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pearl
medicine forum Guru Wannabe
Joined: 22 May 2005
Posts: 268
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 Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2005 5:50 pm Post subject:
Sexy Beef: Most Disgusting Sprol Post Yet
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Saturday, May 14, 2005
Sexy Beef: Most Disgusting Sprol Post Yet
If you've ever driven between San Francisco and Los Angeles, and you were
in too much of a hurry to take the coastal route, you've probably smelled this
place before you saw it. This is what 120,000 cattle look like from space.
You don't need any fancy chemistry lessons or to imagine deadly radiation or
dioxins slowly building up in your system here. One glance tells you that this
is pretty disgusting.
http://www.sprol.com/2005/05/sexy-beef-most-disgusting-sprol-post.aspx
It's what goes into these animals that's the really gross part.
This is the gigantic cattle feedlot in Coalinga, California along Interstate 5.
Aside from the state prison, it's the largest employer in west Fresno County,
employing 1,500 persons in the feedlot, slaughterhouse, and fancy steakhouse.
Vertical integration.
A feedlot is a confined area for controlled feeding of animals. This one is
the largest in California and has several characteristics that are typical of
the modern cattle feedlot in the United States. The cattle here are bound
for places like McDonald's, California Safeway stores, and precooked
pot roasts and TV dinners. Lock 'em in. Fatten 'em up.
You'll note that there is no shade, shelter, or grass on the ground. Cattle
are ruminants, meaning that they would primarily graze on grass. Cattle in
feedlots, however, are fed grain, and are often implanted with a series of
steroid hormone implants inserted under the skin behind their ears.
It makes them grow faster
< http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4035/is_200404/ai_n9390468 >
and can increase profit by $80 per steer. That this has the effect of poisoning
the water
< http://www.mindfully.org/Water/2003/Feedlot-Alters-Fish-Hormones14dec03.htm >,
as well as every burger eater who snarfs one, is a fact that millions of dollars
per year go to supressing < http://www.beefusa.org/theassociation.aspx >.
After all, at 120,000 heads, we're talking almost ten million dollars extra,
every few months. Just for a few steroids. Just for this lot. They're
performance enhancing! Not okay for pro baseball but just fine for your
8 year old.
Cattle have four stomachs designed to process the cellulose fibers in grasses.
Grain mixed with garbage like chicken feathers and bone meal really isn't
what these beasts are supposed to be eating. The food combined with
regular doses of antibiotics cause the cattle to put on so much weight that
their internal organs fall out and have to be stuffed back in by the ranch
hands. No veterinary care is provided.
I spent countless hours stuffing 25lb of cow back insidethe animal and
then sewing the wound, the whole force of a 600lb heifer straining against
me. source http://tinyurl.com/9xzef .
All of that homones, antibiotics, and other garbage in the meat isn't very
good for people. It turns out that the hormones in the meat cause estrogen
levels to rise in people who eat it
< http://www.fas.usda.gov/itp/policy/hormone2.html >.
Even though the EU won't allow it, the USDA insists that the rise in
hormone levels is safe. Especially for children.
Do any of your friends have daughters who have experienced premature
sexual development? You'd better not ask them.
Many doctors maintain that things like elevated levels of oestradiol,
a powerful sex hormone, in your beef can cause all sorts of problems,
such as the increased levels of cancers in the prostate, breast, and ovaries.
Incidence of these diseases have been rising since the 1950s as beef
consumption, heart disease, and obesity have all skyrocketed.
http://www.sprol.com/2005/05/sexy-beef-most-disgusting-sprol-post.aspx
Coalinga, CA 93210
USA
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=coalinga,+ca&ll=36.303763,-120.268922&spn=0.027680,0.036521&t=k&hl=en
{zoom in and take a look around...} |
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Sbharris[atsign]ix.netcom
medicine forum Guru
Joined: 28 Apr 2005
Posts: 1218
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| Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2005 6:27 pm Post subject:
Re: Sexy Beef: Most Disgusting Sprol Post Yet
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| Quote: | All of that homones, antibiotics, and other garbage in the meat isn't very good for people. It turns out that the hormones in the meat cause estrogen levels to rise in people who eat it
http://www.fas.usda.gov/itp/policy/hormone2.html >. |
COMMENT:
Do you read your own cites? This one certainly does not say that. I
challenge you to prove it. Given that the amounts of hormone involved
are far less than you'd find in other foods (eggs) and also far less
than the body produces, even before puberty, this seems highly
unlikely. So show your cites.
