Falling sperm counts could be caused by traces of the contraceptive pill in drinking water, a new study has claimed. U.S. scientists say the sex hormone oestradiol - the birth control hormone that passes untreated through sewage plants - has an even larger effect on sperm than Bisphenol A or BPA, as it is widely known. BPA is found in some plastics used to make food containers, bottles and coatings in tin cans, and is also commonly used in thermal paper in cash register receipts. Scroll down for video . Decline: Falling sperm counts could be caused by traces of the contraceptive pill in drinking water, scientists in Washington have claimed . But researchers claim BPA can disrupt hormones, raising the risk of a wide number of health problems such as diabetes, obesity and cancer. The chemical has already been banned in baby bottles in Europe because of safety fears. But the transparent resin is still used to line most plastic and tin food packaging - despite the calls for an all-out ban by campaigners. The UK Food Standards Agency says strict regulations mean that the health risk from food packaging is minimal. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned BPA from baby bottles in 2012, but said there was not enough evidence for a wider ban and has found the chemical safe at low levels. However in the new study, Washington State University geneticists found a direct link between BPA and disrupted sperm production. Writing in the journal PLOS Genetics, they say the chemical disrupts the delicate DNA interactions needed to create sperm. In addition to the BPA effects, principle investigator Dr Pat Hunt saw an even larger effect on sperm by oestradiol, the birth control hormone that passes untreated through sewage plants. She believes she and her team may have unearthed the reason why numerous studies have revealed sperm counts are falling. The issue has been a subject of concern and since the early 1990s, when Danish researchers reported 'a genuine decline in semen quality over the past 50 years,' with possible implications for male fertility. Trail: The researchers saw an even larger effect on sperm by oestradiol, the birth control hormone that passes untreated through sewage plants . Two years ago, a large Spanish study warned that sperm counts are falling at an alarming rate - up to 38 per cent in a decade - with diet and lifestyle largely to blame. Researchers from the University of Murcia found that even in young men, sperm concentration fell by an average of two per cent a year - and could soon hit levels where fertility is compromised. Dr Hunt, author of the new study, has a long history of working with BPA, which is often found in plastic bottles, the linings of food and beverage cans, and thermal receipts. Much of her work has documented its effect on female reproduction, from mice to monkeys. She argues the study also bolsters the hypothesis that 'oestrogen' disruptors in the environment are at play. 'This provides some real insight into what exactly might be going on,' Hunt says. 'It's kind of bizarre because we got into it through a back door, not really starting out to look at that question.' In the new study, Dr Hunt and her colleagues gave newborn male mice oral doses of BPA. They also exposed mice to the synthetic oestrogen ethinyl oestradiol. The researchers exposed the developing testis and saw that the sperm of exposed animals did a poorer job of meiosis, the process in which cells combine the genetic information of their parents. As a result, more sperm died. Worrying: Two years ago, a large Spanish study warned that sperm counts are falling at an alarming rate - up to 38 per cent in a decade - with diet and lifestyle largely to blame . Dr Hunt said: 'We have a window of just a few days and we permanently change the way that the testis makes sperm in the adult.' The study looked at three mice population: one outbred like humans and two other, very common strains that are inbred. Researchers saw a 'very strong effect' on outbred mice and one inbred strain and no effect on the other inbred strain. This would account for earlier researchers not seeing an effect on testes in earlier studies. Dr Hunt said: 'This mouse model would suggest that here's actually a reason why these sperm counts would be falling. 'We're actually doing something to this process that's going to cause the death of more cells as they're trying to make sperm. 'They're going to get culled out by this quality-control mechanism and the upshot of that will be that if you do enough of this, you'll drop sperm counts. 'We've seen effects over the course of several decades. What about several generations? Infertility is becoming more common. Are we creating the perfect storm? BPA is also commonly used in thermal paper in cash register receipts . Just yesterday, Europe's food safety watchdog EFSA - the European Food Safety Authority - said BPA poses 'no health risk to consumers of any age, including unborn children, at current levels of exposure'. The chemical, which is used to stiffen some plastic food containers, poses no health risk to consumers of any age, including unborn children, at current levels of exposure, the agency said. Some studies have suggested possible links to everything from cancer to heart disease to infertility to kidney and liver problems, prompting European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to re-evaluate the potential risks of BPA. The EFSA acknowledged in its assessment that BPA residues could migrate into foods and drinks and be ingested by consumers, and that BPA from thermal paper, cosmetics and dust could be either inhaled or absorbed through the skin. But it found that exposure to BPA was 'considerably under' the safe level known as the 'tolerable daily intake', or TDI. It said that after weighing up 'a significant body of new scientific information on its toxic effects', EFSA's expert panel concluded that high doses of BPA -- hundreds of times above the TDI -- were likely to adversely affect the kidney and liver, and might also cause effects animals' mammary glands. But at current levels -- which it said were often three to five times lower than the TDI of 4 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day -- it found 'no consumer health risk from bisphenol A exposure'.
Sex hormone oestradiol - the birth control hormone that passes untreated through sewage plants - has larger effect on sperm than Bisphenol A .
BPA belongs to a class of compounds called endocrine disruptors .
Found in some plastics used to make food containers, bottles and receipts .
Study found BPA disrupts delicate DNA interactions needed to make sperm .
Sperm counts have fallen dramatically in the past 50 years, studies show .
