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rupters.
Endocrine disrupters are compounds used in agricultural, household and industrial products. Personal care products use them, as do flame retardants. When ingested, these disrupters act like the female hormone estrogen.
That could explain what’s going on.
“We have no definite indication the fish kills and intersex fish are connected,” Blazer said. “I personally think they are. We are seeing many of the same chemicals that would cause both.”
What she can’t answer, however, is how long endocrine disrupters and intersex fish have been in the rivers. “We get the question are we finding it more now because there are more chemicals or because we’re looking more,” Blazer said. “That’s a good question.
“People really need to look at some historic data and compare that to the data we’ve compiled.”
Smallmouth and largemouth bass are members of the sunfish family. They are the big cousins of crappie, bluegills, and the several varieties of sunfish proper.
One of the traits all share is the building of nests for the springtime spawn. That, Blazer said, might be a key to unlocking the dilemma’s door.
“The most sensitive life stages are the very young,” she said. “We want to look at the sediment in the nests. That might be when bass are getting exposed.”
Bass also are the top predators in their food chain. It could be a process of the chemicals accumulating in the lower levels of the food chain. As top predators, bass essentially would be ingesting a concentrated dose.
“It’s called bio accumula
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