| Quote: | Even though the EU won't allow it, the USDA insists that the rise in hormone levels is safe. Especially for children.
|
What rise in hormone levels? You presume that which is not in
evidence.
| Quote: | Do any of your friends have daughters who have experienced premature sexual development? You'd better not ask them.
|
Age of menarche is dropping in the EU as well, as it does in all
developed countries, no matter how they raise their cattle. Explain
that.
This is a function of weight gain and total food intake. It DOES happen
more frequently, but only because we have fatter teenagers, no
hormone-fed teenagers. It would happen just as much with junkfood fed
girls no matter what kind of beef they ate.
BMC Pediatr. 2003 Apr 30;3(1):3.
The relation of menarcheal age to obesity in childhood and adulthood:
the Bogalusa heart study.
Freedman DS, Khan LK, Serdula MK, Dietz WH, Srinivasan SR, Berenson GS;
Bogalusa heart study.
Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA. DFreedman@cdc.gov
BACKGROUND: Several studies have shown that girls who undergo menarche
at a relatively young age tend to be more obese as adults. However,
because childhood (pre-menarcheal) levels of weight and height are
associated with an earlier menarche, the increased prevalence of adult
obesity among early maturers may
largely reflect the persistence of childhood obesity into adulthood.
METHODS: We examined these interrelationships among 1179 girls (65%
white, 35% black) who were examined as children (mean age, 9 y),
adolescents, and adults (mean age, 26
y) in the Bogalusa Heart Study. RESULTS: Both white and black women who
reported that they underwent menarche before age 12 y had, on average,
higher adult levels of weight (+10 kg), body mass index (BMI, +4 kg/m2)
and skinfold thicknesses (+6 mm) than did women who underwent menarche
after age 13.5 y.
However, relatively fat children tended to undergo menarche earlier
than did thinner children, with each standard deviation increase in
pre-menarcheal BMI increasing the odds of early menarche (<12 y) by
approximately 2-fold. Stratified and regression analyses indicated that
(1) adult obesity was more strongly associated with childhood obesity
than with menarcheal age, and (2)
about 60% to 75% of the apparent effect of menarcheal age was due to
the influence of childhood obesity on both menarcheal age and adult
obesity. CONCLUSIONS: Although additional longitudinal studies are
needed, it is likely that the importance of early menarche in adult
obesity has been overestimated.
Most of apparent influence of menarcheal age on adult obesity is
attributable to the association of childhood obesity with both
menarcheal age and adult obesity.
PMID: 12723990 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] |
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Guest
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| Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2005 7:13 pm Post subject:
Re: Sexy Beef: Most Disgusting Sprol Post Yet
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Sbharris[atsign]ix.netcom.com wrote:
| Quote: | All of that homones, antibiotics, and other garbage in the meat isn't very good for people. It turns out that the hormones in the meat cause estrogen levels to rise in people who eat it
http://www.fas.usda.gov/itp/policy/hormone2.html >.
COMMENT:
Do you read your own cites? This one certainly does not say that. I
challenge you to prove it. Given that the amounts of hormone involved
are far less than you'd find in other foods (eggs) and also far less
than the body produces, even before puberty, this seems highly
unlikely. So show your cites.
Even though the EU won't allow it, the USDA insists that the rise in hormone levels is safe. Especially for children.
What rise in hormone levels? You presume that which is not in
evidence.
Do any of your friends have daughters who have experienced premature sexual development? You'd better not ask them.
Age of menarche is dropping in the EU as well, as it does in all
developed countries, no matter how they raise their cattle. Explain
that.
This is a function of weight gain and total food intake. It DOES happen
more frequently, but only because we have fatter teenagers, no
hormone-fed teenagers. It would happen just as much with junkfood fed
girls no matter what kind of beef they ate.
|
It's a function of hormonal bioactivity Herr Doktor.
