Question: How will polution affect species reproduction?

Emily Hayward answered on 23 Jun 2014:

Great question Madscientist12345!

Yes, it already does in some ways. (http://www.mnn.com/local-reports/south-carolina/local-blog/birth-control-pill-endangers-fish-populations).

Different pollutnts can have different effects – Hormones are often used as birth control and when they pass through our bodies they end up in water and are difficult to remove – currently this doesnt have an effect on humans, but it does effect other species such as fish. In some young fish the male ones can turn into females due to the presence of estrogen. If the concentration of hormones increases in our water supply it could one day effect everyone and would make it more difficult for anyone to have a baby.

Other toxic chemicals in water such as mercury can also influence reproduction as smaler animals and people need less of a toxic substance to kill them, therefore if a baby human or animal is exposed to even a small dose before they are born, or when they are young this may cause them to die.

As we dont want pollution to effect things like reproduction ad the environment its important we do research into removing pollutants from water, and this is part of the research I do 🙂