Hunting Ways To Keep Synthetic Estrogens Out Of Rivers And Seas
Millions of women around the world take synthetic hormones via birth control pills or hormone replacement therapies. Not all of the estrogen-like compounds from these and other treatments are used by the body — small amounts are excreted and end up in municipal wastewater. And there’s been no good way to completely remove these hormones before they head to rivers and seas.
But a team of scientists in the U.S. and Britain now think they may have hit upon a solution based on the combination of a common household chemical — hydrogen peroxide — with a special ingredient to make it work faster.
Once wastewater is released into the environment, these synthetic hormones can have negative effects on wildlife. Synthetic estrogen is a type ofendocrine disruptor, a chemical that affects the endocrine system either by acting like a hormone or by blocking the action of natural hormones. It has caused some species of male fish to become feminized, even causing them to produce eggs in their testes.
One possibility researchers have explored for neutralizing these estrogens before they escape into the environment is based on activated carbon, which works a lot like a water filter you might use at home: The carbon sucks up pollutants and allows pure water to pass through.
(More on SHOTS: Health News from NPR)
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