You do your assigned job quite well Harris. It paid off to take the
fall and sell out to become a "Dr." didn't it?
I know your story Harris. Poor boy wants the wealth that being a doctor
would provide but doesn't have the money for med school. Unnamed
patrons supply the living accomodations, a car, tuition, etc., and a
stipend. The fix is in and you didn't do anything except coast along
until the prof. got scared of sliding you through and demanded you
actually do some work to earn your passing marks.
Well, you did it Harris and now you'll spend the rest of your life
paying them back.
What *is* a soul worth these days?......30 pieces of silver?
| Quote: |
BMC Pediatr. 2003 Apr 30;3(1):3.
The relation of menarcheal age to obesity in childhood and adulthood:
the Bogalusa heart study.
Freedman DS, Khan LK, Serdula MK, Dietz WH, Srinivasan SR, Berenson GS;
Bogalusa heart study.
Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA. DFreedman@cdc.gov
BACKGROUND: Several studies have shown that girls who undergo menarche
at a relatively young age tend to be more obese as adults. However,
because childhood (pre-menarcheal) levels of weight and height are
associated with an earlier menarche, the increased prevalence of adult
obesity among early maturers may
largely reflect the persistence of childhood obesity into adulthood.
METHODS: We examined these interrelationships among 1179 girls (65%
white, 35% black) who were examined as children (mean age, 9 y),
adolescents, and adults (mean age, 26
y) in the Bogalusa Heart Study. RESULTS: Both white and black women who
reported that they underwent menarche before age 12 y had, on average,
higher adult levels of weight (+10 kg), body mass index (BMI, +4 kg/m2)
and skinfold thicknesses (+6 mm) than did women who underwent menarche
after age 13.5 y.
However, relatively fat children tended to undergo menarche earlier
than did thinner children, with each standard deviation increase in
pre-menarcheal BMI increasing the odds of early menarche (<12 y) by
approximately 2-fold. Stratified and regression analyses indicated that
(1) adult obesity was more strongly associated with childhood obesity
than with menarcheal age, and (2)
about 60% to 75% of the apparent effect of menarcheal age was due to
the influence of childhood obesity on both menarcheal age and adult
obesity. CONCLUSIONS: Although additional longitudinal studies are
needed, it is likely that the importance of early menarche in adult
obesity has been overestimated.
Most of apparent influence of menarcheal age on adult obesity is
attributable to the association of childhood obesity with both
menarcheal age and adult obesity.
PMID: 12723990 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] |
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Sbharris[atsign]ix.netcom
medicine forum Guru
Joined: 28 Apr 2005
Posts: 1218
|
| Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2005 8:30 pm Post subject:
Re: Sexy Beef: Most Disgusting Sprol Post Yet
|
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| Quote: | It's a function of hormonal bioactivity Herr Doktor.
|
And what evidence is there that children eating hormone-treated beef,
and opposed to non-hormone treated beef, have more "hormonal
bioactivity."
| Quote: | You do your assigned job quite well Harris. It paid off to take the fall and sell out to become a "Dr." didn't it?
|
No. I've spent most of my career with about as much money as Dr.
Zoidberg.
| Quote: | I know your story Harris.Poor boy wants the wealth that being a doctor would provide but doesn't have the money for med school.
|
Poor guess. I was middle class. I had to borrow money for medical
school.
| Quote: | Unnamed patrons supply the living accomodations, a car, tuition, etc., and a stipend.
|
COMMENT:
LOL. Don't I wish! My total list of patrons is: GSL, NDSL. Not only
did they have names, but they wanted their money back with interest!
NDSL didn't want quite the rates of Guido and Vinny, but close enough.
| Quote: | The fix is in and you didn't do anything except coast along until the prof. got scared of sliding you through and demanded you actually do some work to earn your passing marks.
|
COMMENT:
Now you've taken all leave of reality. But it's entertaining. I wonder
how many people would actually need to be paid off for somebody to
become a board certified licensed California physician, without doing
the work? The mind reels. But here you are, suggesting it. Which is
an index with how far out of contact with reality you are.
