ST. JOHN, New Brunswick, February 18, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A study by Dr. Karen Kidd, of the University of New Brunswick and the Canadian Rivers Institute, found that estrogen from birth control pills flooding into the water system through sewage adversely affects fish populations.

The researchers added estrogen to an experimental lake at a level commonly found in the treated wastewater from cities with about 200,000 people. The researchers discovered that one consequence is that exposed male fish become feminized, producing a protein normally found in females. Chronic exposure to estrogen led to the near extinction of the lake's fathead minnow population, as well as significant declines in larger fish, such as pearl dace and lake trout.

Sed Contra, before he took his blog down, had written about this and found a fascinating interview where one of the people running a similar study basically recommended that nothing be done about it, because fixing anything would affect people's sex lives. It's a good article to keep in mind the next time someone tells you a hydro or nuclear power plant is killing the fishies - looks like this here pill kills more fishies than a lot of power plants.

Labels: contraception, prolife, science