We’ve learned that chemicals used on farms, on lawns, in industry, and in everyday products are entering our rivers and streams. Some of these chemicals, called endocrine disruptors, are mutating aquatic life: some male fish are growing ovaries and producing eggs. The effect endocrine disruptors have on humans is not yet clear, but we get our water from the same source the fish do-­‐-­‐the Potomac River. Intersex fish are our canaries – warning us to be concerned about our drinking water supplies. 

 

Endocrine disruptors are colorless, orderless chemicals that are found in everything from cosmetics to pesticides to pharmaceuticals. These invisible pollutants slip through the screening process--and into our water supply--without ever being tested. They are made to work in very small doses and they mimic hormones found in biological life forms, causing mutations such as the intersex phenomenon and lower fertility rates in male smallmouth bass and other aquatic animals.

Our Federal, state, and local governments are mandated to provide basic services like safe, clean drinking water. In order to guarantee that our water is safe, we must stop these pollutants from entering our waterways in the first place, and we must study, test for, and--if necessary--remove endocrine disruptors in our water supply.