contaminants

It's one of those increasingly frequent stories demonstrating that ecologically, the whole globe is connected -- and why that's not always a good thing:

Pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorinated biphenyls are among the contaminants hitching an airborne ride to the United States and other parts of the Western Hemisphere on dust storms blowing out of West Africa. That's according to new research presented at the just-completed annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.

[caption id="attachment_6259" align="alignleft" width="197" caption="This image from Aug. 5, 2005 shows African dust spreading west, north and south as the green and yellow. Courtesy Dr. Douglas Westphal, Navy Research Lab, Monterey, CA"][/caption]

The findings are worrisome because some of the chemicals carried on the trade winds originating in Africa are persistent in the environment, they bioaccumulate, and they are known to be toxic at low concentrations, said U.S. Geological Survey researcher Ginger Garrison, who presented the findings at the SETAC conference in New Orleans.

It's been known for some time now that dust storms blowing off North Africa make their way across the Atlantic and deposit fine particles of dust. I covered that in my Florida days, the Sunshine State being the U.S. region getting the highest concentrations of the superfine dust.

The dust travels as far west as the Rockies and as far north as New England, and tongues of it have reached out across Central America into the Pacific.

The U.S. Geological Survey just completed a nine-year study in streams and rivers across the U.S. looking for intersex fish - males with female characteristics, like production of eggs, according toAlaska Dispatch. Largemouth and smallmouth bass were most affected, with 33 percent and 18 percent being intersex across the country, respectively. The full reportby Christopher Joyce is on NPR's All Things Considered.

Intersex fish aren't a new phenomenon, but this the largest study of its kind to be conducted in U.S. waters, according to the article. Scientists blame industrial and pharmaceutical chemicals, as well as personal care products like deodorant, cosmetics and shampoo. Many of these chemicals are "endocrine disruptors" that affect an individual's delicate hormone system.

We don't yet know if these chemicals are affecting humans. Many products containing them are not labeledin the United States, according to Samuel S. Epstein in the Huffington Post. It's difficult to isolate what is affecting other animals, since multiple chemicals could be mixing to form chemical cocktails.

The effects aren't restricted to fish. A resident in Montana has been tracking mutated jaws and genitals in deer and other animals for more than 13 years.