CONTAMINATED WATER AND AUTISM
I always said: "It's the Water...".
And, I wouldn't be surprised if it's a cause of Autism too, instead of now
pinpointing obese women, as they do many other things as the cause of Autism.
Even though obese women may hold more toxins, as obese men would also, thin
women have Autistic children too. Why not target the the most outstanding and
possible cause, or one of the possible causes?
JANUARY 30, 2016,
10:06 PM LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, JANUARY 31, 2016, 9:25 AM
Sexual mutations in fish
in protected waters raise alarm
BY SCOTT FALLON
STAFF
WRITER |
THE
RECOR
Male fish in two of North Jersey’s
most protected areas have developed female sexual characteristics, suggesting
parts of the Wallkill River in Sussex County and the Great Swamp in Morris
County are contaminated with chemicals that throw hormone systems radically
off.
Immature eggs were found growing in the testes of male bass
caught at both national wildlife refuges, according to a recently published
report by the U.S. Geological Survey. The reason the fish are developing female
reproductive traits is unknown, but the research team says the bass were likely
exposed to chemicals found in everything from agricultural runoff to
hormone-based pharmaceuticals that cannot be filtered by sewage treatment
plants.
Researchers don’t know if there are any adverse health
implications for those who eat smallmouth bass from the Wallkill, a popular
fishing spot in both New Jersey and New York. Fishing is not
allowed in the Great
Swamp.
The findings have alarmed many clean-water advocates, who say
the problem may be more widespread considering that most fish in North Jersey
swim in waters that are even more likely to be tainted than the Wallkill and Great Swamp,
which are surrounded by protected land.
“It’s pretty sad when a place you consider pristine has a
problem like this,” said Bill Sheehan, head of the Hackensack Riverkeeper
advocacy group. “If this doesn’t show we have a water problem in this state, I
don’t know what does.”
Little is known about how and why the gender transformations
happen, but it appears to be a growing phenomenon worldwide. Male fish with
female sex traits have been found across the globe, from small streams in Ireland and the Caspian Sea in Russia, to the Potomac River in Washington,
D.C., and the Delaware River between New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Scientists suspect chemicals seeping into the waters are to
blame for disrupting the hormones of the fish. The runoff from herbicides and
pesticides and waste from farm animals carries estrogenic and anti-androgenic
chemicals, which inhibit development of male characteristics while spurring
development of female traits in some fish species. Sewage plants add to the
hormone mix because they are not capable of filtering pharmaceuticals, like
birth control bills, from human waste, or other medications that are flushed
down the toilet, before the treated effluent is released back into waterways.
Largemouth bass
The Wallkill and Great
Swamp were among 19
national wildlife refuges in the Northeast tested over the past seven years by
the U.S. Geological Survey, whose results were published in a scientific
journal in December. Researchers tested almost 300 fish and found that 85
percent of male smallmouth bass and 27 percent of male largemouth bass tested
were “intersex” or had female reproductive characteristics.
All five of the smallmouth bass caught from the Wallkill were
intersex. They were taken about 3 miles downstream from Sussex County’s
wastewater treatment plant. One of the 16 largemouth bass researchers caught in
a pond in the Great
Swamp had characteristics
of both genders. Researchers said there had been “historical evidence of
pesticide storage and use” nearby.
“I truly didn’t know what to expect going into this, but it’s
been a wake-up call to me,” said Luke Iwanowicz, a research biologist for the
agency and lead author of the report. “I always thought wildlife refuges were
remote areas that were protected sanctuaries.”
The 7,700-acre Great Swamp is one of New Jersey’s oldest protected areas. It was
made a national wildlife refuge in 1960 and is a popular hiking spot and field
trip destination.
The Wallkill refuge was established in 1990 to help stem
pollution and preserve the area that surrounds a 10-mile stretch of the river
in Sussex County near the state border. Those
efforts have helped the Wallkill remain a popular fishing spot in New Jersey for bass and
other species. The river begins at Lake
Mohawk and flows northeasterly into Orange and Ulster
counties in New York before emptying 90 miles
away into the Hudson River.
While the Wallkill doesn’t have significant industrial pollution
entering its waters, unlike the Hackensack or Passaic rivers, some say
it may be more susceptible to the kind of hormone disrupting chemicals that may
affect the fish. Agricultural runoff and wastewater are the river’s major
pollution sources.
“It’s not a matter of a giant chemical company discharging into
the Wallkill like you see on ‘The Simpsons,’” said Jason West, executive
director of the Wallkill Watershed Alliance, a New York group formed last year to help
restore the river to health. “This is from everyday use from agriculture and
our wastewater plants.”
No threat announced
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and other
agencies have launched public campaigns discouraging people from disposing
their medication in the toilet. But consumed medication that is not broken down
or absorbed by the body often enters the waste stream through human waste.
“How to address the fact that wastewater treatment plants don’t
capture all of these chemicals before discharging their effluent remains the
subject of many studies that are looking at ecological impacts, relative health
risks, and potential costs of various treatment technologies,” said Larry
Hajna, a DEP spokesman.
State officials do not think there is a public health threat,
saying it’s unlikely anglers consume large amounts of smallmouth bass, but acknowledge
that research into the issue is in its infancy.
“The most recent USGS study adds to our knowledge of this issue
and impacts to ecological systems, but the scientific community overall still
has more questions than answers on human health impacts,” Hajna said.
Although the sample size is small at the two New Jersey sites, the fact that all fish
caught in the Wallkill were mutated has prompted many environmentalists to call
for a larger study to determine the cause, see if there are health implications
and help develop possible solutions.
“We now know that it’s a problem, but there are still many
unanswered questions,” said Dan Shapely of the Hudson Riverkeeper, who monitors
water quality in the Wallkill, a tributary. “Essentially it’s an uncontrolled
experiment. We have so many chemicals out there that can contribute to this.”
Rich Phelps, 64, spent much of his life fishing the Wallkill
near his family farm in Orange
County until about 10
years ago, when he started pulling fish that looked sick.
“There were tumors on them, parasites on them, some with nasty
looking marks on them,” he said.
Phelps said the USGS study was too limited and more fish need to
be studied. “I want to know what’s in the Wallkill,” he said. “I want to know
what’s gone wrong there.”
Email: fallon@northjersey.com
Global issue
Male fish exhibiting female sexual characteristics have
turned up in waterways across the globe, including the Wallkill
River and Great
Swamp in New Jersey. Others include:
- Susquehanna, Delaware
and Ohio rivers in Pennsylvania
- Potomac River in Washington, D.C.
- Boulder Creek, Colo.
- Ohio River, Ohio
- Patuxent River, Md.
- Seneca River, N.Y.
- Concord River, Mass.
- St. Croix River, Maine
- Susquehanna River, Md.
- Caspian Sea, Russia
- Yellow River, China
