Thursday, March 11, 2010

Demasculinization of frogs (and men?) by pesticides

Male sperm count has dropped dramatically over the past 50 years (~50% in some areas) and one of the prime suspects is estrogen like compounds, such as the pesticide atrazine, that have been introduced into the environment. Atrazine is one of the most commonly applied agricultural pesticides in the world (and, curiously, male sperm count has dropped more in agricultural than in metropolitan areas). Hays et al now show that at levels of only 2.5 parts per billion it can completely feminize amphibian males.

2 comments:

  1. I have a supposition regarding additive in pet foods which extend shelf life in proteins being
    the primary cause of renal and kidney failure in pets.. if you care to join me in a venture that I am embarking upon I would love to hear your thoughts. I like your POV and the intelligence of your content which I learned of from one of my followers on twitter where I am known as @poochclub, Im a former Med student convert 2 behavioral studies + communication design. What about bees.. and what is happening to the bee population?
    kind regards, Bridget de Socio

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  2. bridget@sociox.com6:56 PM

    Hello Deric, I saw this piece as a result of follower on twitter where I am @poochclub. After defecting from med school into behavioral studies and communication design this post is of relevance to some recent work I am embarking upon. I was wondering what your POV is regarding my belief that : additives used to extend shelf life in proteins in canned pet food are the primary cause of to renal and kidney failure in pets. I am an animal advocate and would love to converse if you are interested sharing some thoughts ...even swarm intelligence and social media as a biological system. kind regards, Bridget de Socio

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