Estrogen mimicking effects of xenobiotics in fish

Abstract

[...] produced and synthetic contraceptive pill estrogens may pass low-quality waste water processing plants and feminize male fish in streams and coastal areas downstream such discharges [1-2]. The occurrence of intersex in roach and elevated vitellogenin levels in areas not directly affected by discharges from sewage treatment plants suggests that there may be other inputs of estrogenic activity to the aquatic environment and, in fact, several possibilities - some of them associated with intensive, modern agriculture - exist.