JP Fitness Forums - Personal Training - View Single Post - Skepticism, hermaphroditic frogs, and a lucrative herbicide

gardener · 10-28-2003, 12:11 PM

I resist the label “cynic,” but I am happy to be counted as a member of a merry band of like-minded skeptics. I am highly suspicious of anyone who entreats me to believe x or y, when believing x or y would benefit the person who entreats me.

For those who might be interested in pursuing an interesting case study, I present some items, based on a long story, “The Price of Research,” in the October 31 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education. Unfortunately the CHE website is password-protected, but I provide some links to other sources at the end of this post.

Factual Assertions # 1: The Swiss company Syngenta manufactures a herbicide called atrazine. Although it’s recently been banned in some European countries, it is widely used in agriculture in the U. S. Some 60 million pounds of the stuff are sprayed annually on American agricultural land, particularly in the Midwest. Some of it runs off into streams and aquifers. Atrazine has been in use worldwide for the past 40 years.

Factual Assertion # 2: Also worldwide, populations of frogs and other amphibians have been in serious decline for several decades.

To be in the news very shortly: the US Environmental Protection Agency will issue a ruling on whether or not to reapprove atrazine for use in American agriculture. The economic stakes are vast, almost astronomical. It is in the interests of Syngenta and several other parties to assert that atrazine is entirely beneficial.

But a research professor at Berkeley, Tyrone Hayes, who is a specialist in amphibians, believes that there is evidence that very, very tiny amounts of atrazine are associated with deleterious laryngeal development of male frogs; he also asserts that much, much tinier amounts of atrazine are associated with hermaphroditic reproductive defects in male frogs, in which they begin producing estrogen, start making eggs. If Hayes is correct in his findings, there may be serious health implications for human beings, although without further research this assertion is merely suggestive or speculative.

Hayes was on a panel of scientists appointed by Syngenta to study the effects of atrazine on amphibians, but the company was less than enthusiastic about some of his findings, he resigned, continued his research, and published some of his research. Hayes is now being attacked by representatives of Syngenta, by Fox News, and by Midwestern corn farmers associations.

Inquiring minds want to know: should we be skeptical about Tyrone Hayes' claims that atrazine has deleterious effects on the sexual development of male frogs, and accept Syngenta's claims that atrazine is basically harmless? Or vice versa? Or some other possibility?

Some links, if you want to look into this issue.

First, a journalistic overview--
_________
BBC News 15 April 2002
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1930658.stm
______

Second, a long, peer-reviewed piece by Hates and a brief account of his work in Nature. You may want to skip the longer piece for now.
----------------

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences April 16, 2002
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/99/8/5476

Nature, October 31, 2002
http://www.nature.com/nsu/021028/021028-7.html

________________

Then, a press relese from the Natural Resources Defense Council, an activist organization.
________________

Natural Resources Defense Counsil
http://www.nrdc.org/health/pesticides/natrazine.asp
________________

And finally, in the interests of "fairness and balance," the Syngenta website, with many links touting atrazine, including something hilarious from Fox News, complete with links to herbal sex aids.
________________

Syngenta’s website
http://www.syngentacropprotection-us...ex.asp?nav=TTH

Fox News
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,89913,00.html
________________

I haven’t run across it yet, but there must somewhere be some speculation that atrazine is connected with a decline in human sperm numbers in the average ejaculation, since Fox wants to blame it on tight underwear instead.

10-28-2003, 12:11 PM	#1 (permalink)
gardener Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: southern New Jersey Posts: 3,142 My Profile	I resist the label “cynic,” but I am happy to be counted as a member of a merry band of like-minded skeptics. I am highly suspicious of anyone who entreats me to believe x or y, when believing x or y would benefit the person who entreats me. For those who might be interested in pursuing an interesting case study, I present some items, based on a long story, “The Price of Research,” in the October 31 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education. Unfortunately the CHE website is password-protected, but I provide some links to other sources at the end of this post. Factual Assertions # 1: The Swiss company Syngenta manufactures a herbicide called atrazine. Although it’s recently been banned in some European countries, it is widely used in agriculture in the U. S. Some 60 million pounds of the stuff are sprayed annually on American agricultural land, particularly in the Midwest. Some of it runs off into streams and aquifers. Atrazine has been in use worldwide for the past 40 years. Factual Assertion # 2: Also worldwide, populations of frogs and other amphibians have been in serious decline for several decades. To be in the news very shortly: the US Environmental Protection Agency will issue a ruling on whether or not to reapprove atrazine for use in American agriculture. The economic stakes are vast, almost astronomical. It is in the interests of Syngenta and several other parties to assert that atrazine is entirely beneficial. But a research professor at Berkeley, Tyrone Hayes, who is a specialist in amphibians, believes that there is evidence that very, very tiny amounts of atrazine are associated with deleterious laryngeal development of male frogs; he also asserts that much, much tinier amounts of atrazine are associated with hermaphroditic reproductive defects in male frogs, in which they begin producing estrogen, start making eggs. If Hayes is correct in his findings, there may be serious health implications for human beings, although without further research this assertion is merely suggestive or speculative. Hayes was on a panel of scientists appointed by Syngenta to study the effects of atrazine on amphibians, but the company was less than enthusiastic about some of his findings, he resigned, continued his research, and published some of his research. Hayes is now being attacked by representatives of Syngenta, by Fox News, and by Midwestern corn farmers associations. Inquiring minds want to know: should we be skeptical about Tyrone Hayes' claims that atrazine has deleterious effects on the sexual development of male frogs, and accept Syngenta's claims that atrazine is basically harmless? Or vice versa? Or some other possibility? Some links, if you want to look into this issue. First, a journalistic overview-- _________ BBC News 15 April 2002 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1930658.stm ______ Second, a long, peer-reviewed piece by Hates and a brief account of his work in Nature. You may want to skip the longer piece for now. ---------------- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences April 16, 2002 http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/99/8/5476 Nature, October 31, 2002 http://www.nature.com/nsu/021028/021028-7.html ________________ Then, a press relese from the Natural Resources Defense Council, an activist organization. ________________ Natural Resources Defense Counsil http://www.nrdc.org/health/pesticides/natrazine.asp ________________ And finally, in the interests of "fairness and balance," the Syngenta website, with many links touting atrazine, including something hilarious from Fox News, complete with links to herbal sex aids. ________________ Syngenta’s website http://www.syngentacropprotection-us...ex.asp?nav=TTH Fox News http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,89913,00.html ________________ I haven’t run across it yet, but there must somewhere be some speculation that atrazine is connected with a decline in human sperm numbers in the average ejaculation, since Fox wants to blame it on tight underwear instead. __________________ "It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in an argument." William Gibbs McAdoo. US Vice-President under Woodrow Wilson.