Whither Our Water? Addressing Hormones in Local Waterways

Biology Professor Gives SurelyYouNest the Straight Dope
on Endocrine Disruptors in our Waterways

Anyone who has a kid, heck, anyone who drinks water has done a double-take on the hermaphrodite fish in our waterways. Um, are egg-producing male fish swimming around in my iced tea water? I'm just askin'.

Hermaphroditism isn't just rampant in the Potomac River here in the nation's capitol. Intersex fish are showing up in waterways all over the country. They're not sure why (birth control pills and chicken farm runoff are two top candidates), and most wastewater treatment plants are doing exactly, ah, nothing about it. My local councilmember emailed our water and sewer authority and they had this to say: Not it! We aren't doing anything atall because it's not mandated by the Clean Water Act but if forced to by regulations we will address the hormone issue in the future. In slightly more positive language, of course:

WASA is aware of the presence of these chemicals in wastewater and in the waterways. The science and technology of treating these chemicals in large waste treatment facilities have not been developed yet. Presently, these are not regulated by the federal Clean Water Act. WASA will continue to monitor developments related to these and other emerging pollutants of concern, and will take necessary steps as required and is feasible, especially to comply with related regulatory requirements. As with other chemicals that impact the environment, the most effective steps to take is to control these at the source, and any steps that can be taken to do so would be welcome.

The EPA gave hormones in the the Potomac a concern ranking of eight back in 2006. DCist had this to say at the time:

Presumably this eight lies on your typical scale of one to ten, one being "someone might have peed in the river" and ten being "water-loving alien creatures have made the Potomac their homebase to mete out the destruction of the human race."

A pollutant of emerging concern? I'll say it again, holy man-boobs, Batman! I want to drink clean water. And I know that tap water is more environmentally friendly but I have been loath to drink DC's H2O. Heck, I have been par-tic-u-lar about my water since I was in high school -- when I first posted about my water sourcing agonies here, my friend's mom wrote in chuckling to remind me that I wouldn't even come for sleepovers without my trusty Brita pitcher.

Ah, the power of an interview with a kind, generous-with-his time scientist and professor to ease my mind! Turns out my creative writing degree makes for some wonderfully imaginative bedtime stories but proved dead wrong on the drinking water front. And not just because our federal government hasn't put a finger on the source of their concern yet. It's because the water we swim in is more likely to have issues than the water we drink. See below for the details -- but from now on, it's a sigh of relief and back to the tap for me. I'll be quaffing local water to hydrate while I figure out how to register my concern about chemicals in our waterways, and the impact on not only marine life (some of which we eat) but our swimming holes.

My eternal gratitude to Dr. Alan S. Kolok at the University of Nebraska, Omaha, for taking so much time (on a holiday weekend, no less) to answer my questions. Dr. Kolok is an environmental toxicologist who has researched the effects of estrogenic compounds in wastewater treatment with regard to the feminization of male fish.

***

Dear Dr. Kolok:

Please forgive this intrusion into your professional life, but I am a resident of Washington, DC who is concerned about the large numbers of intersex fish in the Potomac. I've contacted my local officials and WASA, the local water authority, and was told that since this is an "emerging pollutant of concern" that's not covered by the Clean Water Act, no action's being taken to treat DC water.

DrK: That is true.

Furthermore, WASA indicated that there are no existing methods to treat wastewater to remove hormones. Just from surfing online, this seems not to be the case.

DrK: I am not aware of municipalities that have made changes to their treatment specifically to remove hormones. However, there is a growing dataset supporting that aerobic digestion of is an effective remidiation technology for hormones.

Do you know of cities in which wastewater treatment removes chemicals including estrogen?

DrK: In Nebraska the small cities that have incorporated aerobic digestion at their facilities have not been found to be releasing hormones into the environment. I know of at least two facilities in Nebraska that do not use aerobic digestion and are releasing hormones into the environment. This has been found to be true in other states and other countries as well.

Do you have any advice for me as I attempt to figure out a)how to get my water treatment facility to take this issue seriously?

DrK: There are two components to water treatment: wastewater treatment and drinking water. While wastewater treatment has been shown to contain steroids, I am not aware of any studies finding significant concentrations of steroids in drinking water. I would be very surprised to find that both the drinking water and
waste water facilities in D.C. were not concerned about the issue. What to do about it, and how to generate the funds and political will to get it done is a very different matter.

...and b)whether or not the hormones in my public water supply are of concern for my (small) children?

DrK: Your drinking water is most likely safe. In fact, with governmental regulations for drinking water, the water that you get out of the tap is probably better for you than the water that you could drink out of a plastic bottle! Buy a Brita filter (these are fairly cheap) and keep filtered tap water in your fridge, if you are still concerned (this is what my family does).

Sewage effluent will not be a direct problem for your children providing you are vigilent about where they swim (in Connecticut, when I grew up, I used to swim at a beach near a river that drained the town dump! I wouldn't let my children swim there today), and also where your fresh seafood comes from.If you fish or enjoy other local seafood, make sure that you eat in moderation and that it comes from clean environments.

