Hormones in recycled water

Scientific Director of the Queensland Fertitily Group, Keith Harrison, has urged decision makers to consider this danger. He says there’s evidence that links infertility in Britain to their systems of recycling water. Mr Harrison says, “People who supply our water are very good at removing infectious agents from it and making it pretty safe to drink, but it’s far more difficult to remove chemicals. And there are a number of chemicals, such as detergents, wetting agents, and plasticisers, which act like the female hormone oestrogen in the body. Not to mention oestrogens that come from the human urine that’s going into recycled water. And it’s thought that the hormone itself and these chemicals that act like the hormone could have deleterious effect on developing males in utero.”