In short:

A new study has detected cocaine in Brazilian sharpnose sharks off the coast of Rio de Janerio.

The findings are the first time the presence of the drug has been found in sharks, researchers say.

What’s next?

Health concerns have now been raised because shark meat is commonly consumed in Brazil, but it is not known how the presence of cocaine would affect consumption.

Brazilian sharpnose sharks have tested positive for cocaine, according to a new study.

Scientists studied 13 sharks off the coast of Brazil and detected the drug in all of them, as well as benzoylecgonine — the major metabolite of cocaine — in 12 of those.

The study, published in Science of the Total Environment, reported traces of the drugs were found in the sharks’ livers and muscles.

It is the first to find the presence of cocaine in sharks and researchers say concentrations were as much as 100 times higher than previously reported for other aquatic creatures.

Scientists who carried out the study, titled Cocaine Sharks, dissected the bodies of 13 sharpnose sharks caught near a beach in Rio de Janeiro.

All of the females in the study were pregnant but it is not known how the cocaine exposure affected the foetuses.

It is also unclear whether the presence of cocaine alters a shark’s behaviour.

“Regardless of where the drug came from – which is still not possible to determine – the results show that cocaine is being widely traded and moved in Brazil,” The Guardian reported study coordinator Enrico Mendes Saggioro as saying.

“Cocaine has a low half-life in the environment … so, for us to find it in an animal like this, it means a lot of drugs are entering the biota.

“In other studies, I had already found cocaine in rivers flowing into the sea off Rio, but it was a surprise to find it in sharks – and at such a high level.”

Brazil is one of many countries where cocaine has been detected in sewage and rivers.

It is believed the drug may have entered the sea around Rio de Janeiro from the drainage of illegal drug labs, as well as dumped or lost cocaine packages.

Another concern raised by the study is that shark meat is a common food source in Brazil, and if the animal is contaminated then it may pose health risks.

Brazilian sharpnose sharks are found in the tropical waters of the western Atlantic and are less than 91 centimetres in length.