- Scientists now fear that seals, dolphins, otters, birds
such asperegrine falcons and even honey bees are heading towards a unisex
existence that would lead to extinction.
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- Mother Nature Is Taking Over
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- An extraordinary feminisation process has begun to affect
Britain's wildlife - and scientists warn it could ultimately dismantle
the evolutionary process that has existed for 3.5billion years. A trend
first noted in whelks is starting to spread rapidly among other wildlife
species in the food chain.
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- The first national survey of 42 rivers by the UK Environment
Agency has just been completed and it found that a third of male fish are
growing female reproductive tissues and organs. Effects were most pronounced
in younger fish, raising grave implications for future stocks.
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- More Species Sffected
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- Scientists now fear that seals, dolphins, otters, birds
such asperegrine falcons and even honey bees are heading towards a unisex
existence that would lead to extinction.
-
- Blame has fallen on the increasing prevalence of a group
of chemicals known as endocrine disruptors. These are found in plastics,
food packaging, shampoos and pesticides and accumulate in the environment.
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- They can mimic the female hormone oestrogen when ingested.
A reduction in the size of male genitals, a lower sex drive and parts of
the testes turning into ovary tissue are among the symptoms. As the effect
of the chemicals starts to creep up the food chain, concern will mount
over the potential effect on human health amid increasing evidence of falling
sperm counts and infertility among men.
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- A Very Real Concern
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- Charles Tyler, professor of environmental and molecular
fish biology at the University of Exeter in south-west England, who is
leading an international team studying the impact of so-called `gender-bending'
chemicals, warns that a point where a species can no longer reproduce is
a very real concern.
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- Others studying the phenomenon say the feminisation process
is a warning from nature that a nightmare is about to unfold. Pressure
will again resume soon on politicians to curb the use of `gender-bending'
chemicals.
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- Environmentalists will point to research revealing that
honeybees, so vital for the pollination of plants, were found to display
a lower sex drive with fewer eggs laid by the queen after exposure to endocrine
disruptors.
-
- They also point to recent studies involving bottlenose
dolphins in the North Sea. Again, the presence of chemicals has been linked
to an increase in birth defects, most notable among male specimens, along
with more infant deaths, which has resulted in an ageing of the population.
So far the U.K. government has agreed to fund studies into suspicions that
the otter's comeback after decades of decline will be hampered by the feminising
effects of the chemicals.
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- Ignorance Shows Up
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- A separate study has just been funded into the dipper,
a bird, which feeds on invertebrates taken from the rivers. Tyler is among
those who have complained that the huge gap in scientific knowledge over
gender bending pollutants has so far prevented any action in the outlawing
of chemicals.
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- Toxicology expert Andreas Kortenkamp of the University
of London's school of pharmacy, believes the government has `grossly underestimated'
the chemicals' effects. He believes that current safeguards to protect
wildlife are grossly inadequate. In particular, he warns that nothing is
being done to calculate how cocktails of chemicals react in the environment.
More than 100,000 synthetic chemicals remain authorised for use, with the
European Union holding a list of 550 potential endocrine disruptors.
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- It is not yet known precisely which ones have altered
the male reproductive organs of bream, carp, roach and gudgeon or caused
hormone disruption among grey seal pups in the North Sea. Bees were found
to be affected by chemicals used commonly on crops in the U.K. countryside.
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- The findings coincide with renewed concern over fertility
levels among men. Sperm counts have fallen by a third between 1989 and
2002, according to some studies, while one in six British couples now experiences
difficulty in conceiving.
-
- Contaminated drinking water caused by the by-products
of the contraceptive pill flowing back into the system is one of the explanations
put forward.
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- Justin Woolford, a spokesman for the WWF (formerly the
World Wide Fund for Nature), said: "What we do to wildlife we ultimately
do to ourselves.'' Yet almost two years have passed since the WHO urged
governments to investigate the effects of gender-bending chemicals.
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- Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004 Copyright © 2004,
The Hindu
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