Scientists warn that fish are changing SEX due to warmer climate

THE threat from gender-bending chemicals released into the environment will be made worse by climate change, scientists warned yesterday.

A zebrafishGETTY

Zebrafish are changing gender because of climate change

Fish were found to be more likely to change sex when exposed to the hormone-disrupting effects of a chemical if they were in warmer water. 

The zebrafish were exposed to clotrimazole – which is used in anti-fungal skin creams – in concentrations like those currently found when it escapes into Britain’s waterways. 

A study 20 years ago found male fish in UK rivers were turning female

Numbers of male fish were higher when the water temperatures rose to levels predicted for the year 2100. 

Inbred fish were more vulnerable, highlighting the risk to endangered species with small, isolated populations. 

The study by Exeter University and chemical giant AstraZeneca was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

The EU is expected to tighten restrictions on the discharge of hormone-disrupting chemicals into the environment. 

A study 20 years ago found male fish in UK rivers were turning female. 

It is thought they were exposed to female hormones discharged into the water from sewage plants.

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