The troubling presence of cross-gender bass on the Potomac River could be an indicator of a threat to human health, a conservation group said Wednesday at a congressional hearing on the phenomenon.
The hearing follows recent publicity about a long-standing “intersex” problem, where large numbers of the male bass on the river are found with eggs in their testes. Scientists link the condition with endocrine-disrupting chemicals, or EDC’s, that throw off the animals’ hormones. Researchers, however, haven’t pinpointed any exact causes, or shown that it constitutes a danger to humans.
“One cannot deny that there is a potential threat to the millions of people who recreate, fish and draw their tap water from the Potomac River,” Ed Merrifield, executive director of Potomac Riverkeeper Inc., said in prepared remarks. “We know there are reproductive problems happening to the fish, and these affected fish are analogous to the canary in the coal mine.”
Intersex fish are perhaps the most bizarre problem plaguing the massive Potomac, which flows from West Virginia to the Chesapeake Bay.
The U.S. House Committee on Government Reform, chaired by Virginia’s 11th District Rep. Tom Davis, brought together representatives from about 10 government agencies and private groups to discuss possible causes and implications to human health.
The problem has conservation groups calling for further study of possible pollutants in the Potomac.
“Obviously, it’s something unnatural that tips us off to the fact that there is something wrong in the water,” said Nathan Lott, executive director of the Virginia Conservation Network. “We do think that, probably, this is indicative of a degraded environment and needs to be addressed.”