Remember that fish live in water constantly, and are subjected to every chemical dissolved in the water. Your children have a much more limited access to water, and short of swimming, their exposure to raw, untreated water is very minimal.

Alan S. Kolok
Professor
Department of Biology
University of Nebraska at Omaha

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Make Your Own Fingerpaints (Wholesome Handprint Goodness)

Make your own nontoxic finger paints with this recipe from planet green. I adapted the recipe to use natural dyes but you could use food coloring. We've only made pink (smirk) with beet juice* 'cause we are waiting for the opportune carrot and blueberry moments to make orange and blue. No matter; rose rocked!


One cool thing about this recipe is that you can make it without flour, so kids who have gluten sensitivity can still play.


DIY Fingerpaint

2 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
2 cups water including beet, carrot, or blueberry juice as dye
1/4 cup liquid dishwashing soap (add after cooking!!)



1. Mix the sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan and slowly stir in the water.

2. Cook over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly until the mixture is a clear, smooth gel. Stir in the soap and remove from the heat. When cool enough to handle, scoop it into storage containers.




*In case you're curious about the origin of our beet juice, the way I cook beets is to put about a half inch or an inch of water in the bottom of a slow cooker or a stockpot and slowly steam/parboil the beets until soft. When you take your beets out to devour with olive oil, sea salt and lemon, you have plenty of dye left over for art projects. Throw it in the fridge until you want to use it. I like the beet juice because it's a cooking byproduct and therefore not wasteful. If anyone has any other ideas for easy, natural dyes, I'm all ears. Read more!

Free Fun

I'm always surprised when folks reveal that they are not freecycle addicts, so I thought I would explain here what the deal is. It's an online yahoogroup that allows you to give away stuff you don't need so you keep it out of landfills. Great idea, huh? As someone who used to work for an organization that got lots of well-intentioned donations (lots of which weren't completely appropriate or even helpful), I now freecycle almost everything I can. I give money to worthy nonprofits and give my junk to someone who has already decided it's treasure. That's the beauty of freecycle. It takes initiative to respond to a post so it's self-screening. My favorite item I've given away? Hands-down, a 4 foot spray-painted plaster bust of a Roman senator left in my attic by the former owner. Its destination? A backyard urban garden complete with ivy trails for his head. Sweet, huh? Other random stuff that will see worthwhile use? Hiking boots slightly too small for these post-pregnancy feet, aloe cuttings, wind chimes, an old film camera with a death squeak.

Makes decluttering extremely satisfying.

Don't say I didn't warn you, though. I have a couple tips. The traffic on the list is high. I recommend checking messages on the homepage and setting your message delivery to web only. Also, when people are getting something for nothing, they may or may not value it (or your time) appropriately. Be ruthless about pickup times and dates (the sooner and more specific the better, ie, priority given to respondents who can pick up tonight!) so you don't end up with another full time job: managing flaky freecyclers. Also, don't forget, you can post a "wanted" message once a month. I just scored a bread machine!

FreecycleDC serves an environmentally aware and responsive community. It helps reduce consumption and waste by connecting people who are throwing away items with others who are seeking the same. Computers, furniture, clothing, magazines, sports equipment, and stuff in your closet - keep it out of landfills by giving it a new home. (from our local site)

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Dungduggety Mud!

It's been awhile since I visited the Alternative Expletive Project, but it came to mind recently when a mother who curses a blue streak (in front of my kid! BASTion of Indecency!) noted that her (freakishly attuned) child is able to adapt his speech depending on his audience. As in, "Don't step in the (oh wait, grandma is here) dog doo-doo!" That's right, folks, a four year old who is able to decipher not only what's appropriate but to adapt his vernacular based on the context of the situation. Motherflower! I think I may one day enlist him as my speech coach via hidden webcams and tiny microphones. Until then, if it makes you all feel any better, I find this resource mightily entertaining (and so will my 4 year old when I spring some of these on her.... Many thanks to the DC Urban Mom who shared it with the community many years ago.
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Lovey Cupcakes

OK, so they are not perfect. But the Bleeding Heart Cupcakes were way fun to make!

First, you're supposed to put a marble in the muffin pans right next to the foil liner so that it will press in the top to make a heart-shaped cupcake. Nice in theory. Didn't really work but this did in no way diminish our excitement. Btw, if you are following the Epicurious recipe (which I don't recommend, they are totally blah cupcakes, shhhh don't tell the children!) baking them for about 20 minutes works fine (no, they didn't include a cooking time, sigh).

Then, we cut a "dime-sized" square in the cupcake and hollowed out a tunnel for the blood-jam. Next time I would make a much bigger tunnel. Shoveled blood-jam in with a skinny steak knife. Replaced cap. Next, we made muted pink (beet juice! shhh....) frosting for the background organ. When we frosted the tops of the cupcakes, EGirl announced, "We are not going to tell anyone there is blood inside!!"


