Chemicals in Water Alter Gender of Fish

(CBS)  Something strange is happening to the fish in America's rivers, lakes and ponds. Chemical pollution seems to be disrupting their hormones, blurring the line between male and female.

And as CBS News national correspondent Dean Reynolds reports, those fish swim where millions get their drinking water.

The fish are biting on Lake Pepin this fall, and that's good news for Minnesota fishing guide Loren Waalkens.

Many of Waalkens' customers catch small mouth bass, which, along with their large-mouth cousins, are big business for fishermen and fishing guides. They've hooked anglers at tournaments as hyped as the Super Bowl.

The small mouth is also a fish of special value to researchers who suspect it may tell us something alarming about our water.

In Columbia, Mo., the U.S. Geological Survey is keeping smallies in some artificial ponds, investigating why so many males are showing female characteristics.

"Because it's male, you're seeing sperm here and here," said USGS Dianna Papoulias while examining a fish. "But oddly, you're also seeing eggs. Small, undeveloped eggs."

"It is an abnormality," she said. "In bass we would not expect to see eggs in a male."

Abnormal - but increasingly common. In the upper Mississippi River where Loren Waalkens fishes, more than 70 percent of the male smallmouth bass had female characteristics.

In South Carolina's Peedee River, the ratio was even higher - 9 out of 10.

And in one section of the Potomac River near Washington, every smallmouth bass had the same condition.

In fact, a recent USGS study found the phenomenon in virtually every watershed in the country. And it's and not just bass. Some carp, catfish and sturgeon have the same odd make-up.

The suspicion is that hormone-disrupting chemicals in the water - pesticides, pharmaceuticals including birth control pills, or even household detergents - may be prompting the feminization of the fish.

And that matters because in controlled experiments like those in Columbia, which duplicated the chemicals found in U.S. rivers, entire populations of fish simply collapsed, unable to spawn.

What's more, tens of millions of Americans get their drinking water from rivers - an estimated 18 million from the Mississippi river alone.

Waalkens wonders if his beloved bass could be the proverbial canary in the coal mine.

"Are there other species and other types of animals that this may be occurring in?" he said. "You know, there's a lot of unanswered questions."

Those questions' answers may lie somewhere beneath the surface of the water we drink.

[wheatfield2]

What is alarming is the MCL's (maximum contaminant levels) allowed are for adult levels. For instance, medicine is dispensed by weight. Municipal systems add fluoride at 1ppm. The levels recommended for children are .25 for 6 months to 3 years, .5 until 6 years, then 1ppm after 6 years old. I would not let my child drink from our municipal source, which measured 1 to 1.5 ppm when I tested it. He received fluoride vitamins with dosage for his age. Even the amount of chlorine in municipal water may not be wise for children (in my opinion)

So, as our lakes/rivers are becoming bloated with other rare contaminants that municipalities use for the public, I drink only purified water. But that does not ensure I will avoid those contaminants, as our food from those polluted sources may contain amounts that are harmful.

Remember the pet food debacle? Some were also suprised to find traces of euthanasia drugs and anesthetics in the pet food. You see, some pet food contains rendered ingredients...which means, carcasses of euthanized pets, even roadkill, are ground and used for the pet food "recipe". Such minute amounts used on the animals can be registered in the end result of the pet food. So, it is not surprising that our fish our becoming chemical anomolies from our polluted water.

[BeckieBest]

Thank goodness Bush put all the biggest poluters on the honor system for 8 years.

[ianlou]

Hey, Bush did more to solve our polution problems than any other President when he help send all our dirty manufacturing to Mexico and China; Anywhere but here.

[White_Duck]

Maybe this explains the sudden upswing in the number of Gays & Lezbians. Maybe the Scientists can find an antidote?

[ianlou]

Moron, the only thing that has change is the percentage out of the closet.

