[The Sexuality Blog] Do you know flushing your contraceptives down the toilet is creating ‘trans’ fish?

There is so much we don’t know about our environment and how it works, especially when it comes to genetic make up of animals of other species. It is quite unfortunate that we usually end up discovering just how much impact humans going about their daily lives can have on whole ecological systems. We only find out when the adverse effects show up in numbers that we simply cannot ignore. That’s what is happening with the recent rash of feminised fish popping up all over the world.

In the wild, several species of fish including Moray Eels, Clownfish and Gobies have shown the natural ability to switch their genders thanks to some genetic markers in their DNA. But more and more fresh water fish, who do not have said genetic markers and do not need to change gender are showing signs of trans-gendered behaviour. More and more numbers of male fresh water fish are laying eggs, producing proteins that are normally only found in the females of their species and changing their behaviour in ways that make them unattractive to females and as such, unable to mate. Scientists aren’t quite sure what exactly is triggering this change, but among the list of suspects is female pill contraception which comprises of the human sex hormone, oestrogen, which usually finds its way into natural water bodies through the sewage treatment channels. There are also culprits like cleaning fluids, steroids in cosmetics and muscle growth pills and powders and disintegrating plastics.

Feminised male fish will cause a significant drop in fish populations in the coming decades if we don’t find a way to counteract it. We can’t ask you to not use contraception, but please keep in mind that your contraception needs to be handled and disposed of properly, you have no idea what far reaching consequences mismanagement will have.

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