[Pharmwaste] Frogs exposed to herbicides don't know if they're Arthur or Martha

[DeBiasi,Deborah]

http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/frogs-exposed-to-herbicides-dont-
know-if-theyre-arthur-or-martha/2007/07/14/1183833835538.html#

Frogs exposed to herbicides don't know if they're Arthur or Martha

Study alert: A green tree frog.

Carmel Egan
July 15, 2007

AUSTRALIAN drinking water standards are under scrutiny after scientific
research linked commonly used herbicides to gender-bending in male
frogs.

The National Health and Medical Research Council has decided to reassess
its drinking water guidelines after miniscule traces of the herbicides
atrazine and simazine were found to turn the frogs into hermaphrodites -
creatures with male and female sex organs.

Australian guidelines allow up to 40 parts per billion (ppb) of atrazine
in drinking water before it is considered a public health risk. But
scientific studies have found male frogs grow ovaries when exposed to
the chemical at the miniscule level of 0.1ppb in water.

"The current Australian Drinking Water Guidelines specify that atrazine
should not be detected in drinking water, and that if it is detected
remedial action should be taken to stop contamination," said research
council spokesman Nigel Harding.

"The guidelines state that if present in drinking water, atrazine would
not be a health concern in humans unless the concentration exceeds
40ppb.

"The guidelines are currently under review."

Atrazine, which was banned across the European Union in 2003, has been
used for weed control in Australia for more than 25 years and is the
nation's second most commonly used agriculture chemical agent. It is
sprayed around canola fields, forestry plantations and sugar cane.

There is no legal requirement for atrazine users to notify water
authorities when the chemical is being sprayed.

Dr Tyrone Hayes, an associate professor of integrative biology at the
University of California, presented the findings on the impact of
atrazine on frogs at an address to the Australia Pesticides and
Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA), which oversees the continuing
registration of atrazine.

The APVMA's present environmental assessment of atrazine concludes that
it is "unlikely that atrazine, when used in accordance with the label
recommendations, will contaminate waterways to any extent likely to
present a hazard to the environment, or to human beings through the
consumption of contaminated drinking water".

However, it acknowledges that after storms levels of atrazine in water
will rise and may temporarily exceed the guidelines.

The manufacturer of atrazine, the Swiss corporation Syngenta, rejects Dr
Hayes's findings.


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