Lake Ontario is known to be very polluted by chemicals and pesticides Although warnings not to eat the fish (particularly in pregnancy) are handed out with fishing permits, keen anglers have tended to eat their catches nonetheless. A study of woman anglers who had had children suggested that eating fish from the lake across 2-3 years had made it take longer for them to conceive. Furthermore, unplanned pregnancies were 9% lower than experienced by the general population.

• Paternal consumption of Lake Ontario fish did not appear to affect the average time to conception

• Every couple who wanted a child eventually got one