kenimpzoom
Rear Admiral
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2002
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DENVER - Fish with both male and female sex tissue have been discovered near Colorado wastewater treatment plants on the South Platte River and Boulder Creek. <br /> <br />Scientists are trying to determine if chemicals that disrupt hormones, such as estrogen, are responsible for the gender-bending phenomenon.<br /><br />Colorado biologist John Woodling discovered the deformed white suckers about two years ago near two wastewater discharge pipes.<br /><br />Female fish far outnumber the male fish near the plants.<br /><br />"This is the first thing that I've seen as a scientist that really scared me," said Woodling, 58, a retired fisheries biologist with the Colorado Division of Wildlife who is working with the University of Colorado.<br /><br />Scientists haven't pinpointed which chemicals might be causing the deformities, but endocrine disrupters that mimic or disrupt hormones, especially estrogen, are a leading suspect.<br /><br />Such chemicals are believed to come from excreted birth-control hormones, natural female hormones and commonly used detergents that are flushed down toilets and drains.<br /><br />"We're all concerned about it," said Barbara Biggs, Metro Wastewater Reclamation District's governmental officer. "We don't want to leap to any conclusions yet. There are a lot of estrogen sources in the environment."<br /><br />In the last 10 years, scientists have documented the impact of endocrine disrupters on everything from British trout to alligators and polar bears.
<br /><br />...Bob in Calif...