Reuters
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Chemicals known to change the sexual characteristics of fish
and other animals have been found in West Virginia tributaries
of the Potomac River, which runs through Washington, D.C. and
surrounding areas, the U.S. Geological Survey said on Wednesday.
An investigation into fish that had both male and female characteristics
turned up a range of chemicals including pesticides, flame retardants,
and personal-care products, the USGS said.
The Potomac is fed by rivers and streams in Maryland, Virginia
and West Virginia.
"We analyzed samples of 30 smallmouth bass from six sites,
including male and female fish without intersex and male fish
with intersex," said Douglas Chambers, a USGS scientist who
led the study.
"All samples contained detectable levels of at least one
known endocrine-disrupting compound, including samples from fish
without intersex."
Endocrine disrupters affect the animals' hormone systems. They
can cause birth defects and sexual abnormalities called intersex
in species ranging from frogs to alligators and perhaps humans
as well.
"Antibiotics were detected in municipal wastewater, aquaculture,
and poultry-processing effluent, with the highest number of antibiotics
and the greatest concentrations found in municipal effluent,"
the USGS wrote in the report, published at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2006/1393/.
The USGS said the sexual changes in the fish were discovered
by accident in 2003, when scientists were investigating massive
fish kills.
"Many potential sources of contaminants discharge to the
South Branch of the Potomac and Cacapon Rivers. Chief among these
are runoff from agricultural activities, municipal and domestic
wastewater effluent (both treated and untreated), industrial wastewater,
and gypsy moth control programs using dimilin (diflubenzuron),"
the report reads.
Email
