8.6 per cent of the 3,000 tested showed signs of being 'intersexed'
Sunday 05 April 2015
Almost one in 10 male clams found around the English coast has developed feminine features, a phenomenon blamed on hormone-disrupting pollutants found in pharmaceuticals that enter the sewage system, paper-mill effluent and other waste.
Researchers, who tested more than 3,000 adult clams from locations along the English Channel coast and neighbouring areas, found that 8.6 per cent of male clams had evidence of both ovarian and testicular tissue. Six out of 10 sites had the so-called “intersexed” clams.
“The widespread and elevated occurrences… far exceed the occasional or accidental levels seen in other species,” say the researchers, from the Marine Biological Association, Plymouth and the University of Le Havre.
Clams, mussels, oysters and scallops are bivalves. They inhabit the sediment in estuaries, which acts as a long-term reservoir for pollutants. These invertebrates are at the bottom of the food chain – so the adverse effects of pollutants may have implications for other species.
The aim of the new three-year study, reported in the Marine Pollution Bulletin, was to investigate how widespread the abnormal development was. Results show that 58 per cent of sites have found intersex males.
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