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While all links worked when entries were posted to the database, different publishers
have different policies about retaining articles and providing access to archived material.
Thus some of the links, particularly older ones, may no longer be functional.
For links no longer working, you may be able to gain paid access to text via the publisher's site.
New research shows that the drugs and contaminants that often contaminate sewage sludge that is used as fertilizer can be taken up by the plants grown in fertilized fields and gardens.
Also called 'biosolids,' these fertilizers are regularly applied to agricultural fields and are sometimes packaged as organic soil fertilizers sold in home improvement stores. 30 August 2010. More...
During heavy rainfall, disease-causing microbes usually relegated to sewage water can enter surface or ground water used for drinking and drive up emergency room visits for gastrointestinal problems, say researchers who compared children's hospital visits and rainfall for five years in Wisconsin.
In the United States, each year, there are approximately 19 million cases of gastrointestinal illness that are potentially related to contamination of public drinking water systems. Because global climate change is expected to cause heavier precipitation in some areas, it is important to understand the link between more rain and increased incidence of waterborne disease. 17 August 2010. More...
Advanced wastewater treatments can reduce the endocrine disrupting effects of the effluent on fish, according to a study that pinpoints the most effective methods.
Conventional sewage treatment does not usually remove all of these compounds. Fish are then exposed when the estrogens are released into waterways. 16 August 2010. More...
Researchers at Yale University have developed a custom membrane that can clean and purify water from oceans, salty ground water or sewage water with far less energy input than currently is required to do a similar job.
The membrane may be a big step forward in reaching the goal of reliable and affordable sources of fresh water. Finding sustainable sources of clean drinking water is a major global challenge, especially in most of the developing world. 21 July 2010. More...
Despite having phased out the use of organochlorine pesticides in the 1990’s, the chemicals continue to be detected in sewage sludge in Australia.
As in many countries, the sewage sludge - the solid part of processed sewage - is often recycled and used to fertilize crops. This suggests the banned pesticides are still present in agricultural areas of Australia. 23 April 2010. More...
Scientists report they found the anti-viral medication Tamiflu in rivers in Japanese cities during last year's flu season. Tamiflu is an antiviral drug used to slow the spread of the flu virus by both treating and preventing influenza, including H1N1 and avian flu (H5N1).
The contamination raises serious public health safety concerns about the overuse of antiviral drugs that may lead to development of Tamiflu-resistant flu strains. The results highlight a need for enhanced treatment of wastewater, especially during periods of elevated flu risk. 4 January 2010. More...
Levels of antibiotics measured in streams, lakes and well water near pharmaceutical factories in India are 100,000 to 1,000,000 times higher than levels measured in waters that receive sewage effluent in the US or China.
Much of the world's supply of supply of generic antibiotics are produced in the study area. 9 September 2009. More...
Fish produced fewer – or no eggs at all – after only one to two weeks of exposure to either of two different types of synthetic progestin hormones found in women's birth control and menopausal drugs.
The more potent of the pair of progestins also lowered sperm production and affected behavior in male fish. Effects occurred at levels found in the environment in sewage effluents. 30 July 2009. More...
A bacteria-killing chemical widely used in an array of consumer products has made its way down kitchen and bathroom sinks and into dolphins living in US coastal waters.
Researchers report for the first time that a marine mammal--the bottlenose dolphin--is accumulating triclosan from water bodies where treated sewage is released. The study examined animals from rivers, an estuary, a harbor and a lagoon in South Carolina and Florida. 18 June 2009. More...
Some horse estrogens used in hormone replacement therapies make their way from people to wastewater and into fish where they may contribute to the feminization of the animals, reports a study from England.
Laboratory tests showed the hormones – one of which was more potent than human varieties – can turn on estrogen hormone systems in fish at very low concentrations. This is the first time scientists report that HRT-related horse estrogens in water coming into and leaving sewage treatment plants are estrogenic in fish. 9 June 2009. More...
Bacteria in sewage can chemically transform estrogenic compounds, converting them to back to their original chemical form as the sewage travels toward treatment plants after the compounds have been excreted by people.
The findings open the door to exploring new ways in which the estrogens that are more resistant to bacterial modification could be changed at the sewage treatment plant to make them easier to remove from the water. 5 June 2009. More...
A five-generation rat study provides the clearest evidence to date that exposure to low levels of environmental estrogens can increase the risk of abnormal cell growth in the male breast.
Abnormalities which could have the potential to become cancerous developed in the mammary gland tissue of male rats that were exposed to either the soy-based phytoestrogen genistein or ethinyl estradiol -- an estrogen used in birth control pills. 27 May 2009. More...
A British study shows that wastewater released from sewage treatment plants has a bigger impact than prior research suggests on egg production – and the long-term reproductive health – of fish living in the treated water.
This study was unique in that it looked at real effluents with their mixtures of different types and amounts of hormones. The authors showed that common methods used to assess the level of hormonal disruption may underestimate true reproductive impairment caused by estrogenic compounds. 1 May 2009. More...
Research using a powerful statistical model suggests that chemical mixes in wastewater feminize male fish.
Scientists in the United Kingdom report that more than one type of hormonally active chemical -- not just those that act like estrogen -- play a role in sex reversal of male fish. Anti-androgens also contribute. 2 March 2009. More...
Researchers report that very minute quantities of the hormone found in the birth control pill alter sperm development in rainbow trout by changing the number of chromosomes, which can lead to lower survival and long-term health problems in the offspring.
