Fish Gender Bender

What a way to put the point of anglers across,as guardians of the waterways, to the anti's,if we could get enough of us 1 million to make a fuss to the appropriate authority(s) about the damage being done to river wildlife and of course us blokes,by this hormone mixture in our rivers.
According to todays paper, this mixture can be totaly removed,it just costs money.
Surely, the water authorities are allowing gross pollution of our waterways and must be made to pay?
Remember,if you live and drink tap water in the major population areas,your glass full could have passed through 7 other peoples kidneys before you pass it and it reaches the sea!!!

Hmmm, thanks Fred. I've just finished a nice cup of tea or should that be pee???

You are right though. Could this even be why there is a lack of fry in many rivers? There is an imbalance of the sexes in the fish world. The male fish are turning into female fish.

Kevan

It has been a well established fact that male fish were changing into females well before any intervention by man. What has changed is the rate of change and our ability to investigate that change thoroughly.
I wonder if it is just the oestrogen that is to blame or is a combination of global warming, pesticides, herbicides etc etc

Sperm count in men has also decreased dramatically since the introduction of the pill! The numbers of infertile men are now at there highest!

About six ears ago had a trip round a water treatment plant and the bloke in charge even said that they dont treat for hormones and this may become a problem in future years!

I'll give a full responce to this later whem I've got time, as I've been working on this issue for nearly 10 years for the SACG/SAA.
Phil

Although excreted oestrogen via female urine is a major contributor to river pollution, we must recognise the contribution of disposed of HRT patches which end up in land fill sites.The issue is that more is left in a patch than comes out during use in order to make it work in the first place. This will end up in both rivers and still waters, which are otherwise protected, because of seepage.
I have been trying for years to get proper disposal of these without sucess. We should try and publicise this so that people take used patches to their pharmacist for disposal.
Malcolm

On a lighter note, Has anyone been in touch with Ms Germaine Greer yet for her comments! she revolutionized the emancipation of women and promoted the Pill and surely must be somewhat blameworthy somehow!!
If the link between Eostrogen discharge via sewage works and cause our fish stocks to become hermaphrodites is proven beyound all possible doubt, will the Angling Governing bodies and the ACA take up the case for compensation for those afflicted rivers from the pharmaceutical companies and water companies - Topical Food for thought at all levels.
River fish stocks may not in the light of present evidence not recover sufficiently to sustain spawning levels and a slump in sport will be self evident.
This will put dramatic strain on hatcheries to make up the shortfall, which could never be catered for.
Does anyone wish to drag politics into this matter and see if Parliament will give this matter as much concern as the debate on Hunting

As I said having worked on this issue for nearly 10 years on behalf of the SACG/SAA I partially welcome this report. The reason I say partially, is because it only tells a fraction of the whole story. Now that, and forget the journalist hype on this, may be because the scientists were only asked to look at the effects of the pill.

The whole story however, includes many other substances that enter our rivers from many defused sources that emit to land, water and air.
The bigger question for us as anglers is "Are the powers that be, now going to scientifically investigate all the other substances in tern and build a full picture, or will we have to wait 200-300 years before that picture emerges?"

And here's a list of the substances


Table 1.
Substance Example Uses
Natural
Female sex hormones
Phytoestrogens
oestradiol;
oestrone;
oestrogen;

Isoflavones; lignans; coumestans
produced naturally in animals and humans.
*possible excretion through use of the pill.
Present in plant material such as cabbage, sprouts and Soya beans.
Man-made
Polychlorinated organic compounds

Organochlorine
Organotins
Alkylphenol
Ethoxylates
Phthalates
Bi-phenolic compounds
Synthetic Steroids

dioxins;
PCBs
DDT; dieldrin; lindane; pesticides
Tributyltin
Nonylphenol
ethoxylate
Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and butylbenzyl phthalate (BBP)
Bisphenol-A
Erhinyl oestradiol

By-products of incineration and indusrial processes
PCBs are no longer manufactured but some equipment still in use containes them. *Such equipment that did contain them may also have been landfilled.
Insecticiedes (some now banned or phased out) used in *crop spraying and sheep dips.
anti-fouling agent used on boats.
Used in wool scouring; laundaries; car washes; plasticiser.
Platiciers; used in some paints, lacquers; pesticides
Polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins; pipe linings; cans; teath filling.
Contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
Source; EA’s Northern Catch Magazine Spring 1998 * denotes authors inclusions.

Below is an article that I wrote for NASA's Specialist Angler Mag. 2 years ago. I have had to split it into three posts as I was getting an error message that it was to long. The table appears in an above post.

May be Graham can pull it together in one posting but I can’t, so apologies for having to do it this way

Also, the information contained within this article was sourced from many scientific Journals.

Endocrine Disrupting Substances (EDSs)

So what are EDSs?.
EDSs are substances that can, and do interfere with the hormonal system of fish. There are two chemical source points - Natural and Man-made. Table 1., lists some of the chemicals in both categories, known to have disrupting effects. It must be appreciated, the science and understanding in this field is new. Therefore, the list below contains only the known ones at the time of writing. Other chemicals/substances will over time, be added to the list as scientific knowledge and understanding increases.
The Endocrine System and how it work

