Hold on, men. Here’s a new reason for you to care about water pollution. We already know that it harms aquatic life. But a new study supports evidence that it might also be causing bizarre sexual traits in fish – and could possibly be linked to low sperm counts in human males. Yikes.
The peer-revised scientific journal Environmental Health reports that researcher Susan Jobling and colleagues in England found a link between chemicals called anti-androgens in wastewater treatment plant effluent (the stuff pouring out of sewage plants) and the widespread feminization of male fish in rivers. Some of these chemicals are found in medicines, including cancer treatments and other pharmaceuticals, as well as in pesticides, the online publication Terra Daily reports. Anti-androgens inhibit the function of the male hormone, testosterone, reducing male fertility. The research suggests that when these drugs and chemicals get flushed down toilets or run off of farm fields, they may play an important role in feminizing male fish.
Okay… fish. But what about us, guys? Dr. Jobling and colleagues write that their study supports the hypothesis that: “endocrine disrupting effects seen in wild fish and in humans are caused by similar combinations of …. chemical cocktails.”
I drink socially, but I’ll take a pass on that cocktail, thanks.
The new study may be of assistance in the continuing investigation of fish kills and ‘intersex’ fish in the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. It is an intriguing mystery.
In a series of articles starting in 2004, Washington Post writer David Fahrenthold reported that male smallmouth bass were showing up in the Potomac River with an odd sexual trait: eggs growing in their testes. The Baltimore Sunfollowed up on this puzzle in 2005, and other media have joined the trail.
Dr. Vicki Blazer, a fish pathologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and a leader of the investigation into the “intersex” Potomac River fish, said during an interview with Bay Daily this morning that the new study is “very interesting” and worthy of examination.
Blazer said that, so far, there is no solid scientific evidence connecting drugs and chemicals flowing out of wastewater plants and low sperm counts in human males. But she said it is an important area to investigate, because if the chemicals are disrupting the fish they could very well also be getting into humans. “When you see things in the environment, of course they probably eventually affect humans,” Blazer said.
She noted that there are some differences between the results so far in research in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and the studies in England. The British scientists have found a high correlation between pollution from waste treatment plants and sexually mixed-up fish.
But in the Potomac River, Blazer said she has also found “intersex” bass in areas that are not downstream from waste treatment plants. This leaves questions yet to be answered - including whether other pollution sources are part of the problem.
The mystery of the gender-bending bass remains unsolved.
Any theories out there?
A sexually-charged mystery lurks in the depths of the Potomac River.
(Photo by Allison Kotewicz)
Water pollution has been seriously affecting the life of humans, plants as well as animals. The eco-system of rivers, streams, lakes, seas and oceans is also getting deteriorated due to the contamination of water, through various sources. This condition also leads to the outbreak of numerous diseases, majority of them being lethal and contagious.I think if industries properly handle their waste water, we can solve many water pollution problems. Industrial water treatment consultant like http://www.jnblabs.com should be helpful in this regard.
Posted by: harmonsmith | 03/11/2009 at 06:28 AM