Archived press release

Hormone Pollution Hall of Shame - fish feminising polluters exposed

16 June 1999

The FOE league table - attached - shows that ICI on Teesside is the leading polluter,discharging over 8 tonnes of alkylphenols in 1998. Two other ICI works discharged more than 1 tonne in the same year. Studies have shown that many wild male Roach have been feminised - eggs have been found in their testes - with the worst effects being seen in the heavily hormone pollution contaminated River Aire in Yorkshire. Research in Canada has indicated a link between use of pesticides containing alkylphenols and substantial declines in the population of Atlantic Salmon.

The Environment Agency data used by FOE only details pollution from the 1,500 largest factories. It does not detail releases from smaller factories, agriculture or sewage treatment works, which are all potentially large sources of hormone disrupting chemicals. FOE is calling for the development of a more comprehensive pollution inventory.

Dr Michael Warhurst, Pollution Campaigner at Friends of the Earth said:

“Companies all over Britain are still dumping hormone disrupting pollutants into our rivers. Fish are threatened by these chemicals, which only add to the problems already caused by hormone pollutants released in sewage effluent.Angling is the UK's no. 1 sport. It needs protection from the chemicals giants like ICI. Instead of ruining our rivers, these companies should spend more time and money promoting alternatives to dodgy chemicals.”

1. Alkylphenols are used in industrial detergents, in the form of alkylphenol ethoxylates. They are no longer in domestic use in the UK. The companies listed in our 'Hall of Shame' will probably be using alkylphenols for heavy-duty cleaning and in specific processes such as emulsion polymerisation. The number one polluter, ICI at Wilton, manufactures APEs. Most of the APE pollution from this plant comes from ICI washing out its reaction vessels into the Tees. The FOE league table is calculated in nonylphenol equivalents, with octylphenol considered to be equivalent to nonylphenol, and nonylphenol ethoxylates are assumed to have an average of 10 ethoxylate groups, so amount of nonylphenol = 0.3 x amount of nonylphenol ethoxylate.

HORMONE POLLUTERS HALL OF SHAME (TOP 10) - full list available from FOE

Emissions of alkylphenols to water in 1998 (All units kg/year):

[NB: This table only covers discharges from larger factories regulated by the Environment Agency under Integrated Pollution Control. It includes both discharges directly to rivers and estuaries and discharges to sewers. Alkylphenols discharged to sewers can still enter the environment - through ineffective sewage works,through storm overflows and through alkylphenol contamination of sewage sludges which are later spread on farmland.]

More information about alkylphenols and other endocrine disrupting chemicals is avaiable from:
/camps/indpoll/edc.htm

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust