Posted on 10/14/2004 11:59:19 PM PDT by neverdem
Pollution Suspected Cause of Anomaly in River's South Branch
MOOREFIELD, W.Va. -- The South Branch of the Potomac River is as clear as bottled water here, where it rolls over a bed of smooth stones about 230 miles upstream from Washington. But there is a mystery beneath this glassy surface.
Many of the river's male bass are producing eggs.
Scientists believe this inversion of nature is being caused by pollution in the water. But they say the exact culprit is still unknown: It might be chicken estrogen left over in poultry manure, or perhaps human hormones dumped in the river with processed sewage. Chances are, it is not something that federal and state inspectors regularly test for in local waters.
The discovery has made the South Branch the latest example of an emerging national problem: Hormones, drugs and other man-made pollutants appear to be interfering with the chemical signals that make fish grow and reproduce.
While researchers look for answers in West Virginia, other scientists are testing Rock Creek, and another group is seeking financial support to test the rest of the Potomac to see whether they can find the same troubling effects downstream.
"Whatever's doing this to the fish may be the canary in the mineshaft," said Margaret Janes, a West Virginia activist with the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment.
Scientists say it's still too early to tell what these findings will mean for the bass population in the South Branch; they aren't sure whether the affected males are still able to reproduce. And no one is aware of any effects on human health in the Potomac watershed.
But scientists believe that fish might be the first to absorb any dangerous chemicals that might later affect humans.
"They're likely to be hit first," said Mike Focazio...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
ROFLOL!!!
Another federal study is underway in Rock Creek, looking for intersex symptoms and other health problems in a species of fish called white suckers.
That is just NOT the species I would want to be investigating.
Lovely attitude.
Thanks for the links!
Yes, and a joke.
BOOKMARK
It changes their scales?
All your bass are belong to us!
Egg-bearing male fish?
Never heard ovum.
Is this what happened to you?
*groan*
BTTT
Funny yolk.
yust yoking......heheheh.
Vs.
Precision, Jazz...
For a crack like that, you can-
"Sleep wit' da fishes!"
In Louisiana, Roe V. Wade is the cause of countless arguments and debates over the best way to cross the bayou....
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