Sludge Watch ==> Municipalities (sewage) and Farming - Blamed for Intersex Fish

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:
Sierra Club is asking for a ban on some chemicals like  Nonylphenol in 
detergent agents.  Canada and the European Union have already restricted the 
use of this detergent agent.   These chemicals are destroying fish stocks, 
and likely have reproductive effects elsewhere in the food chain.

Here is what Proctor and Gamble says:
http://www.pgperspectives.com/en_UK/productingredient/nonylphenolnonylphenolethoxylates_en.html

..................................
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jQiEWDSYr3huz89ovuVQH3ZN0XBgD8ULPIVG0


'Human Activity' Blamed for Fish Ills
Washington Post - 9 hours ago
Research links farming, population to intersex fish
WDBJ7.com


BALTIMORE (AP) — A form of intersex fish, which have both male and female 
traits, were found more often by researchers in areas with more farming and 
population density, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey.

So-called intersex fish have been found in U.S. waters over the past decade, 
including the southern Great Lakes, the Potomac River watershed, which 
includes the Eastern Panhandle in West Virginia, and the Southern California 
coast. The cause isn't fully understood, but researchers suspect wastewater 
and farm runoff polluted with chemicals that stimulate estrogen production 
are at fault.

U.S. Geological Survey researchers found the frequency of male smallmouth 
bass with immature female eggs in their testes was highest where farming is 
most intense and where human population density is highest. The study also 
found the prevalence of the form of intersex, known as testicular oocytes, 
was greatest just before and during the spring spawning season.

The results were published in the current edition of the Journal of Aquatic 
Animal Health.

USGS scientist Vicki Blazer, who led the study, said smallmouth bass were 
collected from the Shenandoah River, the South Branch of the Potomac, and 
the Potomac River basin.

"On the Shenandoah, rates of intersex were highest, ranging from 80-100 
percent intersex," Blazer said.

In the Potomac basin, 75 percent of fish had testicular oocytes in the most 
heavily farmed and populated areas, dropping to 14 percent to 35 percent in 
less farmed and developed sites.

In the South Branch, percentages ranged from 47 percent to 77 percent, 
increasing along with farming and population, the researchers said.

Last year, the Sierra Club asked the Environmental Protection Agency to ban 
the use of certain toxic chemical compounds in industrial and household 
detergents because the ingredients are believed to cause male fish to 
develop female characteristics. The Sierra Club also asked the Environmental 
Protection Agency to bar the use of these products in areas where wastewater 
treatment plants aren't equipped to remove nonylphenol ethoxylates, or NPEs.

The compounds, derived from petroleum, are used mainly in detergents but 
also in paper manufacturing and flame retardants.

NPEs are more tightly restricted in Canada and Europe than in the United 
States, which issued water-quality limits for the key ingredient, 
nonylphenol, or NP, in December 2005. Detergent manufacturers Procter & 
Gamble of Cincinnati and Unilever have substituted other chemicals in their 
products, and Wal-Mart is seeking to phase NPEs out of its stores by 
rewarding companies that find alternatives.

On the Net:
Sierra Club: http://www.sierraclub.org
Environmental Protection Agency: http://www.epa.gov
Alkylphenols & Ethoxylates Research Council: http://www.aperc.org