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Endocrine Disrupters and the Pill
- Introduction
- How EDs Work
- Our Stolen Future
- Drugs in the Environment
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Examples of EDs
- Government Testing
- Laws
- The Pill as an ED
- History of the Pill
- Case Study: Coastal Waters
- Case Study: Fish
- Case Study: Men in Italy
- Solutions
- What you can do!
- Further Information
Comments & questions to:
khornbach@macalester.edu
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Case Study: Synthetic Estrogens in Coastal Waters
Scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and
the Hawaii Institute of Marine biology recently looked into the problem
of synthetic estrogens in the water. They found that concentrations of
synthetic estrogens were much higher near sewer effluents. Through
several laboratory experiments on various marine animals such as
sponges, crustaceans, and mollusks, the study showed "a variety of
harmful effects attributable to estrogens in varied forms and
concentrations under a range of  conditions,"
(Burgess) however, the study noted that "it is not known how steroidal
estrogens released into the environment affect growth, development, and
reproduction of invertebrates, the foundation of the marine food webs
and ecosystems" (Burgess). Think about this in the terms of
biomagnification as laid out by Colborn in Our Stolen Future. These
animals are the considered "the foundation" of the entire marine
ecosystem. If synthetic estrogens are affecting these animals at the
bottom of the food chain, it is likely that animals higher on the food
chain, such as humans, will be more affected by these estrogens as they
are magnified at each level of the food chain.
The study considered 129 water samples at 20
different coastal sites. Most samples were collected within 100 meters
of the shoreline and samples "included both raw and treated sewage"
(Burgess). This allowed the scientists to see a range of different
affects of synthetic estrogens, including the concentrations depending
on site and also the proximity to sewage effluents. They found that
estrogen "concentration were highest near sources of sewage.
Concentrations in embayed sites that received effluent were 1-2 orders
of magnitude higher than in open oceans" (Burgess). The lowest
concentrations "were from open ocean samples taken in tropical regions
near the Hawaiian Islands, the Marianas Islands, French Polynesia, and
the Florida Keys" (Burgess). The
researchers also found that effluent is not the only way that estrogens
make their way int environments. They found that "estrogens filtered
easily through gravel and sand,o
aquatic showing less that 20% absorption, which indicates they can
leach into marine environments from septic fields and groundwater"
(Burgess). These findings show that coastal environments, especially
bays are the most vulnerable to excreted estrogens. Marine environments
are being impacted by estrogens, the question is how much will they be
impacted and in what ways. As marine environments are impacted, humans
will ultimately be impacted by the presence of synthetic estrogens in
the waters. This study shows that synthetic estrogens are running
rampant in areas near sewer effluents. This proves how water is being
contaminated by our own medications and shows that we are affecting
regions that we do not intend to. While this study does not look at the
ramifications for marine wildlife, it does show that endocrine disrupters are showing
up, and will most likely begin to impact these habitats shortly.
All information on this page from Carla Burgess' article "Estrogens in Coastal Waters: The Sewage Source" from the April 2003 edition of Environmental Health Perspectives
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Last updated: 5/2/2006
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