Birth control may be having reproductive effects far beyond the bedroom. An analysis by a Swedish scientist suggests that discarded vaginal contraceptive rings could interfere with fishes’ reproduction by releasing estrogen into streams.
Last fall, Joakim Larsson of Göteborg University in Sweden found that a used contraceptive patch can, if flushed down the toilet, shed estrogen into rivers that accept effluent from sewage-treatment facilities (SN: 10/19/02, p.
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