Tag: estrogen

Fish Swimming in Hormones

  • Fish are putting up less of a fight on the line when caught - making them less fun for sport fishing. (Photo courtesy of the National Park Service)

A recent report from the US Geological
Survey confirms past findings that fish
are in trouble. Tanya Ott
reports the hormone estrogen is getting
into rivers and lakes and could reduce
fish populations:

Transcript

A recent report from the US Geological
Survey confirms past findings that fish
are in trouble. Tanya Ott
reports the hormone estrogen is getting
into rivers and lakes and could reduce
fish populations:

The fish have been turning up with lesions and intersexed –
meaning they have both male and female characteristics.

Rob Angus is a fish biologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
He wasn’t involved in the USGS research, but has studied the problem for
more than a decade. The culprit?

“You’re a female? You excrete estrogens. Both natural estrogens,
the estrogenst that are in birth control pills, females that are
on estrogen replacement therapy. All of those end up in the
wastewater stream.”

Wastewater treatment plants clean up about 90 percent of the
estrogen, but the remaining ten percent is a problem.

Fish don’t reproduce as easily. And, for sport fishers, the fish
aren’t as much fun to catch. They don’t put up as much of a fight
on the line. That could affect the 75 billion dollars sport fishing industry.

For The Environment Report, I’m Tanya Ott.

Related Links

New Culprit for Rising Breast Cancer Rates?

A new study suggests exposure in the womb to chemicals that mimic estrogen could increase the risk of developing breast cancer as an adult. Rebecca Williams reports the study looked specifically at a chemical that’s found in many food containers and plastic bottles:

Transcript

A new study suggests exposure in the womb to chemicals that mimic estrogen could increase the risk of developing breast cancer as an adult. Rebecca Williams reports the study looked specifically at a chemical that’s found in many food containers and plastic bottles:


Bisphenol A has been shown to leach out of food and beverage containers. Scientists are concerned about human exposure to the chemical because it mimics the hormone estrogen.


The new study provides evidence that exposure to estrogen mimics as a fetus increases the risk of developing breast cancer as an adult.


The findings were based on animal studies in rats.


Dr. Ana Soto is an author of the study in the journal Reproductive Toxicology.


“We used to think that the womb was a pristine environment. And we know now that it is not a pristine environment anymore. And I think we should be terribly concerned about that.”


Soto says the rates of breast cancer in the US and Europe have increased over the past 50 years. She says fetal exposure to estrogen mimics could be the underlying cause of that increase.


For the Environment Report, I’m Rebecca Williams.

Related Links

Link Between Cadmium and Breast Cancer?

A recent study shows a possible link between breast cancer and a toxic chemical we’re exposed to every day. And people living in some Great Lakes states might face higher exposure to this chemical. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Erika Johnson has more:

Transcript

A recent study shows a possible link between breast cancer and a toxic chemical
we’re exposed to everyday. And
people living in some Great Lakes states might face higher exposure to this
chemical. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Erika Johnson has more:


Cadmium is a toxic metal present in trace amounts in the air, water, soil, and in
most foods. It is also found in
batteries and cigarettes, and is released by some industries.


Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois are at the top of the list for overall cadmium exposures.


Recent findings published in Nature Medicine suggest that even low levels of cadmium
in lab rats caused changes
in their sexual development. Cadmium mimics estrogen, the female hormone that
regulates the reproductive
systems of men and women.


Steve Safe is a Toxicologist at Texas A & M University.


“Women have high doses of estrogen. They have much higher rates of breast cancer
than men. And estrogen has
been clearly linked to breast cancer. What we don’t know is, ‘Can cadmium
contribute to that? Does low dose
cadmium have any effect on humans at all?'”


Safe says more research is needed before any clear links can be made to human health.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Erika Johnson.

Female Hormones Found in Waste Water

Millions of American women rely on birth control pills to prevent pregnancy. Millions more depend on replacement hormones to prevent symptoms of menopause like hot flashes and osteoporosis. Both medications contain a synthetic version of the female hormone estrogen. And now, researchers at the University of Mississippi found that some of that estrogen ends up in wastewater. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Steve Frenkel has more on the potential effects:

Early Puberty

A recent study in the medical journal Pediatrics reports that many girls in the U.S. are entering puberty much easier than normal. And as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Suzanne Elston discovered, exposure to environmental chemicals may be the culprit: