[Pharmwaste] Wastewater Decimates Minnows

[Tenace, Laurie]

51. Wastewater Decimates Minnows
by Megan Mansell Williams
 http://discovermagazine.com/2008/jan/wastewater-decimates-minnows


Birth control pills work wonders in preventing human reproduction.
Unfortunately, they're also effective on an unintended target-fish. In fact,
the synthetic estrogen in contraceptives can wipe out entire fish
populations, according to Karen Kidd of the Canadian Rivers Institute at the
University of New Brunswick. Her findings, reported in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences in May, suggest that tougher sewage treatment
could safeguard the little swimmers.

Previous studies linked wild male fish possessing uniquely female
characteristics-production of eggs and the egg protein vitellogenin (VTG)-to
the presence of natural and synthetic estrogens in waterways downstream of
sewage outfalls; one estrogen source is the hormone that women excrete in
their urine.

For three years, Kidd and company added the same synthetic estrogen as in the
pill to a research lake operated by Fisheries and Oceans Canada to mimic the
chronic low levels released by treatment facilities. During the study, all
the lake's male fathead minnows began producing eggs and VTG, the female
fish's egg development became delayed, newly hatched fish disappeared, and by
the end, minnows were all but locally extinct. Kidd says the short-lived
minnows were the first to go, but larger fish, many of which feed on minnows,
would most likely have been affected over time.

While more advanced secondary and tertiary sewage treatments, including
measures like activated charcoal filtration, can remove 90 to 100 percent of
the estrogen in wastewater, some North American cities employ only primary
treatment. "A lot of our regulations focus on persistent chemicals like DDT,"
Kidd says. "We need to pay more attention to nonpersistent ones in wastewater
because fish are being continuously exposed, and even at low levels, that can
have serious consequences."

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 

Mercury web pages:
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/mercury/default.htm

Unwanted Medications web pages:
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/medications/default.htm




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