<<Well, you did it Harris and now you'll spend the rest of your life
paying them back. <<
COMMENT:
Nah, I paid THEM (ie, the Feds) back years ago. I can now afford new
tires for my 1982 Volvo 240 DL. But I still refuse to pay for the dang
overdrive relay switch. You know what they WANT for that litte sucker,
new? It's criminal. How come nuts like you can't do something useful,
and look into things like this?
| Quote: | What *is* a soul worth these days?......30 pieces of silver?
|
COMMENT:
No, but if you have the right Volvo overdrive relay switch, we can
maybe talk.
SBH |
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Guest
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| Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2005 11:50 pm Post subject:
Re: Sexy Beef: Most Disgusting Sprol Post Yet
|
|
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pearl wrote:
| Quote: | Saturday, May 14, 2005
Sexy Beef: Most Disgusting Sprol Post Yet
If you've ever driven between San Francisco and Los Angeles, and you were
in too much of a hurry to take the coastal route, you've probably smelled this
place before you saw it. This is what 120,000 cattle look like from space.
You don't need any fancy chemistry lessons or to imagine deadly radiation or
dioxins slowly building up in your system here. One glance tells you that this
is pretty disgusting.
http://www.sprol.com/2005/05/sexy-beef-most-disgusting-sprol-post.aspx
It's what goes into these animals that's the really gross part.
This is the gigantic cattle feedlot in Coalinga, California along Interstate 5.
Aside from the state prison, it's the largest employer in west Fresno County,
employing 1,500 persons in the feedlot, slaughterhouse, and fancy steakhouse.
Vertical integration.
A feedlot is a confined area for controlled feeding of animals. This one is
the largest in California and has several characteristics that are typical of
the modern cattle feedlot in the United States. The cattle here are bound
for places like McDonald's, California Safeway stores, and precooked
pot roasts and TV dinners. Lock 'em in. Fatten 'em up.
You'll note that there is no shade, shelter, or grass on the ground. Cattle
are ruminants, meaning that they would primarily graze on grass. Cattle in
feedlots, however, are fed grain, and are often implanted with a series of
steroid hormone implants inserted under the skin behind their ears.
It makes them grow faster
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4035/is_200404/ai_n9390468
and can increase profit by $80 per steer. That this has the effect of poisoning
the water
http://www.mindfully.org/Water/2003/Feedlot-Alters-Fish-Hormones14dec03.htm >,
as well as every burger eater who snarfs one, is a fact that millions of dollars
per year go to supressing < http://www.beefusa.org/theassociation.aspx >.
After all, at 120,000 heads, we're talking almost ten million dollars extra,
every few months. Just for a few steroids. Just for this lot. They're
performance enhancing! Not okay for pro baseball but just fine for your
8 year old.
Cattle have four stomachs designed to process the cellulose fibers in grasses.
Grain mixed with garbage like chicken feathers and bone meal really isn't
what these beasts are supposed to be eating. The food combined with
regular doses of antibiotics cause the cattle to put on so much weight that
their internal organs fall out and have to be stuffed back in by the ranch
hands. No veterinary care is provided.
I spent countless hours stuffing 25lb of cow back insidethe animal and
then sewing the wound, the whole force of a 600lb heifer straining against
me. source http://tinyurl.com/9xzef .
All of that homones, antibiotics, and other garbage in the meat isn't very
good for people. It turns out that the hormones in the meat cause estrogen
levels to rise in people who eat it
http://www.fas.usda.gov/itp/policy/hormone2.html >.
Even though the EU won't allow it, the USDA insists that the rise in
hormone levels is safe. Especially for children.
Do any of your friends have daughters who have experienced premature
sexual development? You'd better not ask them.
Many doctors maintain that things like elevated levels of oestradiol,
a powerful sex hormone, in your beef can cause all sorts of problems,
such as the increased levels of cancers in the prostate, breast, and ovaries.
Incidence of these diseases have been rising since the 1950s as beef
consumption, heart disease, and obesity have all skyrocketed.
http://www.sprol.com/2005/05/sexy-beef-most-disgusting-sprol-post.aspx
Coalinga, CA 93210
USA
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=coalinga,+ca&ll=36.303763,-120.268922&spn=0.027680,0.036521&t=k&hl=en
{zoom in and take a look around...}
|
Good way to go is to just eat Grass Fed and Finished Beef and lamb!
