PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Research proves 'gender-bending' chemicals affect reproduction

Research proves 'gender-bending' chemicals affect reproduction
2010-10-27
(Press-News.org) New research has provided the first evidence that 'gender bending' chemicals which find their way from human products into rivers and oceans can have a significant impact on the ability of fish to breed in UK Rivers.

The findings from the four year study, led by the universities of Exeter and Brunel, has important implications for understanding the impacts of these chemicals on ecosystem health and possibly on humans.

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) disrupt the ways that hormones work in the bodies of vertebrates (animals with backbones), including humans.

They can be found in everything from female contraceptive drugs and hormone replacement therapy pills, to washing up liquid, with the most well studied EDCs being those that mimic oestrogen (female hormone).

EDCs have been seeping into rivers through the sewage system for decades and have an observed effect on fish, altering male biology to make them more female – hence the 'gender bending' reputation of these chemicals.

Until now, there has been no solid evidence to show the long-term impact of this effect on fish in the wild - but the new research focusing on wild roach in two UK rivers (Bourne and Arun) has provided new evidence.

Two large-scale breeding studies assessed the ability of fish to breed by using a genetic technique (DNA microsatellites) to match offspring produced to their parents.

It was found that intersex fish – those that had their sexuality compromised by EDCs and which contain both male (sperm) and female (eggs) sex cells – had their reproductive performance reduced by up to 76%.

Charles Tyler, from the University of Exeter's Biosciences department, jointly led the research alongside Professor John Sumpter, from the Institute of Environment at Brunel University.

Prof Tyler said: "This is the first time we've seen firm evidence that the intersex fish, males that have been feminised by EDCs, have a reduced ability to breed.

"Clearly this raises concerns about the implications on the future for wild fish populations living in UK rivers, but there's also much wider issues raised by these findings. Some of the effects seen in fish could occur in other animals too as hormone systems are quite similar across all vertebrates.

"EDCs have been tentatively linked with human health impacts too, including, falling sperm counts and cardio-vascular disease. These findings remain more controversial," Prof Tyler added. "In contrast, we have shown, unequivocally that environmental oestrogens alter sexual development in fish and now, through this study, that this can impact on their ability to breed".

Fish are seen as a key indicator of the impacts of chemicals such as EDCs because they soak them up in far larger quantities than humans ever would, concentrating any potential side-effects.

Their biology also means they are particularly prone to the feminising effects of EDCs because their sex is not decided until after birth – meaning they are more susceptible to outside influence.

Prof Tyler concluded: "Fish still share many biological links with humans and the fact that their reproduction has the potential to be affected by EDCs is certainly a cause for concern. From a risk assessment point of view, these results are very significant."



INFORMATION:

The study was funded by Defra and the Environment Agency. The full paper, called Consequences of Femininisation in Breeding Groups of Wild Fish, is published in Environmental Health Perspectives online and can be viewed here: http://bit.ly/bPB7Yg


[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Research proves 'gender-bending' chemicals affect reproduction

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Benefit of exercise in patients with hypertension has been insufficiently investigated

2010-10-27
There are many good reasons to ensure sufficient exercise in everyday life. However, advising patients with increased blood pressure (hypertension) to exercise regularly is often regarded as a specific medical measure aiming to reduce the increased risk of late complications. But whether more exercise actually helps to avoid illnesses related to hypertension or at least delay their onset has been insufficiently investigated. In order to provide better advice to patients with hypertension, informative clinical studies are therefore needed. This is the result of a report ...

New software brings facial-recognition technology to mobile phones

2010-10-27
Scientists at The University of Manchester have developed software for mobile phones that can track your facial features in real-time. Eventually it will be able to tell who the user is, where they are looking and even how they are feeling. The method is believed to be unrivalled for speed and accuracy and could lead to facial recognition replacing passwords and PIN numbers to log into internet sites from a mobile phone. "Existing mobile face trackers give only an approximate position and scale of the face," said Dr Phil Tresadern, lead researcher on the project. "Our ...

A new player in the innate immunity game?

2010-10-27
Scientists have demonstrated for the first time that a certain class of RNA (known as long non-protein-coding RNA [lncRNA]) are involved in the host response to viral infection. These findings, published today in the online journal mBio®, could greatly change the way scientists look at the body's response to viral infection. "To our knowledge, our study is the first to use comprehensive deep-sequencing technology to clearly demonstrate that lncRNAs are involved in the host response to viral infection and innate immunity," says Michael Katze of the University of Washington, ...

New American Chemical Society podcast: 'Green exercise' for good mental health

New American Chemical Society podcast:  Green exercise for good mental health
2010-10-27
WASHINGTON, Oct. 26, 2010 — Just five minutes of outdoor activity — such as exercising in a park, working in a backyard garden or walking on a nature trail — is good for the brain, with tangible benefits for mental health, according to the latest episode in the American Chemical Society's (ACS) award-winning podcast series, "Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions." The new Global Challenges podcast and website describe scientific research indicating that physical activity in natural areas, known as 'green' exercise, can lead to improvements in mental health. The research ...

