Assessing the Effects of Endocrine Disrupters (EDCs) from a St. Paul Sewage Treatment Plant on Sperm Viability and Testicular Development in Fish: Adding a New Dimension to an Existing Project (original) (raw)
compounds found in the effluent of the St. Paul (Minnesota) Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) experience sex reversal and suffer from reduced sperm viability as a result of exposure to endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs). This study was part of a larger effort to identify the effects of endocrine disrupters on the reproductive health of fish populations. EDCs are man-made or naturally occurring compounds that are found in the environment and disrupt hormonal pathways causing harm to the exposed organisms or their offspring. Previous studies in the United Kingdom have demonstrated that STP effluent is resulting in feminized male fish with abnormal reproductive organs. One defining characteristic of male fish exposed to STP effluent in the UK, as well as wild carp and walleye captured below the St. Paul STP (our study site), is that they contain high concentrations of vitellogenin (VTG: female egg-yolk protein) in their blood. However, no study has examined whether there might be a corre...