That way you avoid the antibiotics and growth hormones - especially
good if they are predator friendly also:
http://www.lasatergrasslandsbeef.com
Lasater Grasslands Beef
is better for you,
and better for the environment
than most any beef available today -
we guarantee it.
"Featured in May 2004 National Geographic"
"Written about in Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Nature does all of the thinking and most of the work"
-Tom Lasater, 1911-2001
Lasater Grasslands Beef is great tasting and full of flavor because
our cattle are finished on grass; they spend their entire lives grazing
in open pastures and are never confined in feedlots and fed grain. They
are not given growth hormones, are not fed low-level antibiotics and
are not treated with pesticides. That means the goodness of nature
comes through in the taste of our beef.
Family Sampler
36 lbs assorted cuts Individual Sampler All Products
June Specials Listed Below
Liver Father's Day Gill Package Rump Roast
Lasater Grasslands Beef is better for the environment because our
cattle are raised with a 100-percent environmentally sustainable
process. They harvest the energy of the sun in the form of native
forages. Their carefully managed grazing provides the hoof impact and
fertilization vital to the Great Plains, mimicking what once was
provided by the herds of migrating bison. Land is damaged by continuous
grazing and overgrazing- things our grazing plan seeks to avoid.
Lasater Grasslands Beef is better for you. The native grasses of the
open plains and our cattle's quality of life combine to produce beef
that is leaner, higher in omega-3 fatty acids and completely free of
man-made additives.
"The Lasater Ranch occupies about 30,000 acres of shortgrass prairie
near the town of Matheson, Colorado. It is a profitable, working ranch
that for half a century has not used pesticides, herbicides, poisons,
or commercial fertilizers on the land, has not killed local predators
such as coyotes, has not administered growth hormones, anabolic
steroids, or antibiotics to the cattle."
------------------------
http://www.lambandwool.com
Thirteen Mile Lamb and Wool Company brings you certified organic
products made from our flock of sheep and herd of cattle in
southwestern Montana. Tender lamb meat, grass fed beef, along with
sweaters, vests, hats, scarves, blankets, sheepskins, yarn and
handspinners fleeces are the things you can buy, but you are sharing in
much more when you do so. For pictures and news about what is happening
at the farm, look at news.
At Thirteen Mile Farm we raise sheep without using chemical fertilizers
and herbicides on our fields, and the sheep grow on grass, clover and
alfalfa, and a little organic barley with no antibiotics or hormone
supplements. Our lamb is certified organic by the Montana State
Department of Agriculture. The livestock are fenced out of the creeks
to protect both local wildlife habitat and the quality of the sheeps'
drinking water. Our principal protection against native predators are
our guard llamas and our own vigilance; because we have chosen not to
use lethal control methods against coyotes, bears, wolves, mountain
lions, our ranch is certified as "predator friendly". It is a choice
which, like many of our land management decisions, acknowledges risk in
the interest of learning how to coexist with native species while
caring for the land.
Our lambs are butchered at a local USDA-inspected facility; our
sweaters are made by Montana women on home knitting machines; and we
make our own buttons from old juniper wood fenceposts scavenged on our
homestead and other Montana ranches.
A full-service, small-scale natural fiber processing mill is now
operating at Thirteen Mile Lamb & Wool Company. We are processing our
own wool, and we are doing custom processing for other fiber
producers---washing, picking, carding, pin-drafting, felting and
semi-worsted spinning. We can produce roving or batts directly off the
carder, pin-drafted sliver, felt, or yarns.
Welcome to lambandwool.com and find out more about our products and how
to order them, about the PF certification, and answers to frequently
asked questions about sheep ranching and our business.
