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<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://news.mongabay.com/2016/04/a-sex-change-phenomenon-in-fish-suggests-there-is-something-in-the-water/">http://news.mongabay.com/2016/04/a-sex-change-phenomenon-in-fish-suggests-there-is-something-in-the-water/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#222222">Sex is getting complicated. Especially fish sex in New England. Scientists have recently discovered that fish in the northeastern U.S. are changing gender – and it’s not due to an identity
crisis. A new study published in <i>Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety</i> finds that male fish are turning into females – a phenomenon known as intersex – due to chemical pollution, specifically estrogenic endocrine disrupting chemicals or EEDCs. Researchers
have found evidence of intersex in 85 percent of smallmouth bass (<i>Micropterus dolomieu</i>) and 27 percent of largemouth bass
<i>(Micropterus salmoides</i>) tested on 19 National Wildlife Refuges from Maine to Virginia.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#222222">“It’s hard not to make the leap to ask if fish are effected, then are amphibians, birds, wildlife, and then are humans?” noted Luke Iwanowicz, lead scientist with U.S. Geological Survey
(USGS), on the study.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#222222">Iwanowicz first discovered examples of intersex in smallmouth bass in the south branch of the Potomac River while conducting research on another topic nearly 10 years ago. At the time,
he’d only known about the phenomenon from research that had been conducted by scientists in Europe.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#222222">“If we hadn’t stumbled upon this intersex no one would really be looking for it,” said Iwanowicz. Until this study, the prevalence and severity of intersex occurring in fish throughout
the northeast region of the U.S. remained largely unknown even though EEDCs have been a global environmental problem for over thirty years.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#222222">EEDCs originate from a number of sources, from naturally occurring estrogens such as the hormone-like phytoestrogens found in soy plants and soy-derived products to synthetic pharmaceuticals
such as some birth control pills, Bisphenol A (BPA) used in some plastic products, natural sex hormones in livestock manures, and agrochemicals such as pesticides, and herbicides.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#222222">At certain concentrations, estrogen, the primary female sex hormone, is capable of derailing the natural hormone system of fish, wildlife, and humans. This is a concern surrounding both
natural and synthetic sources alike. It can cause reduced sperm count and viability, reproductive failure, and population decline.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#222222">Dramatizing this, Karen Kidd, a biologist with the Canadian Rivers Institute at the University of New Brunswick, doused a pond with high concentrations of synthetic estrogen in 2007.
The result: fish populations crashed. Kidd’s study was an extreme case, says Iwanowicz, “but it’s proof that this stuff can have dramatic effects.” Intersex, which shows no outward physical signs, is just a precursor to these more detrimental outcomes and
potential population crashes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#222222">Over three years, U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service researchers worked together to determine the extent and severity of hormone disruption in and around 19 National
Wildlife Refuges in New England. They caught and processed 118 smallmouth bass and 173 largemouth bass<i>,
</i>all males. Small and largemouth bass were chosen because they serve as the ‘canaries in the coal mine’ for aquatic environments, showing evidence of the effects of estrogen chemical pollution before other species might.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#222222">Researchers from USFWS and USGS began field work in late August in Maine and followed the season south to Virginia in November. USFWS crews caught small and large mouth bass and brought
them to USGS field crews at stations along the banks of the water. Crews then euthanized the fish and took measurements and samples for further processing in the lab. These measurements allowed researchers to determine that intersex observations were not tied
to normal fish biology.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#222222">One goal of the study was to compare locations both inside protected areas and outside.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#222222">“I had the idea that refuges were in remote areas, heavily wooded, and non-utilized” said Iwanowicz who works for USGS. Instead, he found that while some of the refuges are in remote
locations accessible by rough dirt roads, others were in urban areas, one even under the flightpath of international airports. At many of these sites, fish were infested with internal parasites carried in by migratory birds, further dispelling Iwanowicz’s
perception that refuges are pristine environments.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#222222">“I didn’t expect to see the prevalence as high as it was in many of these [protected] locations,” said Iwanowicz. The team found that intersex was a common occurrence in the 19 refuges
studied with 85 percent of smallmouth and 27 percent of largemouth bass having female egg cells in their testis.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#222222">Researchers also found that EEDCs were present in all types of water bodies sampled — rivers, reservoirs, lakes, ponds, and effluent.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#222222">The varied and numerous sources of EEDCs make them difficult to track. Single-point sources, such as large buildings with obvious effluent pipes like waste water treatment plants and
paper pulp mills, are of major concern. For example, one active ingredient in birth control pills, a very potent estrogen, is known to pass right through waste water treatment plants.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#222222">“When that is the case, there are some pretty profound effects,” said Iwanowicz.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#222222">But non-point sources are also a concern, these include agriculture or sewer overflow from cities. For example, natural and synthetic hormones present in manures and herbicides that farmers
apply to crops in the spring, pulse off the landscape with spring rains and snow melt, potentially leaching EEDCs into the water table.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#222222">Scientists made note of both point-sources and non-point sources along the rivers, lakes, ponds, and reservoirs that served as study sites. But researchers never identified a single source
of estrogen pollution. In some study areas agriculture use was high, others were more urban, and many sites had a combination of both.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#222222">“It was beyond the scope of this work to do chemical analysis and try to point a finger at a particular source,” explained Iwanowicz, though he hopes follow up studies will allow for
that.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#222222">The study also suggests that smallmouth bass living in the northeastern U.S. have a greater likelihood of developing intersex than those in other regions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#222222">“It is possible that this reflects differences in sources and chemical mixtures present in the environment that lead to a higher risk exposure,” the researchers noted in the paper.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#222222">Currently, fish populations are not showing outward signs of decline that can be tied directly to EEDCs. And this is what worries Iwanowicz.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#222222">As is the case with the global decline in honeybee and amphibian populations, “It’s so hard to find a specific cause, probably because there isn’t one. There’s this additive effect of
lots of different things,” said Iwanowicz.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#222222">In addition to disrupting their hormone system, estrogen chemicals have subtle effects on fish’s immune systems. “An underlying concern [with these fish] is that if there are drastic
changes in the environment, as we are seeing with climate change, maybe the balance would be tipped,” said Iwanowicz. The layered impacts of hormone disruption, weakened immune systems, and environmental change could result in the population suddenly crashing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#222222">For this reason, Iwanowicz concludes that continued long-term monitoring of the situation is essential. His top priority is to determine the specific chemicals present in the water and
the time of year they are present in the National Wildlife Refuges where the initial study found significant prevalence of endocrine disruption in bass. This information could help inform water quality management practices, such as changing the time of year
farmers spread manure on crops so chemicals don’t end up in the water.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#222222">He says, “The bottom line is clearly there are chemicals getting in the water that are leading to these changes. Our thinking needs focus on how to keep them out of the water.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Laurie Tenace<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Environmental Specialist<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Waste Reduction Section<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Florida Department of Environmental Protection<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">2600 Blair Stone Road, MS4555<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Tallahassee, FL 32399<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:Laurie.Tenace@dep.state.fl.us">Laurie.Tenace@dep.state.fl.us</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">850.245.8759<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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