Posted by Jane Clark

From Defenders Rural Updates today:

FIELD TESTS FIND PESTICIDE DEFORMS FROGS

The results of a field study seem to confirm that the most widely
used pesticide in the United States can cause deformities in frogs.
Laboratory research published last April raised the possibility that
atrazine, which is widely used on corn, soybeans, orchards, golf
courses and lawns, causes hermaphroditism in male frogs. Last
week, the journal "Nature" published a followup study of the
incidence of frog deformities and atrazine levels at eight locations
from Iowa to Utah. The study found high levels of frog deformities
in watersheds with very low levels of atrazine, prompting
researcher Tyrone Hayes to postulate that "lower doses of the
chemical may actually be more harmful than higher doses. Heavy
exposures may trigger biological defenses, he said, that allow the
frogs to adapt, and in some cases thrive in watersheds contaminated
with concentrated farm runoff."  Industry-financed scientists have
scoffed at Hayes' conclusions, but the Environmental Protection
Agency is examining his data and other unpublished research.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/20
02/10/31/MN126536.DTL

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