------------------------
http://www.ervins.com
The Standards of
Ervin's Grassfed Beef No artificial steroids or hormones
No antibiotics
100% Grass-fed
Never confined, raised in clean healthy conditions in accordance with
the recommended Humane Care and Handling Principles of the Humane
Society of the United States
Great tasting, tender beef
Sustainable ranching and grazing practices
No pesticides or insecticides No irradiation
Predator friendly, we use pro-active, non-lethal methods of dealing
with predators
Lower in fat
Higher in Beta-carotene (an antioxidant) and Omega-3 (the 'good'
cholesterol), and lower in fat and 'bad' cholesterol
We and our customers know our producers: their character and values are
our |
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Guest
|
| Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2005 12:13 am Post subject:
Re: Sexy Beef: Most Disgusting Sprol Post Yet
|
|
|
Sbharris[atsign]ix.netcom.com wrote:
| Quote: | All of that homones, antibiotics, and other garbage in the meat isn't very good for people. It turns out that the hormones in the meat cause estrogen levels to rise in people who eat it
http://www.fas.usda.gov/itp/policy/hormone2.html >.
COMMENT:
Do you read your own cites? This one certainly does not say that. I
challenge you to prove it. Given that the amounts of hormone involved
are far less than you'd find in other foods (eggs) and also far less
than the body produces, even before puberty, this seems highly
unlikely. So show your cites.
Even though the EU won't allow it, the USDA insists that the rise in hormone levels is safe. Especially for children.
What rise in hormone levels? You presume that which is not in
evidence.
|
http://www.cgfi.org/materials/key_pubs/rachel-carson-syndrome-missing-missouri-hellbenders.htm
excerpt:
While eastern hellbender populations have been hurt by dams, logging,
and human settlement throughout their range, in recent decades their
numbers have remained relatively stable in most places. Overall,
eastern hellbenders are not considered endangered or in serious
decline.
Ozark hellbender populations, however, have declined significantly in
over the past 15 years. A 1991 survey conducted by the Missouri
Department of Conservation seemed to indicate abundance, with 150 Ozark
hellbenders found during a two-day search. Yet a 1998 survey found a
nearly 80 percent decline compared to the 1991 survey. Worse, there
were almost no young hellbenders found during the 1998 survey,
indicating that Ozark hellbenders aren't reproducing successfully or
their young are dying very early.
Biologist Ron Goellner, curator of the St. Louis Zoo, says the first
signs of trouble for hellbenders appeared in the late 1980s and early
1990s, when hellbender numbers in the Spring River in northern Arkansas
began to decline. The alarm was quickly raised. By March of 2003, the
Missouri Department of Conservation declared the Ozark hellbender an
"endangered species" in the state. Scientists created the
Hellbender Workshop Group to share and discuss theories as to why Ozark
hellbender numbers have dropped so quickly.
There are several theories but the one currently getting the most
attention and resources is "endocrine disruption" by a chemical
pollutant, such as an agricultural pesticide. One reason a chemical
pollutant is suspected is that the sperm counts of Ozark hellbenders
appear to be about 20 percent lower than the sperm counts of
hellbenders in areas where their populations are stable, such as
Georgia and the Carolinas.
Another reason to suspect a chemical pollutant is location. Ozark
hellbenders live in closer proximity to cattle, poultry, hog, and crop
farms than the Georgia and Carolina hellbenders. As University of
Missouri professor Dr. Yue-wern Huang and graduate students write,
"Streams where [Ozark hellbenders] inhabit have become polluted with
animal manure runoff, human wastes, fertilizers, herbicides, and
pesticides. Some of these pollutants have been shown to possess similar
activity to 17ß-estradiol, a female hormone which plays a major role
in secondary sex organ development, behavior, fertility, and
reproductive capacity."
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/11/1103_041103_potomac_fish.html
Male Fish Producing Eggs in Potomac River
William Cocke
for National Geographic News
November 3, 2004
Something fishy is happening in the headwaters of the Potomac River.
Scientists have discovered that some male bass are producing eggs-a
decidedly female reproductive function.
In June 2002 reports appeared of fish die-offs in the South Branch of
the Potomac River. The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources
asked U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists to examine fish health
in the watershed near the town of Moorefield, about three hours' drive
from Washington, D.C.
Anglers were also reporting fish with lesions. USGS scientists
determined that some of the lesions indicated exposure to bacteria and
other contaminants.
The following year, the USGS conducted a more intensive assessment with
a statistically significant number of fish, this time looking for
internal damage. That's when they discovered a so-called intersex
condition-where one sex exhibits both testicular and ovarian tissue.
"It was not something we were really looking for," said Vicki Blazer, a
fish pathologist with the USGS's Leetown Science Center in
Kearneysville, West Virginia.