Finally, we made bright red (your grocery store generic bad news dye) and bright purple (Sur La Table highbrow frosting tint) for the veins and arteries. We even (gasp) used two small plastic bags to pipe them on the cupcakes, a major concession these days. As you can see, neither of us has a degree in anatomy.

Mwah! Kiss, kiss from our gooey house to yours.
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For My Sweeties

So, just in time for the schmaltziest of the holidays, here are a few palatable antidotes anecdotes from MamaBird.

• True love can be like a first date! Brain scans prove that some people can hang onto that first-kiss rush. Awwwww via the Wall Street Journal, those predictable saps. How cool is this? As the researcher said when she saw the imaging results, "Wow. Just wow." When I was nineteen, a counselor told me that the type of rush-love where you only see the good in your partner (so smart! so thoughtful! unbelievably, howlingly funny! and chose ME?!) was a stunted Stage Two out of, who knows, a million stages leading up to and including quiet desperation and recognition of the pointlessness of really trying to relate. Whatever! Here's to that "new love" feeling.

• Feeling inspired to play around with your clothes? Fashionist, provider of "unadulterated street fashion from San Francisco" takes and shares snapshots of random, put-together folks. She's got a great eye for texture and color, and seems not to give a flying squirrel for cost or trends or brands. My kinda blogger! Anyways, I have really been loving her selections (even the tiny interviews are riveting) and then, today, she showcased a stencil artist named Eclair-a-Cuda dressed entirely in green with custom platforms. I so miss the Bay Area...

• A little bit of my bleeding heart for you, too... these awesome cupcakes, via GoodyBlog and YumSugar (which has the pics to get your blood pumping, heh heh) but really an Epicurious recipe, will be our proud contribution to the EGirl's Valentine's Day Party. She's been pretty fascinated with anatomy and the workings of the human body for years, so when I saw the arteries and veins on these gooey, jam-filled wonders, I had to act. I will even try (gasp) to take pictures (that I upload and share, no less!). Just had to kick it up here today in case someone ELSE wants to make a little something gory for tomorrow.
  

P.S. A green tip to just skip the flowers tomorrow. Flowers are covered with pesticides, aren't local, aren't fair trade, and basically should be an emblem of death instead of sappy love. (The NYTimes delved into the issue a couple weeks ago if you want to read more.)

P.P.S. I can't really leave you on that note, now can I? ZRecs had a contest to give away a keyfinding device in which they asked for Random Stuff Their Readers Have Lost. My total fave response (not, shockingly, the winner)?

Lost: My not-quite-perky-but-certainly-above-my-bellybutton bosom. Appears to have vanished when I wasn't looking somewhere between months 7 and 9 of breastfeeding, and has been replaced by pancakes. YOU AREN'T FOOLING ANYONE, PANCAKES. If found, no, you can't keep them! They're mine, all mine!

xoxo and Happy Early Valentine's Day!

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Facing My Food

So, I am going to be upfront about the fact that I am not a vegan, just a carnivore who's more than a little unhappy about our mainstream food supply. Please, mercy! Uncle? You had me at CAFOs. I don't need any more convincing. I swear, I will try very, very hard to buy meat from local farmers. It's almost enough to make a person turn to insects... (protein tip via Eating Liberally) When are the cicada swarms coming back to DC again?

Apologizing in advance for the Faces of Death nature of this post. Ahem.

Lou, lou, skip to my (linky) lou...

• Y'all knew this already, my Fallonite friends, but grassfed meat is worth the extra cash (March Consumer Reports preview).

• And not just because of the recalled mystery meat the downer-cow-tipping industry has been foisting off onto our schoolchildren. Did you read about the crazy neurological disease the poor pig-killers got from, um, pork brains? (via the NYT) Or that the poor broiler chickens bred for their breast meat poundage are having trouble walking? (via Science Daily)

• Here's some help in the form of an online guide to sustainable, organic, local, and/or ethical grub — SOLE food, for short (thanks, Ethicurean, for the term and for so many of these disturbing tidbits). I already found a local butcher that has grassfed beef (not the grain-finished stuff you can find at Whole Foods) for when my Polyface Farms freezer stash runs out. If you live in the DC area, fyi, Polyface will start delivering again this spring in March.

• Then there's the eminently logical choice of eating fish. I've already posted about contaminants in fish, but a handy wallet guide that covers both contamination and enviro concerns can be found via the Monterey Bay Aquarium (thanks to my beloved Bozeman reader for that tip). If you forget your sustainable fish list while shopping, just text 30644 with the message FISH and the name of the fish in question. Blue Ocean Institute will "text you back with our assessment and better alternatives to fish with significant environmental concerns." Pretty cool tip, via Chews Wise.

• Finally, something I never thought about. When you're choosing fish, try to eat lower on the fish food chain (ie squid, mussels, etc.) -- more sustainable and fewer pollutants. Via Culinate.

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