Sewage Runoff Turns British Fish Female - Reuters

[hatrack]

LONDON - "British fish are changing sex due to sewage in rivers that contains large amounts of female hormones, the Environment Agency says.

In a report on the latest stage of 20 years of research last week, it said that in a survey of 1,500 fish at 50 locations, one-third of the males showed female characteristics. The agency which monitors environmental pollution said the sex changes were a result of the fish being exposed to treated sewage which still contained hormones produced naturally by women or as a result of them taking the contraceptive pill.

"There is sufficient evidence of harm to fish caused by sewage effluent that action needs to be taken now to find out how to control this," Andrew Skinner, director of environmental protection at the agency, said in a statement.

EDIT

It named the offending natural hormones as oestradiol and oestrone, and the synthetic culprit as ethinyloestradiol. It said the findings had serious implication for future fish populations because anything more than a moderate change in a fish's sexual organs made it more difficult to reproduce."

EDIT

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/25947/story.htm

[LittleApple81]

1. Wow if that happens to humans we MIGHT ACHIEVE GLOBAL PEACE. n/t

[Massacure]

2. I dunno.

Elvis is hiding out there somewhere, oblivious to the change. If someone finds him, it is going to be a 6 billion gal brawl. :P

[LittleApple81]

3. That was a great one! LOL!