes for people who flush unused medications down their toilets.
“I think we need to be also very conscious about how we dispose of our unused pharmaceuticals,” Orbach said. “So, for example, flushing them down a toilet might mean that they’re getting into our water system, as well.”
Another way the drugs could get into the dolphins is through what they eat. Dolphins are apex predators of the sea and consume foods such as shrimp and fish.
Humans eat a lot of the same seafood dolphins do. Researchers are now questioning if these drugs could make their way back to humans.
In 2024, the team began a new research project to test more dolphins and to examine shrimp, fish and sea grass.
“We’re trying to understand exactly how far spread this issue is, looking across the entire trophic system of our waters and then also looking at a variety, more pharmaceuticals,” Orbach said.
The team has already collected at least 40 samples that will be tested this year.
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