Mad Fish and Sterile Englishmen: Study Says Birth Control Pills Having Strange Effects
Are British women on birth control pills causing Englishmen to become sterile? In what would be one of the stranger twists of science, that is what some are theorizing, according to findings revealed as part of a joint investigation by the BBC and the newspaper,The Independent.. The reports say a study coming out later this month shows that no less than half of the male fish in England's lowland rivers are developing female characteristics such as developing eggs in their testes or female reproductive ducts. About a tenth of the fish are sterile and a quarter have damaged sperm. Scientists assert that the main culprit isn't just any pollution, but is the chemical ethanol estriadol - a synthetic form of estrogen present in birth control pills. The potent chemical is coming from the urine of women on the pill, which may be getting flushed through sewage systems and into the rivers, say researchers. What's especially troubling, they say, is the levels of ethanol estriadol that appear to be affecting the fish are lower than the levels that drinking water from the rivers is tested for. If the chemical is indeed going into the drinking water, the researchers speculate that it could help explain why sperm counts have been dropping in English men over the past 50 years. The research is part of a five-year study by England's Environmental Agency. The water industry reportedly denies that any such chemicals have been found in the water or that any threat to human health is posed. >> I don't know, but with all the talk of CO2 and such, I'd like to thank my Creator for plannin' ahead more than I could ever imagine, we really do deserve to all be dead by now anyway, eh? ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Stock for $4. No Minimums. FREE Money 2002. http://us.click.yahoo.com/BgmYkB/VovDAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send "unsubscribe" messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
