Birth Control Pill's Estrogen Linked To Rise In Population Of Female Fish


Birth control pills may be responsible for sexually altering
fish, a study suggests.

Hermaphrodite fish are on the rise, thanks
to the birth control pill and other natural and unnatural forms of
estrogen that have made their way into the water, said Chris
Metcalfe, professor of Environmental and Resource Studies at Trent
University in Ontario, Canada.
"We have observed intersex white perch in various locations in
the Great Lakes," he said. "And in the Columbia River, there is a
much higher proportion of female salmon than males, indicating that
some feminization process may be going on."
Metcalfe conducted lab experiments on aquarium fish to try to
find out which of the various forms of estrogen were the culprits
in the sexual alteration of fish.


His research found that very low levels of the estrogen hormones
17 alpha-ethinylestradiol, 17 beta-estradiol, estrone and estriol
caused intersex and altered sex ratios in the aquarium fish.
"Ethinylestradiol is the active ingredient in the birth control
pill," he said. "The other compounds are the natural female
estrogen (beta estradiol) and metabolites of that compound excreted
by women."
Metcalfe, who reported his findings last week at the Geological
Society of America's annual meeting in Boston, thinks female
estrogen hormones released from sewage treatment plants are
responsible for the feminization of wild fish.


Oregonian - 11/14/2001
Topic: Toxics

[ Comment, Edit or Article Submission ]



.