[Pharmwaste] Perchlorate increases masculinity in fish

[DeBiasi,Deborah]

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/university/story/8311141p-8207375c.html

UAA scientists find pollutant increases masculinity in fish
PERCHLORATE: Military residue found in Lower 48 drinking water could
cause human health problems.
 
By JULIA O'MALLEY
Anchorage Daily News
 
(Published: October 16, 2006) 
Perchlorate, a rocket-fuel chemical that disrupts thyroid function in
adults and may damage babies' brains, has turned up in soil, drinking
water, lettuce and even breast milk across the Lower 48. 
At the University of Alaska Anchorage, researchers recently discovered
that the contaminant may make fish overly masculine, causing female fish
to become hermaphrodites and males to have abnormally large testes. The
finding could mean perchlorate may affect humans' sexual development.
 
"We know from contaminants that mimic estrogen that they are linked to
both male and female cancers," said Frank von Hippel, the UAA professor
who supervised the work. "It's quite possible (contamination) could
cause an array of health problems among humans." 

There hasn't been a lot of testing for perchlorate contamination in
Alaska, but odds are it's here, von Hippel said. 

"We discovered the first evidence that perchlorate masculinizes both
male and female organisms," said Richard Bernhardt, a UAA doctoral
candidate who conducted the research. "This will open up a whole new
realm of study." 

Bernhardt's study, published recently in the journal Environmental
Toxicology and Chemistry, found that baby sticklebacks from contaminated
parents, hatched in contaminated water, did not grow up to engage in
normal mating behaviors. What scientists first thought were male fish
began to swell with eggs and turned out to be genetically female, but
they also contained sperm. Male fish looked dull compared with
uncontaminated fish and had enlarged gonads. 

The scientists need to do more research to determine how the fish became
super- masculine and what that means for people, Bernhardt said. The
changes could have been caused by the chemical acting as a male hormone,
disruption of hormonal processes or changes in the genes of the fish.
Sticklebacks and humans share about 70 percent of their genes. 

There is no indication the chemical is in drinking water, von Hippel
said. It's more likely it could have contaminated soil and water near
weapon storage, weapon testing and rocket-launch facilities, he said.
The chemical is most often found in states like California, where there
is military munitions storage, production and testing.
 
There are many defense sites in Alaska that have not yet been cleaned
up, von Hippel said. 
"For communities near those sites, perchlorate is one of suite of
contaminants potentially there." 
Marti Early, with the state Department of Environmental Conservation's
contaminated sites program, said the agency has tested a handful of
munitions sites in Alaska it suspects might be contaminated with
perchlorate. 
"They have not found any contaminant at levels of concern," she said. 

The Department of Defense has also done some recent testing at Fort
Richardson and Fort Wainwright, and no perchlorate was found, according
to the department's perchlorate- monitoring Web site. 
A July report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry recommended that
Elmendorf Air Force Base add perchlorate to the chemicals it tests for
in drinking water. 

James Weise, manager of the state's drinking water program, said he
wasn't aware of any specific testing for perchlorate at Elmendorf. The
state isn't required to test for the chemical. 
"There has been very limited munitions testing (in Alaska) and not near
any sources of drinking water," he said. 

Perchlorate has been found in the public drinking water supplies of more
than 11 million people in 26 states, according to a National Academy of
Sciences report last year. A study released last week by the CDC found
that even small amounts of perchlorate, which is a chemical salt,
inhibit the thyroid's ability to absorb iodine, slowing metabolism and
resulting in weight gain, fatigue and depression. Fetuses are at a
higher risk because of their small size and developing brains. 

Even if it isn't in Alaska's water or soil, it could be in milk and
produce, including organic varieties, shipped in from Outside, Bernhardt
said. 

"It's really widespread. It really hasn't been searched for thoroughly,"
he said. 

Daily News reporter Julia O'Malley can be reached at jomalley at adn.com or
257-43


Deborah L. DeBiasi
Email:   dldebiasi at deq.virginia.gov
WEB site address:  www.deq.virginia.gov
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Office of Water Permit Programs
Industrial Pretreatment/Toxics Management Program
Mail:          P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA  23218 (NEW!)
Location:  629 E. Main Street, Richmond, VA  23219
PH:         804-698-4028
FAX:      804-698-4032