[Pharmwaste] Hormones may change sex of fish

Tenace, Laurie Laurie.Tenace at dep.state.fl.us
Mon Nov 21 10:47:08 EST 2005


This article may add to the confusion:
"Fish are not hatched with this problem" Suggesting they become feminized
after they're hatched? Or that fewer fish are hatching? Or am I the one who
is confused - I think the fish are hatched with the gender problems. Can
someone tell me if they become feminized AFTER hatching? 

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/top/4_1_JO21_HORMONES_S1.htm


Hormones may change sex of fish

By Kim Smith 
STAFF WRITER

WILMINGTON - Hormones released into the discharge waters of our sewage
treatment plants may have the capability of turning male fish into females.

It is a problem that was recently discussed last week at a Water, Sewer,
Streets and Alleys committee meeting. Ken Jeffries, superintendent of water
and sewers, warned officials of a potentially new problem with high estrogen
levels detected in the waters of the lagoon that discharges treated waste
waters into the Kankakee River.

Bob Mosher, spokesman for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency's
Division of Water Pollution Control Standards Section, said the issue
Jeffries was discussing is generally known as "endocrine disruptors."

"There are theoretically substances in domestic waste water that have the
ability to feminize male fish once these substances are discharged to rivers
and lakes in treated sewage effluent," Mosher said.   
"Human estrogens both natural and synthetic are thought to be major endocrine
disruptors, but so are other chemicals found in society such as cleaners and
pesticides."

Mosher used the word "theoretically" because this is a fairly new issue and
there have not been studies done as of yet to absolutely prove this is what
is going on.

"Fish are fairly plastic organisms that upon long exposures to endocrine
disruptors can change from male to female-like individuals," Mosher said.
"The reproduction function of the male is reduced or lost in the feminization
process."

Fish are not hatched with this problem. Mosher said the real issue is that
through decreased reproduction from affected males, fewer fish will be
produced.

Mosher said two features are thought to help remove estrogen and maybe other
endocrine disruptors - increased retention time and ultra-violet light.

Recently, scientists discovered sexually altered fish off the southern
California coast. Until then, the intersex fish were only discovered in fresh
water.

Last year, federal scientists reported finding egg-growing male fish in
Maryland's Potomac River. They think the abnormality may be caused by
pollutants from sewage plants, feedlots and factories.

In the latest studies presented at Monday's Society of Environmental
Toxicology and Chemistry in Baltimore, scientists caught 82 male English sole
and hornyhead turbot off Los Angeles and Orange counties.

Of those, 11 possessed ovary tissues in their testes, said Doris Vidal of the
Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, who led one of the
studies.

Scientists do not yet know how such sexual defects affect the overall fish
population.

No unisex fish have been discovered coming from the Kankakee River.

"The Kankakee River is very healthy in terms of its fish population, so we
may conclude that the effluents that already enter the river are having
little or no effect," Mosher said. "There is nothing unique about Wilmington
and endocrine disruptors, every sewage treatment plant effluent would be
equally endowed with these substances."

Mosher said there are no standards or regulations to deal with the real or
imagined threat of endocrine disruptors at this time.

Ultraviolet lights are already used periodically to treat the wastewaters of
the Wilmington sewage treatment plant. 

Laurie J. Tenace
Environmental Specialist
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
2600 Blair Stone Road, MS 4555
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2400
PH: (850) 245-8759
FAX: (850) 245-8811
Laurie.Tenace at dep.state.fl.us
 
view our mercury web pages at: 
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/mercury/default.htm
 
 


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