Potomac pollution problem - sex change chemicals (endocrine disruptors) present according to BBC and AP
[There's a bit of a problem with these articles, which I'll get to later.]
Apparently, the detection of the bad chemicals stems from a USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) investigation of the large number of fish deaths in 2003. When smallmouth bass were examined, it was found that ostensibly male fish also showed a female characteristic.
Inotherwords, transexual fish were and are swimming in the Potomac.
(Not sure if the female fish are showing a male characteristic. Maybe the chemicals affect hormones in only one way?)
And where do the chemicals come from?
Possibly any combination of the found pollutants: pesticides, flame retardants, personal-care products and a banned fungicide.
So should people be worried?
The short answer is "maybe".
You see, the problem is that what is affecting fish, or a particular species of fish, may not have an effect or the same effect on humans.
Moreover, the news reports overlook one crucial thing -- the Potomac River studied by the USGS is not what the news stories assume it is. The title of the study is A reconnaissance of for emerging contaminants in the South Branch Potomac River, Capacon River, and Williams River Basins, West Virginia, April-October 2004.
Indeed the maps in the report show areas that are in West Virginia, along the border with Virginia. They appear to run at right angles to the Potomac River that is normally thought of.
For the sake of argument, I'll call the latter, the DC Potomac and the former, the West Virginia or WV Potomac.
The two would seem to share the same headwaters, but seem to flow away from each other. (Think of the two perpendicular sides of a right-hand triangle.)
No doubt there is a connection between the two systems, but i don't know in what manner and to what extent. I'll leave that to the geologists and geographers.
In any event, the point is that the DC Potomac of the news reports is not the same as the area studied, the WV Potomac.