Frog Study Shows Atrazine Is a Sci-Fi Nightmare

by Chris Santiago · 2010-03-01 11:06:00 UTC
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There's plenty of evidence that atrazine, the most widely used herbicide in the United States, is dangerous. But a new study on the effects of atrazine on male African clawed frogs, published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that the compound is a science fiction nightmare that would have made Michael Crichton blush.

PNAS looked closely at frogs that were exposed to atrazine at the same levels that humans are currently exposed to it. This is where things start sounding like Jurassic Park: The study, led by Dr. Tyrone Hayes, found that some of the male frogs became "functional females,” or males with ovaries, capable of laying eggs.

Some of the male frogs that were exposed to atrazine didn't change sex like the cloned dinosaurs in the Hollywood blockbuster, but they were chemically castrated. These fellas were unable to attract the ladies, and when paired off with females, were extremely infertile and had low sperm counts. Many were also missing basic male features, like breeding glands.

The European Union banned atrazine in 2004, but 76 million pounds of it are still applied each year. While the Environmental Protection Agency reevaluates the risks of atrazine, more and more of the poisonous substance is seeping into our drinking water.

Photo Credit: Benimoto

Chris Santiago is a freelance writer and editor. He most recently worked at McGraw-Hill and "got green" at Oberlin College.
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