No Fish Tale - Free Birth Control in Tap Water

In 2008, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) tested water in nine states across the country and found that 85 man-made chemicals, including some medications, were commonly slipping through municipal treatment systems and ending up in our tap water. Another report by the Associated Press found trace amounts of dozens of pharmaceuticals in the drinking water supplies of some 46 million Americans.But according to USGS, such chemicals and medications are so diluted—at levels equal to a thimble full of water in an Olympic-sized swimming pool—that they do not pose a health threat. But others aren’t so sure. Researchers have found evidence that even extremely diluted concentrations of drug residues harm fish, frogs and other aquatic species, and have been shown to labs to impair human cell function.

Intersex fish were found in pristine Boulder Creek in Colorado in 2005, leading scientists to discover that contraceptive hormones had been found in local waterways.

In 2005, strange intersex fish were found in pristine-looking Boulder Creek, in Colorado among other places in the US.  One of the common culprits is thought to be  estrogen, much of which is inadvertently released into sewers through the urine of women taking birth control. Studies have shown that estrogen can wreak reproductive havoc on some fish, which spawn infertile offspring sporting a mixture of male and female parts a phenomenon known by science today as “fish feminization.” 

 To test this idea in the field, a group of researchers at the University of New Brunswick in Canada conducted a comprehensive, seven year study of the ecology of a research "lake 260" in Northwest Ontario. The selected lakes were unpolluted and free of human activities such as farming, water-sports and fishing. From 1999 to 2000 the team built up a comprehensive picture of the ecology of "lake 260" by catching fish and invertebrates.
  From 2001 to 2003, the researchers added synthetic estrogen to the lake by pumping it from the back of a boat three times a week. The idea was to create estrogen levels in the lake similar to those recorded in lakes and rivers near towns and cities that receive treated sewage.  Researchers then monitored the lake until 2006 and at the same time carried out similar tests on nearby lakes that had not been laced with estrogen. 

The study concluded that  synthetic estrogens excreted by women taking the birth-control pill do have a dramatic effect on some fish reproductive fitness and mortality.  There was no effect on the bacteria, algae or invertebrates, but a dramatic effect on some fish species. That tells the scientists that, as expected, estrogen affects the fish directly and not via a lower level in the food chain. Three years after the team stopped adding estrogen to the test lakes, the fish populations have recovered to pre-experimental levels.  

In addition to changes in fish ecology, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh found that human breast cancer cells grew twice as fast when exposed to estrogen taken from catfish caught near untreated sewage overflows. “There is the potential for an increased risk for those people who are prone to estrogenic cancer,” said Conrad Volz, lead researcher on the study. 

The good news resulting from these experiments is that the adverse effects of estrogen pollution can be reversed.  Because of these experiments, there is now a strong case for the development and implementation of  better sewage treatment to break down synthetic estrogens before they make it into the environment.   

In the meantime, what can we do to protect ourselves from potential harm from drinking tap water?

“The best choice,” says Cathy Sherman of the natural health website Natural News,“would probably be a combination of a reverse osmosis filter augmented by pre- and post-activated carbon filters.” Installing such a system just for drinking water is sufficient, she says, given that water used for cleaning and plumbing doesn’t typically get ingested. In addition, the non-profit public health and safety agency, NSF International, urges individuals to not use their toilets or sinks to dispose of unused medications and to opt for the garbage instead; most modern landfills are lined to keep such contaminants inside.

Bottoms Up!