Potomac River (Wash.D.C.) male fish producing eggs

[donsu]

Really, really bad news

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1894&e=1&u=/ap/20041221/ap_on_sc/intersex_fish


(Potomac river comes from north of D.C. and flows past the city)


Male fish that are growing eggs have been found in the Potomac River near Sharpsburg, a sign that a little-understood type of pollution is spreading downstream from West Virginia, a federal scientist says.

The so-called intersex abnormality may be caused by pollutants from sewage plants, feedlots and factories that can interfere with animals' hormone systems, The Washington Post reported Sunday.

Nine male smallmouth bass taken from the Potomac near Sharpsburg, about 60 miles upstream from Washington, were found to have developed eggs inside their sex organs, said Vicki S. Blazer, a scientist overseeing the research for the U.S. Geological Survey

-snip-

The Potomac River is the main source of drinking water for the Washington metropolitan area and many upstream communities. It provides about 75 percent of the water supply to the 3.6 million residents of Washington and its Maryland and Virginia suburbs.

-snip-

A recent survey of cancer in Hardy County, where some residents get drinking water from the South Branch, found rates of cancer of the liver, gallbladder, ovaries and uterus that were higher than the state average. All four cancers can in some cases grow faster in the presence of estrogen or chemicals that mimic it, cancer experts said.
-snip-
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I have read other reports and this is happening all over the country and the world

[MidwestTransplant]

1. That is seriously F'd Up

With all the Republicans living in VA and DC right now, I wonder if they will decide that they care about the quality of their drinking water. Alternatively they may just buy bottled water and not care what happens to those that don't.

[BR_Parkway]

2. My first thought - They are gonna try to blame gays getting married