This error is called aneuploidy. For people, aneuploidy is the biggest known cause of spontaneous miscarriage and the number one cause of congenital birth defects. 17 February 2009. More...
A common disinfectant used by public water treatment plants creates a byproduct that is highly toxic to mammalian cells. How much is made depends upon details of how the plants process water.
The amount produced can be reduced significantly by simple changes in the treatment process. Despite this, many plants continue to use methods that create more of the toxic chemical than necessary. 18 November 2008. More...
New research confirms that estrogenic contaminants can seep into sediment after being carried by sewage into rivers.
Standard water treatment doesn't remove them from waste water effluent, so they pass from treatment plants into rivers. Once in river waters, they move into river sediments and thus potentially reach groundwater, contaminating sources of drinking water. 8 October 2007. More...
New experiments reveal that the synthetic estrogen used by women for birth control causes wide ranging health effects in minnows, but that the effects differed when the drug was tested alone compared with when it was mixed with wastewater effluent.
The estrogen caused feminization of male fish, and altered DNA integrity, immune cell number, and ability to breakdown pollutants. The study highlights the need for more research on the potential health effects of exposure to complex mixtures. 7 September 2007. More...
Researchers report that chemical contaminants in soil suppress crop yields of alfalfa by interfering with chemical signaling essential for nitrogen fixation.
They estimate that over a full growing season crop yields may be decreased by as much as one-third. The contaminants interfere with how nitrogen-fixing bacteria communicate with their plant hosts using phytoestrogens. 6 June 2007. More...
Experiments with sheep demonstrate that male offspring born to females feeding on pastures treated with sewage sludge showed abnormal testicular development and hormonal function.
The treatment had no effect on the body on the body weight of the ewes, but did reduce fetal weight. Male testicular weight was reduced, as were the numbers of cells crucial for sperm production. EHP. 21 November 2005. More...
Science Byte: Estrogens excreted by people appear to be the dominant cause of fish feminization in UK rivers.
The geographic pattern of feminization is statistically linked to the outflow of sewage treatment plants and levels of steroid hormones excreted by people. No relationship was seen to industrial effluents. EHP. 10 November 2005. More...
Science Byte: Anglers who eat fish caught in the lower Hudson River had blood mercury levels almost twice as high as those who never ate local fish.
People eating local fish more than once a week had higher levels than those who ate them less frequently. Environmental Research. 5 November 2005. More...
Science Byte: Although occupational and environmental diseases are often viewed as isolated and unique failures, they are in fact an outcome of a pervasive system of corporate priority setting, decision making, and influence.
This system produces disease because political, economic, regulatory and ideological norms prioritize values of wealth and profit over human health and environmental well-being. There is a substantial tradition of manipulation of evidence, data, and analysis. IJOEH 23 October 2005. More...
Thousands of studies conducted by thousands of scientists from around the world have been published in the last decade about endocrine disruption.
They confirm that some contaminants used in commmon products can disrupt hormone signaling and alter gene expression, thereby altering development. Some of the most important studies are summarized here. 24 July 2005. More...
Over 100 scientists with active research programs studying endocrine disruption from 15 countries have issued a joint, signed statement concluding that scientific uncertainty should not delay precautionary action on reducing the exposures to and the risks from endocrine disrupters.
According to their assessment, current safety standards are ill-equipped to deal with risks caused by endocrine disrupters and that current testing procedures may lead to serious underestimations of risk. Effects in wildlife are well established; People in some countries are experiencing high prevalence of disorders consistent with endocrine disruption effects. Because there are inherent difficulties in establishing causality in humans, precautionary action be taken before epidemiological data provide certainty. 23 June 2005. More...
Strong link established between pesticide exposure and reduced sperm quality in mid-West men.
Research in the US mid-West has discovered that men with elevated exposures to alachlor, diazinon and atrazine are dramatically more likely to have reduced sperm quality. The study is the first to show such a link for common, current-use pesticides, and its findings are particularly troubling because the most likely route of exposure is through drinking water. The three pesticides implicated by the research are widespread contaminants in mid-West water systems. 16 August 2003. More...
Low doses of nonylphenol have profoundly adverse effects on oysters.
A single exposure during larval development to an environmentally-relevant dose of nonylphenol causes disruption of sexual development, and also lowers survival of offspring in the next generation. Exposed larvae are much more likely to develop as hermaphrodites, and the sex ratio is altered, with more females than expected. According to the scientists who conducted the research, exposure "may result in severe consequences, not only for natural populations but also for commercial hatcheries situated in areas where nonylphenol is present in the water. 17 July 2003. More...
The risk of low sperm quality in Missouri men is strongly associated with pesticide exposures, especially alachlor, diazinon and atrazine.
While the sample size is relatively small, the odds ratios revealed by their research are extraordinarily high and very unlikely to be the result of chance. The scientists conclude that exposures to these agricultural chemicals is most likely to be through contaminated drinking water. 18 June 2003. More...
Sewage sludge laden with flame retardant is used as fertilizer.
Writing in Nature, Virginia scientists report that brominated diphenyl ethers, some of which are powerful thyroid disruptors, can be found at high contamination levels in sewage sludge applied as fertilizers to US cropland. They also found the same contaminants in Virginia fish. 12 July 2001. More...
Evidence from animal studies shows that prenatal exposure to octylphenol (OP) is associated with transgenerational effects.
Treatment with OP extended pregnancy length and induced cellular changes in the cervix of the parental generation. In F1 offspring, the onset of puberty was acceleratd and litter size was reduced. Theriogenology 1 January 2001. More...
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