Subject: Majordomo file: list 'guardian-weekly' file
'gw-uk-news/2002.3.24/200203210804'
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UK News / Fish offer clue to human fertility decline / Paul Brown
Fish offer clue to human fertility decline
Paul Brown
The steady drop in male fertility in Britain could be caused by men
ingesting female hormones in drinking water drawn from rivers containing
recycled sewage, according to government researchers.
Extensive work for the Environment Agency shows that in some rivers from
which drinking water is taken all the male fish of some species have become
feminised. This is blamed on the presence of trace quantities of chemicals
in the water.
According to Susan Jobling of Brunel University in west London, the same
might be happening to the human population. Over the past 30 years human
sperm counts have fallen by half as the birth pill has become increasingly
used. Millions of contraceptive pills are taken every day and the synthetic
oestrogen, known as ethanol oestradiol, is discharged and flushed into
rivers, where it remains active for a month.
In some parts of London water is said to have passed through seven lots of
kidneys before it reaches the sea. The Lea, which is a tributary of the
Thames, would have no flow in the summer months but for discharges from
sewage works.
"This issue is not just about fish," Dr Jobling told the BBC. "Everything we
eat, put on our skin, throw down the drain, ends up in the sewage treatment
works and ultimately in the river. One could argue that we are
actually living in a sea of chemicals. I think there are very real reasons
to be worried about whether male reproductive health could also be affected
in the same way as fish."
The worst example cited in the research was the River Aire, which runs
through Bradford and Leeds. All the roach caught there were female.
Alarm about chemicals affecting human health has been raised many times by
environmental groups, and the first case of feminising of fish was
discovered four years ago. The Environment Agency launched a comprehensive
study, but doubted at the time that the findings would be significant. Now
the agency is considering ordering water companies to remove the hormones.
The Guardian Weekly 21-3-2002, page 8
