Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers gracefully come together, flowing eastward to the Chesapeake Bay as the Potomac River. Photo by Smithsonian Magazine
I am sharing the following post written by my husband, John Hourihan, who has been observing the increasing amounts of estrogen in our drinking water for years, which is also having an effect on humanity.
“I was wondering what effect having estrogen in our drinking water might have on our general population. I know the birth control pill hasn’t broken down in the body or in sewage treatment plants and has been fed back into our drinking water for years, then I found this. A medical study in San Francisco ‘cites several other sources of endocrine-disrupting compounds in our water, including synthetic estrogens in crop fertilizer (e.g., Atrazine), synthetic and natural estrogens from livestock, including dairy cows, which can be fed hormones to increase milk production, and an unknown number of industrial chemicals, like plastic additive bisphenol-A (BPA). Industrial chemicals may enter waterways either through chemical plant runoff or the disposal of products in landfills. Chemicals in pharmaceuticals such as anti-seizure medications and anti-depressants may also mimic estrogen. Furthermore, women using birth control are not the only ones flushing estrogen down the drain. Pregnant women excrete high levels of natural estrogens, and nearly everyone (both women and men) produce some amount of natural estrogens also released into wastewater.’
“Now I want to know what effect that has on our children, who have become the most god-awful thirsty bunch of humans ever conceived. I’m pretty sure everyone under 50 can’t be seen in public without a bottle of water in their hands. Stay hydrated!
“Then I found this: ‘The U.S. Geological Survey study showed exposure reduces a fish’s ability to produce proteins that help it ward off disease and pointed to a possible link between the occurrence of intersex fish and recent fish kills in the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers.
“‘The report, published in … Fish & Shellfish Immunology, adds to a growing body of research pointing to problems with estrogen in the nation’s waterways.
“Other research has found evidence of estrogen exposure in freshwater and some marine fish populations. In a previous report, USGS scientists found widespread occurrences of fish in the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers with “intersex” characteristics — male fish carrying immature female egg cells in their testes. Other scientists observed similar problems in fish in Southern California and in labs in Canada and the United States.
“Scientists have not targeted the source of estrogen, but many suspect it stems from certain pollutants and drugs in waterways.'”
The Shenandoah meets the Potomac River in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. The Shenandoah River’s average width is 150 feet. Its watershed drains 2,937 square miles including all or parts of Frederick, Clarke, Warren, Shenandoah, Rockingham, and Augusta Counties in Virginia.