“Male Bass Across Region Found to Be Bearing Eggs”, es el título de un nota del Washington Post de hoy, la bajada señala que crece la preocupación acerca de las fuentes de agua para consumo. Y, sí:

Abnormally developed fish, possessing both male and female characteristics, have been discovered in the Potomac River in the District and in tributaries across the region, federal scientists say — raising alarms that the river is tainted by pollution that drives hormone systems haywire.

The fish, smallmouth and largemouth bass, are naturally males but for some reason are developing immature eggs inside their sex organs. Their discovery at such widely spread sites, including one just upstream from the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, seems to show that the Potomac’s problem with “intersex” fish extends far beyond the West Virginia stream where they were first found in 2003.

The cause of the abnormalities is unknown, but scientists suspect a class of waterborne contaminants that can confuse animals’ growth and reproductive systems. These pollutants are poorly understood, however, leaving many observers with questions about what the problems in fish mean for the Potomac and the millions of people who take their tap water from it.

Es decir, el gobierno alerta acerca de la presencia de contaminantes que afectan el sistema hormonal de los peces provocándoles la mutación de ciertas características sexuales. La preocupación es mayor debido a que no se sabe cuáles son los agentes que afectan a los peces y cómo es que producen estos efectos. El río Potomac es la fuente del agua corriente de millones de personas en la capital norteamericana. De hecho, el estudio está hecho en una de las plantas de tratamiento de agua cercanas a DC.

Esta entrada fue publicada por Pablo el Wednesday 6 dUTC September dUTC 2006 a las 9:03 am y está archivada en A-Z, Contaminación, Estados Unidos, Washington, Washington Post. Podés dejar un comentario, o un trackback desde tu sitio.