Don't Play With Sex Life Of The Fish!

June 16, 2008

Release from: Turkish Daily News (Turkey)

Contraceptive pills and cosmetic products may be causing male fish to undergo a feminization process because of hormones absorbed from sewage and may pose a threat to humans as well, according to some scientists.

Scientific studies conducted around the world have shown that male fish are in the process of changing sex due to the contamination of municipal waste waters. The female contraceptive pill and cosmetics such as sunscreen are thought to be the main causes.

In Turkey, a professor of chemistry has also recently drawn attention to the devastating threat that fish populations face. Hormones in sewage, including those produced by pills and cosmetic wastes, are not only harmful to water creatures but also cause two million humans, many of whom are children, to die each year, said Professor Adil Denizli, chair of the Chemistry Department at Hacettepe University, Ankara.

“Hormones, which are the biggest source of micro-contamination in seas and rivers, are a major threat against water creatures, and through the food chain, humans,” said Denizli, adding these chemicals will pave the way for serious health problems in the future. Denizli said scientists have encountered problems mostly with waste from psychiatric and analgesic pills, and antibiotics in tests conducted in waters in Europe, Asia and the United States. These wastes have an effect on water creatures in a short time and pose a great threat against the humans and the ecosystem.

Contraceptive pills and cosmetic products contain substances with hormones that cause fish to change sex, says Denizli. In testing municipal waste waters, researchers have found acetaminophen, a drug used to reduce pain and triclosan, a potent wide-spectrum antibacterial and anti-fungal agent found in antibacterial soaps. The effects of these waste products on human health are not fully known, but it has been scientifically proven that the chemicals have significant negative effects on water creatures constantly subjected to these substances. In particular, the contraceptive pills, drugs including estrogen and used in hormonal treatments, and cosmetic products have been proven to be the main cause of devastation among water organisms. Hormones in sewage, including those produced by compounds substances, may cause mutations or the emergence of new water creatures.

Chemicals in water cause two million deaths annually, a majority of which are in children under the age of five. About 300 million tons of industrial and household wastes, 140 million tons of agricultural fertilizer and a few million tons of pesticides, and 400,000 tons of oil and oil products seep into municipal water every year. Millions of people in the world throw expired drugs directly into sewage systems, which is the reason why the most urgent precaution to be taken is to prevent the discharging of expired drugs directly into municipal sewage.

Changing sex most common in Seattle

It was in the late 1990s that studies undertaken on water creatures initially drew attention to the fact that fish populations were devastated by chemical wastes released into waters. Scientists have found that the female contraceptive pill and detergents are the main causes of hormonal changes in fish and other water creatures. Sex changes in the fish have been observed most frequently in the Duwamish River in the United States in recent years. At the beginning, it was the male fish that underwent a process of feminization, but the latest studies have shown that female fish have also been subjected to hormonal changes due to pollution in human sewage. Scientists have observed a reduction in the ability to reproduce and quality of eggs among female fish.