The endocrine system consists of endocrine glands in the body of higher organisms. There are nine in the human body - hypothalamus brain thyroid gland throat testis are to list three in particular. Each gland releases hormones (a chemical message produced by one set of cells that affects other sets of cells) directly into the bloodstream. The hormones then circulate in the bloodstream until they lock into the target cells, much the same as a key fits a lock. An example of this would be testosterone released by the testes that has many functions (Saturday night fighting stuff this, in young males after 10 pints of lager) thought to be responsible for sex drive and muscle formation amongst others. (Apologies to the biologists and physiologists for over simplifying this section.)
The take away point, is that hormones operate in a lock and key procedure and are target specific. The hormone being the key and the receptor cell being the lock. Suffice to say that a particular hormone will only fit the cell or group of cells that it is intended for. The understanding of this principle is critical to what follows.
How EDSs Work
EDSs act as false hormonal keys (hormone mimics) and/or hormone blockers that enter the cell and stop the true hormone entering the locking mechanism. In regards to fish, the effect this has is to block and/or stop the femininising or masculising process. Suffice to say, they feminise males and masculinise females.( known as intersexing) The evidence for this manifesting itself in the form of males showing signs of egg formation and females developing rudimentary testes development.
How EDSs getting into the water Environment
The route is multi-pathway - sewage outflows, atmospheric fallout and landfill leachate to list the three main ones.
Sewage outflows are released from sewage plants via the filtered water return sluice/pipe back into the river systems. The problem with this is two fold, no EDS stripping takes place in the sewage plant and the foulwater drainage system take both domestic and industrial effluent. This results in many EDS’s being released into the rivers. In low flow rates (Summer) it’s likely that the quantities are quite high. Research carried out some years ago on the Warwickshire Avon found that sewage discharge water made up 80% of the water volume. It is also likely that many other rivers that run through major conurbations have the same percentage quantities.
It is therefore likely that this route contain all forms of EDSs as there is an inter-connectivity to the ones that appear below.

Atmospheric fallout comes from a multiplicity of emission sources to air - industrial processes, vehicles emissions, incineration of domestic waste and others. Dioxins are the most important EDSs via this route. The permitted particulate quantities (Yes there are permitted amounts that can be released to air) settling on buildings, road, land, etc. In heavy rains these are washed off into the storm drain system that enter directly into the rivers with little or no processing. It is my opinion that the quantities of dioxins entering the river systems are likely to rise over the next 10-20 years due to recent Government pronouncements. They (Government) would like to see 160 new large incinerators built nationally, to tackle the waste problem and the impending EU directives on landfilling.
Again there are regulations on air emissions for incinerators. However, some quantities of dioxins are released to air (Space doesn’t allow me to go into more detail.).
Landfill leachate enters the river systems and some stillwaters (Yes stillwater anglers it’s your problem as well!) by direct and indirect leaching - streams, brooks, rivers, water table and groundwater. Historically landfills came into being because there was an available hole in the ground created through some form of extraction for minerals - shale, gravel, clay, rock, etc. Large number of these being found, in, or near river valleys with the above connections to a major river system. Until the late 70s early 80s most were not lined or had any ground engineering works to avoid leaching. Compounding the problem, before the above date, co-disposal of domestic and potentially toxic waste took place routinely. A study of landfills nationally in the early 90s by Friends of the Earth, found that 1300 waste tips were seeping poisons into the ground water. Clearly then, many substances containing EDSs were disposed of in such tips, one of the most serious being PCB’s. What is not known about this type of co-disposal, is the chemical reaction between the many substances when subjected to long-term heating as happens in landfills.
Modern engineered landfills are not immune from emitting EDSs as the aqueous discharge from them is collected on site in an underground storage tank, which at a later date, tankered off to the sewage plant for processing (no stripping remember) and final disposal. The water being returned to the river system, and some of the sewage sludge being used on agricultural and low-grade land as fertilizer. However, because of the levels of contamination of the sludge with heavy metals etc., regulations have be brought in on how much can be used on such land. Inevitably though, some run off from the treated land is likely to occur, which in turn will enter the surrounding watercourses and connecting river(s) adding to the EDSs load of them.

Effects on fishlife
There is now overwhelming evidence starting to emerge that intersexing of river fish is a reality, along with other aquatic life forms. American studies have found intersexing in turtles, alligators, otters, birds as well as fish. At a recent meeting I attended, it was stated that of the rivers tested by the EA, “Not a single river showed signs of no intersexing in the fish stocks analysed.” The problem being most acute down flow of any sewage discharge points. With a 30 - 100 % totality of samples.
You don’t have to be a genius to work out that on the heavily urbanised river systems with many sewage outflows and other point sources, the whole river and stock may be affected. This has dire consequences for all life forms (including humans) reliant on that river. Intersex fish do not reproduce. Therefore the natural stock recruitment is likely to be poor at best, and potentially nil in very low flow years. Therefore, the intersex stock of that river is likely to have less competition for food, subsequently waxing fat on the available supply. It is also known that mammals that are castrated increase their body weight rapidly afterwards. Whether the same is true of fish is not known. However, if it is the case, this along with the above may well account for some of the large fish being caught from urbanised rivers.
Clearly, over the short-term such occurrences are great for the big fish anglers. However, over the long-term it is likely to be a catastrophe for all anglers, as the only way to replace the stock lost in the worst affected rivers, will be by mass stocking programmes. Such programmes will cost anglers, either through their club or rod licence fees. Needless to say, there would be no guarantees that such programmes would be successful, as only the symptoms of the disease is being treated. The cure therefore lies in the removal of EDSs from the whole environment and not just the water environment.
Ask yourself this question, “Do you really want to fish a boom and bust system on a 5-10 year cycle. Or do you want sustainable fish stocks of all sizes, on all river systems?”

Postscript
Whilst this article is perhaps depressing to read, there is some light at the end of the tunnel. The EA are drawing up Environmental Quality Standards (EQSs) for some of the known substances (these have now been drawn up. phil 2001). They are also committed to what is known as the UK’s Biodiversity Action Plan for Sustainable River Systems (includes fish). In my view, their effectiveness on both counts will only be as good as the pressure we bring to bare on them.
You know the script, Write to MP, MEP, Sec. of State. The louder we shout the more notice and action we’ll get.