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To: Box-By-The-Riviera™ who wrote (55463)	11/3/2004 11:22:47 AM
From: RealMuLan	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74559

Joe, this is not what I heard on the radio, but similar staff<g> "Scientists still studying drugs' effect on fish" By Scott Streater Star-Telegram Staff Writer Baylor University researchers continue to find evidence that prescription drugs found in waterways may alter the behaviorial and sexual characteristics of fish, clams and other marine life. The researchers, led by Baylor toxicologist Bryan Brooks, have detected antidepressants and other pharmaceuticals in the biological tissue of bluegill, channel catfish and small clams in Pecan Creek, a Denton County tributary that flows into Lewisville Lake. They are attempting to determine whether the levels of antidepressants accumulating in the fish tissue could alter fish behavior by relaxing them to the point that they no longer fear predators and are no longer motivated to breed. The pharmaceuticals likely come from a Denton wastewater treatment plant, which during dry summer months serves as the main source of water into the creek. Traces of the drugs not absorbed into the body can pass through bodily fluids into wastewater treatment plants, which are not designed to filter out pharmaceuticals. "As far as the field studies go, we're at the stage now where we're trying to understand what compounds are out there, how long they stick around, and what is the potential for interraction" with the fish, clams and other aquatic life in the creek, Brooks said. Based on current information, he said he does not expect to see any impact to humans who might eat fish from the creek. But he said more study is needed because the effects of the chemicals in surface water is not well understood. Brooks' latest study follows research he led last year that found traces of fluoxetine hydrochloride -- the active ingredient in Prozac -- in the livers, muscles and brains of bluegills in Pecan Creek. When the study was released in October 2003, it garnered national attention. Marsha Black, an aquatic toxicologist at the University of Georgia at Athens, proclaimed it the first to discover that antidepressants in water can accumulate in biological tissue. Brooks has been studying the issue since the late 1990s. While a graduate student at the University of North Texas, he discovered that some male fish in Denton County were developing female characteristics because estrogen from prescription drugs is winding up in the water. The estrogen -- from birth controls pills, hormone replacement therapy and other sources -- could reduce the fish population by rendering some males unable to breed. Brooks said researchers are focusing on Pecan Creek because they believe it is representative of wastewater-dominated waterways and could be used as a model for other similar bodies of water, such as the Brazos River near Waco, which receives 15 million gallons of treated wastewater a day. Brooks' studies highlight a growing problem that remains unregulated. There are no standards for pharmaceuticals in the water. National studies suggest the contamination is common. The U.S. Geological Survey found 80 percent of the 139 streams sampled in 30 states, including Texas, contained small amounts of pharmaceutical drugs, hormones, steroids and personal-care products like perfumes, according to a 2002 study. Researchers are beginning to find fluoxetine in water sediment, where eggs are laid and young fish can come into contact with the chemicals, said Mike Focazio, a hydrologist for the Geological Survey's office of water quality. In the Potomac River, researchers recently discovered male bass producing eggs. The suspected cause: human hormones dumped in the river with processed sewage. The Environmental Protection Agency's top regional leader says it's time the federal government regulated antidepressants, hormones and steroids in surface water. "Water quality is our assignment, and it seems logical to me that Congress would ... consider whether or not (pharmaceuticals) need to be part of that assignment," said Richard Greene, administrator of the EPA's five-state Region 6 in Dallas. "It would occur to me that concerns regarding elements in the water are the kind of things we deal with under the Clean Water Act." This report includes material from The Associated Press. Scott Streater, (817) 390-7657 sstreater@star-telegram.com dfw.com

To: Box-By-The-Riviera™ who wrote (55463)	11/3/2004 11:45:24 AM
From: RealMuLan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

Here is more, enjoy!<g>. The positive side for this is maybe, just maybe, one day guys can get pregnant, LOL--"Conference tackles pharmaceutical water pollution" By GREG HARMAN BILOXI - Fish and frogs are changing sexes. Male alligators aren't developing working reproductive organs. And expectant mothers are more likely than ever to welcome a Geraldine into the world rather than a Gerald, as average sperm counts decline worldwide. "It's a conspiracy!" cracked one conference attendee sitting in on a session dealing with pharmaceutical pollution of water supplies, a special topic of this week's National Rural Water Association conference in Biloxi. The culprit of this gender-bending mayhem is thought to be the chemical revolution of the last century. Scientists are discovering that a wide range of chemicals - including pesticides, hormone therapy drugs, psychiatric drugs, steroids, flame retardant and cosmetics - all share troubling properties. Known as endocrine disrupters, the chemicals in these drugs slip unregulated through drinking water treatment plants and out of faucets around the country. They are expected to be the next major regulatory challenge for wastewater operators. "It's not so much things that cause cancer at high exposures. They're not the things that kill you," Jerry Biberstine, an environmental engineer for the NRWA, told audiences. "It's things that change you in a very slow way from what you should be." Endocrine disrupters affect the endocrine system, a complex system of glands and organs that secrete hormones into the human body to regulate reproduction and development. These include the thyroid, pancreas, pituitary, ovaries, testes and adrenal glands. In South Mississippi, the problem first came to light in a Sun Herald article about Moss Point student Anna Jordan, who took on the issue as part of her senior year research project in 2003 at Mercy Cross High School. With the help of wastewater officials in Jackson and Harrison counties, she found caffeine and estrogen in the treated wastewater of 100 percent of the samples collected. But the risks are still far from clear. After all, pesticides are thought to be the No. 1 source of endocrine disrupters. About 80 percent of adults and 90 percent of children in the U.S. test positive for pesticides, Biberstine said. But such contact may be made through the air and food supply, as well as water. Federal drinking water standards for one of the most problematic disrupters, atrazine, is 30 parts per billion, though developmental changes have been recorded in frogs as low as .2 ppb. And though a clearer understanding of the risks - and the ability of treatment plants to deal with the problem - is likely years away, there are plenty of reasons to be concerned, Biberstine said. "In looking at the data, you have some really severe health effects," he said. "This is a thing that's so important it could drive a change in the whole wastewater industry... It's going to impact almost everything we know in one way or another." Kamran Pahlavan, executive director of the Harrison County Wastewater District, said the treatment plant does not test for chemicals like atrazine in its discharge since the EPA does not regulate it. But he said there have been inquiries by the agency for samples to test for radioactive waste entering from area hospitals. That wave of regulation is coming, he said. "You're right. The pharmaceutical is next." sunherald.com