Some 42 percent of male smallmouth bass surveyed showed signs of
intersex development. A second sampling this spring produced an even
higher rate-79 percent showed sexual abnormalities.
Mysterious Sex Changes
The findings have perplexed the government scientists, who suspect a
little-understood class of emerging contaminants. The contaminants
include natural hormones excreted by humans and livestock as well as
hormone-mimicking synthetic chemicals. The chemicals appear to confuse
the endocrine systems of fish, essentially fooling males into producing
female cells.
Endocrine disruptors work like biological disinformation campaigns.
Sometimes mimicking natural hormones like estrogen, they alter other
hormone concentrations. The disruptors can either prevent or weaken the
normal cell-signaling process.
David O. Norris, a professor in the University of Colorado's Department
of Integrative Physiology, has specialized in environmental
endocrinology for over 35 years. He is leading an ongoing research
project looking into hormone pollution in three rivers in the Denver
area.
"We're looking at the fish above and below where sewage treatment plant
effluents are being added into the rivers," he said. "The best data we
have are on Boulder Creek in terms of numbers of individuals. In all
three cases we found reproductive abnormalities in fish downstream from
where the effluent is."
Norris is focusing on white suckers, a species of fish not known for
exhibiting intersex characteristics under normal conditions.
"Our impression is that they are males that are being feminized
[because] of the nature of the chemicals that are in the water, and
most of them are estrogenic [meaning they stimulate development of
female sex characteristics]," he said. "Some of [the estrogenic
chemicals] are natural urinary estrogenic products from humans, and
some of them are pharmaceuticals-birth control pills."
Norris has also found large concentrations of compounds called
alkylphenols-common substances often associated with household
detergents and personal-care products.
"They're the same sort of compounds that have been associated with
fishes in England and Europe," he said. "The main difference here is
the source is domestic sewage, as opposed to industrial sewage. This is
one of the first observations, certainly in the U.S., of a domestic
sewage factor alone being connected with this [intersex phenomenon]."
Indicator Species and Water Quality
As for the South Branch of the Potomac River, Norris, like the USGS
team, is unsure of the source of the pollution. "It's hard to say what
the specific source might be [in the South Branch]. But I think the
effect is very clear, that they're getting feminization," he said.
Currently USGS scientist Blazer said, the focus has shifted to
analyzing water-quality data. "The water resources division of USGS out
of Charleston put what are called passive samplers at a number of the
sites," she said. "Basically they accumulate contaminants what fish
tissue would accumulate over time. They expect to have the analyses of
those back in November. We're hoping with that and some of the other
water-quality things we're doing, we'll at least begin to get an idea
of what we should be looking at."
Blazer added that her team would soon be conducting its fall
collection, adding largemouth bass to the mix to test against a
nationwide USGS largemouth-monitoring database. "Are we seeing the same
thing in largemouth bass, or is there something about smallmouth,
whether it's their food habits or when they spawn, that makes them more
susceptible to exposure," she said.
Blazer said fish are good indicators of subtle changes in water
quality-changes perhaps caused by the introduction of natural and
synthetic hormones. Still, the exact cause of the sex-changed South
Branch smallmouths remains unclear.
"Hopefully, when we get our data back, we can all sit down and really
look at it and come up with some thoughts," she said.
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pearl
medicine forum Guru Wannabe
Joined: 22 May 2005
Posts: 268
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| Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2005 6:23 am Post subject:
Re: Sexy Beef: Most Disgusting Sprol Post Yet
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<aozotorp@aol.com> wrote in message news:1118022619.003038.175540@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
A better way, yes, but there simply isn't sufficient land to meet the
current demand for meat with grass fed animals; and what about
native grazers... are they welcome too? Then there's certainly the
standard mutilations like castration, and, slaughter of the animals..
There are still health concerns..
'.. disease rates were significantly associated within a range of dietary
plant food composition that suggested an absence of a disease prevention
threshold. That is, the closer a diet is to an all-plant foods diet, the greater
will be the reduction in the rates of these diseases.'
http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Nov98/thermogenesis_paper.html
An even better way is a sustainable organic (veganic) veg*n diet. |
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