Scientists Unable To Determine Gender Of 25% Of Catfish Caught For Study In W. Pennsylvania

hatrack

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Wed Apr-18-07 12:52 PM
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Scientists Unable To Determine Gender Of 25% Of Catfish Caught For Study In W. Pennsylvania

Dan Volz noticed something missing as he dissected channel catfish caught in the water off Point State Park -- their genitalia. "It was kind of like a streak of tissue, and we couldn't tell whether it was male or female," said Volz, a University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health professor who is leading a project to test local fish for contaminants. About 25 percent of the catfish Volz dissected couldn't be categorized as male or female.

Extract from fish caught in Western Pennsylvania's rivers showed unnatural levels of materials that mimic the female hormone estrogen. When "fed" to breast cancer cells in the laboratory, the extract more than doubled the rate of cancer growth, according to a study presented Tuesday at the American Association for Cancer Research in Los Angeles. One concern is that much of the region's drinking water comes from the rivers.

"We chose fish to look at because they're better at showing whether there is a problem in the river than actually even measuring chemicals in the water, because (fish) accumulate these chemicals," Volz said. "They can serve as sentinels for problems related to contaminants in our drinking water."

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency does not require that drinking water be tested for estrogen or that the hormone be removed. Western Pennsylvania's drinking water is not tested for estrogen, said Stan States, the water quality manager for the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority.

EDIT

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_503260.html

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iconoclastic cat

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Wed Apr-18-07 12:57 PM
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1. HFS! nt

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thereismore

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Wed Apr-18-07 12:57 PM
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2. Same thing here on the west coast. Pacific turbot is going cross-gender

because of synthetic estrogens in the water.

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ThomCat

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Wed Apr-18-07 12:58 PM
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3. And what is that doing to us?

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Buck Turgidson

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Wed Apr-18-07 01:09 PM
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5. Endocrine disruptors cause enlarged breasts in young boys

Cleaning agent tied to abnormalities

BY DELTHIA RICKS
Newsday

April 16, 2007, 11:25 AM EDT

Scientists are suggesting a common cause for two seemingly unrelated events, the feminization of fish in Jamaica Bay, where the former 50-50 male-to-female ratio has all but disappeared, and enlarged breasts in young boys.

The common factor: endocrine disruptors, chemicals found in detergents, cosmetics and other products of daily living that increasing numbers of scientists now believe play havoc with normal hormone activity.

The chemicals' residues find their way into Jamaica Bay where the fish live and are contained in the hair gels and shampoos used by the three boys featured in a study this year. After the study, the National Institutes of Health took the extraordinary step of advising doctors to ask patients what kinds of personal-care products they use at home.

In the case of Jamaica Bay, the specific endocrine disruptors implicated are NPEs -- chemicals found in waterways worldwide that are used in some laundry detergents and industrial cleaning agents.

"What we found is quite disturbing," said Anne McElroy, a marine scientist at Stony Brook University, referring to the gender change in Jamaica Bay's flounder. "I don't like to be an alarmist, but we have enough data from multiple years showing this effect and the fact that we've been able to recreate it in the lab makes the data pretty solid."

Researchers who reported about the boys who used the hair gels and shampoos products -- made from lavender and tea-tree oil -- say the growth stopped after they stopped using the estrogenic cosmetics. With NPEs, scientists are still trying to decipher the extent of the problem.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-416abnormalities,0,1467666,print.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines

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Miss Chybil

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Wed Apr-18-07 01:05 PM
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4. I read about something like this happening in London.

They believe it's from the estrogen women take in birth control pills and hormone replacement therapy entering the water supply. Very scary stuff. Takes me back to that butter commercial... "It's not nice to fool with Mother Nature!"

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benld74

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Wed Apr-18-07 02:25 PM
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6. Children of Men - Movie

Women are unable to conceive. Pollution, terrorism, immigration problems, haves and have nots. Really depressing movie. Never really said why the conception stopped in the movie, BUT,,,

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blondie58

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Wed Apr-18-07 02:35 PM
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7. or maybe there has been some soy milk in the water

remember the hysteria over soy products amongst the Rw'ers? http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53327

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kestrel91316

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Fri Apr-20-07 05:31 PM
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8. Endocrine disrupters...............

http://www.nrdc.org/health/effects/qendoc.asp

http://www.epa.gov/endocrine/

http://www.ourstolenfuture.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endocrine_disruptor

http://www.greenfacts.org/endocrine-disruptors/endocrine-disrupters.htm

What's happening to my own patients (and one of my own personal cats)due to endocrine disrupters:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=15070058&dopt=Abstract
Bisphenol-A

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