[troutfishyman]

by door331 November 25, 2009 9:37 PM EST
i like how the article constantly points out that we drink water from rivers and lakes. they forget to provide any data to showing these so called chemicals in our drinking water-- did they forget all your drinking water is filtered and follows strict guidelines? oops must have slipped their mind. way to go journalism.



There is no filtration to remove these chemicals at 99.9% of water treatment plants. They simply run the water through particulate filters and inject some chlorine. This marginal treatment DOES NOT remove these chemicals. You drink them, just like the poor fish. Poetic justice, aye?

[wheatfield2]

You are so right, troutfishyman! Pharmaceuticals are not revealed in our municpal reports. They are allowed many contaminants (as long as they are not exceeding the MCL's that day of sampling). Municipal systems also will no longer be fined if dumping raw sewage during storm overflows. They just must "tell" and report to the DEQ. (they should have implemented back ups with our tax money years ago) Municipalities allowed more growth than the infrastructure could handle and never improved it. So our lakes/rivers could contain untreated chemicals from storm dumping on a routine basis.

Our landfills especially contain raw contaminants that seep into the groundwater. We've beem accepting all kinds of trash from Canada for years, so I doubt there will be adequate natural filtering.

I only drink purified water (after education in water analysis, I could not do otherwise).

[stryker54]

No reason to blame Obama PVperson2, blame the human population for their polution. This is the biggest problem, ourselves.

[stevador39]

In 1996 Theo Colborn published OUR STOLEN FUTURE. It was extensively researched and documented on polution. It said chemicals and especially plastics were threatening our fertility, intelligence, and survival. This book pointed out the growing number of children born without a genetic gender.

[door331]

i like how the article constantly points out that we drink water from rivers and lakes. they forget to provide any data to showing these so called chemicals in our drinking water-- did they forget all your drinking water is filtered and follows strict guidelines? oops must have slipped their mind. way to go journalism.

[stryker54]

Most cities and states you can go to the state website, type in your adress and get exactly what ppm of all chemical in your water. When you read it and see what the epa allows you will not want to drink your water. Our drinking water is not filtered enough, it has gotten worse over the years from our pollution, garbage, drugs, jet fuel, it goes on and on. I drink only pure water. You need to get your facts straight. The epa is a govt. system and you drink junk from munciple water supplies. Worldwide we have less than 3% fresh water available.

[rf35]

Maybe that's because there was an article here a while back about the contaminants in our tap water. The pharmaceuticals alone were enough to make me want to go out and get a RO filter system. I'm not sure even that would remove everything, but it's probably better than nothing.

[Miss_Enid]

I am 51 years old and as long as I can remember we have been told to clean out our medicine cabinets and flush all old meds down the toilet. Drug dealer flush before the cops catch them. Drug runners at sea dump their cargo overboard before they are caught. Now where esle would all these drugs go, and how do we get them out?

[ALBrainTrust10]

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN PEEING LATELY? YOU TAKE A PILL, IT COMES OUT IN YOUR URINE. URINE GOES INTO SEWER...IS TREATED....DUMPED IN OCEAN/RIVER/LAKE.

WE ARE WHAT WE EAT...WE DRINK WHAT WE PEE.

[delighted1949]

I am a resident of Toronto Ontario, Canada. Toronto is the only city in North America that has included Hormone Disruptors in their sewer use by-law. Violations start in 2010.
All chemical companies have to come on board, it is our drinking water, our food source.
Stop talking and do something now.

[msimamaji]

The GOP attacks Obama for his initiatives in green technology. They insist that global climate change is a hoax and there is no such thing as pollution.

Well once again, what are we witnessing? Our ignorant devil-may-care attitude toward pollution will render large tracts of this country uninhabitable. Ironically a lot of this territory is right in the heart of Palin country.

[ffoulkes-2009]

I have yet to hear ANYONE claim there is no such thing as pollution. They are just denying the link between pollution and global warming...you know, that cyclic event that happens every so often throughout the history of the planet with no help from man.