Study Finds Frogs Near Agricultural Fields More Likely To Be Deformed
Thursday, August 2nd, 2007(Beyond Pesticides, August 2, 2007) According to the Associated Press (AP), a new study finds frogs in Vermont living near farms are more than twice as likely as those living elsewhere to have deformities like missing legs. Yale University ecologist David Skelly, Ph.D., told the AP he decided to look at Vermont frogs because the state has been a hot spot during the last 10 years for deformed frogs. “We went to all these wetlands and cataloged where the deformities were found, and what kind of landscapes seemed to pose higher risks, if any,” Dr. Skelly said. “The answer was, frogs growing up in proximity to agriculture were more than two times as likely to have deformities. This doesn’t say it is chemical pesticides, but you can’t credibly consider this problem of the frogs without at least evaluating whether pesticides are involved.” Richard Levey, a biologist with the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, said two common farm chemicals, atrazine and metolachlor, had been found in trace amounts in water from wetlands where deformed frogs had been found. But he told the AP that the concentrations were far below those thought to have any effect on aquatic life. Research by Tyrone […]
