# males going through a sex change due to sewerage effluent



## aussieafricans (Dec 19, 2007)

hi guys i read this in one of my science books and found it very interesting :thumb: imagine if you had this work with an all male species tank it would be crazy 

*Feminization of wild male fish has been observed in rivers downstream of sewage treatment plants. Male fish exposed to hormones in sewage effluent produce a protein that usually only female fish produce for making eggs. In addition, the testes of male fish may contain ovarian tissue that can even produce eggs.
A study by exotoxicogist Karen Kiss and colleagues , replicate this effect in their study of minnows, a small fish, om Ontario. For three years the oestrogen used in birth-control pills -17 alpha-ethinyloestradiol- was added to the water in the concentration 5 to 6 nanograms per litre, similar to that observed downstream of sewage plants. 
Within a year male minnows had delayed sperm development and smaller testes, and were producing egg proteins.*

this is really very interesting.
could you guys maybe say a few words about what you think of it :wink:

BEN


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

They may produce some proteins required for eggs. However it is HIGHLY unlikely that they would produce viable eggs. What exactly are you looking for here?


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## aussieafricans (Dec 19, 2007)

i was just wondering if it were actually possible to do both the laying and the fertilizing of the eggs :roll: i was just freaked out that that was possible 

thanks for the reply


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## teqvet (Mar 24, 2008)

aussieafricans said:


> i was just wondering if it were actually possible to do both the laying and the fertilizing of the eggs :roll: i was just freaked out that that was possible
> 
> thanks for the reply


I know frogs can do it


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## Dewdrop (Nov 20, 2007)

Very interesting. Pollution can sure mess some stuff up...and does. Coming from a sewage treatment plant they probably don't even consider it pollution :roll: . Makes me glad I have well water.


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## pugwash (Sep 11, 2006)

There's a lot of oestrogenic chemicals in numerous products, but sadly the production processes affect the water courses first.

Long term effects of plastics eg, cups may have an effect on humans. Is also used in milk production, to increase the longevity of the milk!

Oestrogenic chemicals are in the production of more than you'd like to think!


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## xalow (May 10, 2007)

A lot of the effluent of hormones actually comes from human urine from people taking these hormones and then passing them on. There are also trace amounts of antidepressants, schizophrenia medicine, and hormones taken during sex change operations in some waters. There is no study that I am aware of that has shown the influence of multiple non-clinical amounts of medicines on humans but that it is enough to change the tissue structure of fish is certainly distressing.


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## RyanR (Apr 29, 2008)

pugwash said:


> There's a lot of oestrogenic chemicals in numerous products, but sadly the production processes affect the water courses first.
> 
> Long term effects of plastics eg, cups may have an effect on humans. Is also used in milk production, to increase the longevity of the milk!
> 
> Oestrogenic chemicals are in the production of more than you'd like to think!


Totally! Pretty much everything man made seems to have oestrogenic properties. :?

-Ryan


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## kornphlake (Feb 12, 2004)

Don't worry you'll die of cancer caused by man made products before you'll notice any harm from oestrogenic chemicals. Unless of course those oestrogenic chemicals can cause cancer... That'd be a double whammy.


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## rjf (Oct 23, 2008)

I have read accounts of sharks reproducing viable pups asexually. Interesting subject.


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## xalow (May 10, 2007)

I think what you are referring to may be parthenogenesis.


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