NASA's Kepler Mission changing how astronomers study distant stars

2010-10-27
AMES, Iowa – The quantity and quality of data coming back from NASA's Kepler Mission is changing how astronomers study stars, said Iowa State University's Steve Kawaler. "It's really amazing," said Kawaler, an Iowa State professor of physics and astronomy. "It's as amazing as I feared. I didn't appreciate how hard it is to digest all the information efficiently." The Kepler spacecraft, he said, "is a discovery machine." Kepler launched March 6, 2009, from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The spacecraft is orbiting the sun carrying a photometer, or light ...

Women's choices, not abilities, keep them out of math-intensive fields

2010-10-27
The question of why women are so underrepresented in math-intensive fields is a controversial one. In 2005, Lawrence Summers, then president of Harvard University, set off a storm of controversy when he suggested it could be due partly to innate differences in ability; others have suggested discrimination or socialization is more to blame. Two psychological scientists have reviewed all of the evidence and concluded that the main factor is women's choices—both freely made, such as that they'd rather study biology than math, and constrained, such as the fact that the difficult ...

Adolescents in private schools employ more efficient strategies to cope with problems

2010-10-27
Adolescents enrolled in private schools employ more efficient strategies to cope with their problems than students in public schools. Further, they also use emotion-oriented coping, as drawn from a study carried out at the University of Granada, recently published in the prestigious journal Psicotema. This study revealed that students in private schools present a better problem-oriented coping. This means that, when facing a problem, they use more frequently strategies aimed at solving the problem. Some examples of such strategies are concentrating deeply when solving ...

Restaurant customers willing to pay more for local food

Restaurant customers willing to pay more for local food
2010-10-27
Not only are restaurant patrons willing to pay more for meals prepared with produce and meat from local providers, the proportion of customers preferring local meals actually increases when the price increases, according to a team of international researchers. A recent study of how customers perceive and value local food shows that restaurant patrons prefer meals made with local ingredients when they are priced slightly higher than meals made with non-local ingredients, said Amit Sharma, assistant professor, School of Hospitality Management, Penn State. The research will ...

Women still work double shifts

Women still work double shifts
2010-10-27
The proportion of the workforce represented by women rose from 20.7% to 41.1% between 1978 and 2002. However, this trend has not resulted in a similar increase in the proportion of men who participate in household tasks. Some 55% of women who are part of a dual earning couple still perform all household tasks. Furthermore, 33% of men do not do anything at home. "Younger women still carry out a larger amount of unpaid work than men, although in less proportion than older women. The same occurs with education. The lower the level of education, the more likely women are ...

Emissions from consumption outstrip efficiency savings

2010-10-27
Emissions from consumption growth have exceeded carbon savings from efficiency improvements in the global supply chain of products consumed in the UK, according to new research by Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) at the University of York and the University of Durham. Carbon dioxide emissions from UK consumption grew by 217 Million tonnes(Mt) of carbon dioxide from increased spending between 1992 and 2004 while cuts from more efficient production only led to reductions of 148 Mt leaving a net growth of 69 Mt of carbon dioxide . In previous research, Stockholm ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

International survey of more than 1600 biomedical researchers on the perceived causes of irreproducibility of research results

Integrating data from different experimental approaches into one model is challenging – this study presents a community-based, full-scale in silico model of the rat hippocampal CA1 region that integra

SwRI awarded grant to characterize Las Moras Springs watershed

Water overuse in MATOPIBA could mean failure to meet up to 40% of local demand for crop irrigation

An extra year of education does not protect against brain aging

Researchers from Uppsala and Magdeburg obtain an ERC Synergy Grant to advance cancer immunotherapy

Deaf male mosquitoes don’t mate

Recognizing traumatic brain injury as a chronic condition fosters better care over the survivor’s lifetime

SwRI’s Dr. James Walker receives Distinguished Scientist Award from Hypervelocity Impact Society

A mother’s health problems pose a risk to her children

Ensuring a bright future for diamond electronics and sensors

The American Pediatric Society selects Dr. Maria Trent as the Recipient of the 2025 David G. Nichols Health Equity Award

The first 3D view of the formation and evolution of globular clusters

Towards a hydrogen-powered future: highly sensitive hydrogen detection system

Scanning synaptic receptors: A game-changer for understanding psychiatric disorders

High-quality nanomechanical resonators with built-in piezoelectricity

ERC Synergy Grants for 57 teams tackling major scientific challenges

Nordic research team receives €13 million to explore medieval book culture 

The origin of writing in Mesopotamia is tied to designs engraved on ancient cylinder seals

Explaining science through dance

Pioneering neuroendocrinologist's century of discovery launches major scientific tribute series

Gendered bilingualism in post-colonial Korea

Structural safety monitoring of buildings with color variations

Bio-based fibers could pose greater threat to the environment than conventional plastics

Bacteria breakthrough could accelerate mosquito control schemes

Argonne to help drive AI revolution in astronomy with new institute led by Northwestern University

Medicaid funding for addiction treatment hasn’t curbed overdose deaths

UVA co-leads $2.9 million NIH investigation into where systems may fail people with disabilities

With the help of AI, UC Berkeley researchers confirm Hollywood is getting more diverse

Weight loss interventions associated with improvements in several symptoms of PCOS

[Press-News.org] Research proves 'gender-bending' chemicals affect reproduction