A new study shows that frogs exposed to a common herbicide changed from male to female in about 10 percent of the cases, raising questions about the safety of atrazine for humans.
Atrazine, is one of the most commonly applied pesticides in the world, according to the study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences released Monday. And it's the most commonly detected pesticide contaminant of ground, surface and drinking water -- it's found in the waterways that feed the Chesapeake Bay.
The study calls it a "potent endocrine disruptor that is active at low, ecologically relevant concentrations."
The frogs in the study were chemically castrated and feminized by atrazine. Ten percent developed into females that produced viable eggs. The offspring were all male with decreased fertility, and "exemplify the role that atrzaine and other endocrine-disrupting pesticides likely plan in global amphibian declines," the study says.
It's one study, but what could this mean for humans?
The Washington Post reports today that the EPA, which reapproved atrazine's use in 2006, is taking another look at the public health implications.
Baltimore Sun file photo of Sandy Point State Park on the Chesapeake Bay