Weed killer found to give male frogs extra sex organs

Phila. Daily News/AP ^ | April 16 2002 | Associated Press

[F.J. Mitchell]

#37: It will take a lot of workers working night and day for eternity to creat a dose large enough to get that job done.

[F.J. Mitchell]

It is none of our business what frogs do to themselves in the privacy of their own pond.

[Uncle Meat]

Male frogs exposed to even very low doses of a common weed killer can develop multiple sex organs

Is that weed killer that they're talking about or killer weed?

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Just another male frogs with extra sex organs thread.

[proud to be breathing]

In 1999, 64,000,000 acres were treated with Atrazine. According to the U. fo Nebraska Coop. Extension 15,000,000 lbs are used in Nebraska annually. It is the 2nd most common pesticide found in wells according to the EPA. It can be removed by treating your water with a activated charcoal filter. I have not read the article in question here, but since atrazine is highly water soluable, and has a relatively long half life after application, yes there is reason to be concerned, especially since it seems to acted on a hormonal level in frogs. Check this site out

[Uncle Meat]

Does anyone think this is a problem in here?

You're right.This is serious stuff.Frogs have enough to worry about with people eating their legs,using them for fish bait,Beavis and Butthead types using them for baseballs.It must be terrible for them to go through life being hermaphrodites,getting laughed at by all the normal frogs.They'd be better off being salamanders.

[proud to be breathing]

sorry, try this; http://ace.orst.edu/info/extoxnet/pips/atrazine.htm

[jws3sticks]

To protect the world, X42 needs a megga dose, ASAP.

[Orual]

Researchers track hormone-disrupted fish

Star Tribune, Oct 7-Researchers have found that male fathead minnows placed in treated sewage water here have developed female characteristics -- a sign of hormone-disrupting chemicals. It' s an indication that something external is fooling the of Minnesota scientists and other researchers said. Another sign is that male walleyes tracked in the Mississippi River have been found to be sterile, apparently from estrogen-like compounds from a sewage plant that disrupted their hormone systems. Researchers are certain it' s a compound that mimics female estrogen, but how widespread the problem is among wild fish or whether fish populations may be at risk because males can' t reproduce is unclear. So far, there' s no indication that humans are at risk from whatever compounds are causing the problems, often called endocrine disrupters, scientists said. " This could have some very real ecological ramifications, and potential human health concerns. It' s a big maybe now, however, because we just don' t know yet, " said Peter Sorenson, a University of Minnesota fisheries professor. " But when you have male fish in Minnesota becoming feminized, it's something that needs a serious look."

[Hunble]

Question: How many drops of food coloring placed in a swimming pool would equal 0.1 Parts Per Billion?

How many molecules would there be in a gallon of water at that dosage?

Seriously, if they were talking about Parts Per Million then I would consider this a possible problem. But good grief, this is way too low of a dosage to be valid.

[Dawgsquat]

That river is 45 miles from here and I've never drank a drop! LOL!!!

[CWW]

But wait, there's more!! It's a weed killer and a marital aid!

[dighton]

Un, deux, trois, quatre ....Incroyable!

[MozarkDawg]

Hey, the story said only THREE parts per billion, guy!

(How you say in French, " 'Atsa spice-a meat-a-ball!"??)

[Sungirl]

So you don't care about polluted water wells, lakes and rivers? Would you let your kids drink from a well in your back yard WHILE you treat your lawn and bushes with weedkiller/pesticides? It's a problem here in florida..they are shutting down inlets and lakes all the time for a days and weeks because of pollution and bacteria. You don't care though ...right?

[Sungirl]

It's funny how this kind of thread is ignored....anybody out there want to stop spreading so much pollution around? Which closes down inlets....or lakes from high bacteria counts? ANyone care that the cruise ships are admitting guilt for dropping their fecal waste and oil in the ocean? I guess it's a subject that must be avoided.

[Sungirl]

Does it bother you at all about cruise ships drop their waste in the ocean?

[Sloth]

Question: How many drops of food coloring placed in a swimming pool would equal 0.1 Parts Per Billion?

For a 15' x 30' x 6' deep pool, about 1/5 of a droplet, or about 8 cubic MILLImeters.

[Sloth]

Does it bother you at all about cruise ships drop their waste in the ocean?

You do realize there are an awful lot of fish, whales and invertebrates that do the same, right?