Carp in Laguna lake emasculated by pollution

MANILA, Philippines – Pollution in the Laguna de Bay is making the male carps in the lake lose their masculinity.

A study conducted by Michelle Grace Paraso of the University of the Philippines-Los Baños (UPLB) College of Veterinary Medicine found that a majority of the male common carp in the lake have shrunken testes compared with those of the normal male carp.

This indicated that they have been “feminized.” This feminization shows that the carp was exposed to certain types of pollutants, particularly estrogen.

Paraso said that this phenomenon could mean that carps can serve as biomarkers or tools for the detection of the magnitude of pollution in waterways.

Paraso’s study, which was funded by the Department of Science and Technology-National Research Council of the Philippines (DOST-NRCP), evaluated carp as fish biomarker in determining the contamination of Laguna de Bay in four sites: Sta. Cruz and Paete, Laguna (East Bay) and Taguig City and Muntinlupa City (West Bay). 

A biomarker is an organism with a particular substance that may serve as indicator of some natural phenomenon like pollution and various biological pressures like infection and disease. 

According to the study, changes in the reproductive conditions of carp are influenced by several factors, such as food availability, water quality and temperature. 

Estrogenic contaminant or pollutant is estrogen produced through unnatural means. The contaminants developed from chemical components obtained in an environment and they cause reproductive impairment in water organisms such as fish. 

Paraso is an expert from the Veterinary Medicine Division of the DOST-NRCP. 

His study is relevant as government pushes for a cleaner environment, especially in coastal areas where many people live and obtain their livelihood, the DOST-NRCP said.