Falling sperm counts could be caused by traces of the contraceptive pill in drinking water, a new study has claimed. U.S. scientists say the sex hormone oestradiol - the birth control hormone that passes untreated through sewage plants - has an even larger effect on sperm than Bisphenol A or BPA, as it is widely known. BPA is found in some plastics used to make food containers, bottles and coatings in tin cans, and is also commonly used in thermal paper in cash register receipts. Scroll down for video . Decline: Falling sperm counts could be caused by traces of the contraceptive pill in drinking water, scientists in Washington have claimed . But researchers claim BPA can disrupt hormones, raising the risk of a wide number of health problems such as diabetes, obesity and cancer. The chemical has already been banned in baby bottles in Europe because of safety fears. But the transparent resin is still used to line most plastic and tin food packaging - despite the calls for an all-out ban by campaigners. The UK Food Standards Agency says strict regulations mean that the health risk from food packaging is minimal. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned BPA from baby bottles in 2012, but said there was not enough evidence for a wider ban and has found the chemical safe at low levels. However in the new study, Washington State University geneticists found a direct link between BPA and disrupted sperm production. Writing in the journal PLOS Genetics, they say the chemical disrupts the delicate DNA interactions needed to create sperm. In addition to the BPA effects, principle investigator Dr Pat Hunt saw an even larger effect on sperm by oestradiol, the birth control hormone that passes untreated through sewage plants. She believes she and her team may have unearthed the reason why numerous studies have revealed sperm counts are falling. The issue has been a subject of concern and since the early 1990s, when Danish researchers reported 'a genuine decline in semen quality over the past 50 years,' with possible implications for male fertility. Trail: The researchers saw an even larger effect on sperm by oestradiol, the birth control hormone that passes untreated through sewage plants . Two years ago, a large Spanish study warned that sperm counts are falling at an alarming rate - up to 38 per cent in a decade - with diet and lifestyle largely to blame. Researchers from the University of Murcia found that even in young men, sperm concentration fell by an average of two per cent a year - and could soon hit levels where fertility is compromised. Dr Hunt, author of the new study, has a long history of working with BPA, which is often found in plastic bottles, the linings of food and beverage cans, and thermal receipts. Much of her work has documented its effect on female reproduction, from mice to monkeys. She argues the study also bolsters the hypothesis that 'oestrogen' disruptors in the environment are at play. 'This provides some real insight into what exactly might be going on,' Hunt says. 'It's kind of bizarre because we got into it through a back door, not really starting out to look at that question.' In the new study, Dr Hunt and her colleagues gave newborn male mice oral doses of BPA. They also exposed mice to the synthetic oestrogen ethinyl oestradiol. The researchers exposed the developing testis and saw that the sperm of exposed animals did a poorer job of meiosis, the process in which cells combine the genetic information of their parents. As a result, more sperm died. Worrying: Two years ago, a large Spanish study warned that sperm counts are falling at an alarming rate - up to 38 per cent in a decade - with diet and lifestyle largely to blame . Dr Hunt said: 'We have a window of just a few days and we permanently change the way that the testis makes sperm in the adult.' The study looked at three mice population: one outbred like humans and two other, very common strains that are inbred. Researchers saw a 'very strong effect' on outbred mice and one inbred strain and no effect on the other inbred strain. This would account for earlier researchers not seeing an effect on testes in earlier studies. Dr Hunt said: 'This mouse model would suggest that here's actually a reason why these sperm counts would be falling. 'We're actually doing something to this process that's going to cause the death of more cells as they're trying to make sperm. 'They're going to get culled out by this quality-control mechanism and the upshot of that will be that if you do enough of this, you'll drop sperm counts. 'We've seen effects over the course of several decades. What about several generations? Infertility is becoming more common. Are we creating the perfect storm? BPA is also commonly used in thermal paper in cash register receipts . Just yesterday, Europe's food safety watchdog EFSA - the European Food Safety Authority - said BPA poses 'no health risk to consumers of any age, including unborn children, at current levels of exposure'. The chemical, which is used to stiffen some plastic food containers, poses no health risk to consumers of any age, including unborn children, at current levels of exposure, the agency said. Some studies have suggested possible links to everything from cancer to heart disease to infertility to kidney and liver problems, prompting European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to re-evaluate the potential risks of BPA. The EFSA acknowledged in its assessment that BPA residues could migrate into foods and drinks and be ingested by consumers, and that BPA from thermal paper, cosmetics and dust could be either inhaled or absorbed through the skin. But it found that exposure to BPA was 'considerably under' the safe level known as the 'tolerable daily intake', or TDI. It said that after weighing up 'a significant body of new scientific information on its toxic effects', EFSA's expert panel concluded that high doses of BPA -- hundreds of times above the TDI -- were likely to adversely affect the kidney and liver, and might also cause effects animals' mammary glands. But at current levels -- which it said were often three to five times lower than the TDI of 4 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day -- it found 'no consumer health risk from bisphenol A exposure'.
sex hormone oestradiol - the birth control hormone that passes untreated through sewage plants - has an even larger effect on sperm than found in some plastics used to make food containers, bottles and coatings in tin cans, and the chemical disrupts the delicate DNA interactions needed to create sperm. In addition oestradiol, the birth control hormone that passes quality over the past 50 years,' with possible A exposure'.