Birth Control May Be Harming State's Salmon ; Synthetic Estrogen In Water Seems To Affect Reproduction
Source: Seattle Post - Intelligencer
Publication date: 2003-06-04
Arrival time: 2003-06-05

Birth-control pills can curb the reproduction of more than just the women taking them. Western Washington scientists have found that synthetic estrogen - a common ingredient in oral contraceptives - can drastically reduce the fertility of male rainbow trout.
The man-made compounds are showing up in waterways around the nation - pumped into rivers, lakes and Puget Sound with water from sewage-treatment plants.

And they're being found at levels that can harm fish, possibly even this region's struggling salmon populations.