Fish from polluted rivers 'can trigger breast cancer'

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Their study found that breast cancer cells multiply when exposed to fish contaminated with the synthetic female hormone oestrogen.

It raises new fears about the link between pollution and cancer, and the effects of pouring treated sewage into rivers.

Past studies have shown that the high levels of synthetic hormones used in toiletries and the contraceptive Pill can cause male fish to change sex and grow female sexual organs.

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Warning: Eating fish caught from rivers polluted with 'gender bender' chemicals could increase the risk of breast cancer say researchers

For the new study researchers from the University of Pittsburgh caught catfish in the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, which are heavily polluted.

Tests on the fish showed they contained high levels of synthetic hormones, the team told the American Public Health Association in Washington.

When extracts of the catfish were exposed to breast cancer cells in a petri dish oestrogenreceptive cancer cells multiplied.

If the same effects occurred in humans the chemicals would trigger the growth of cancers.

Dr Conrad Volz, who led the study, said: These findings have significant public health implications, since we drink water from the rivers where the fish were caught.

"Additionally, the consumption of river-caught fish, especially by semi-subsistence anglers, may increase their risk."

Synthetic oestrogen is found in a host of products - including the Pill, paint, pesticides, plastics and food packaging.

Studies have shown that around a third of fish in Britain's lowland rivers are affected by gender bending chemicals.

Last year Dr Andreas Kortenkamp from London University warned that the chemicals could be implicated in rising breast cancer rates.

The Food Standards Agency said it had no information on the risks of consuming river fish contaminated with oestrogens.