DDT and Frogs (Module 5)

 Hey guys, since there is no actual prompt for the blog post this week and it is not required, I thought I would just write about something that is very interesting to me. 

Anyways, I remember talking about this specific story in a class last year, but I cannot remember which one. Nevertheless, over the past 150 years, scientists have examined the reproductive organs of 814 cricket frogs in Illinois. The discoveries were horrifying. As a result of the excessive amounts of DDT being used to kill crop-destroying insects such as mosquitos, many frogs in Illinois have developed both male and female organs due to the DDT runoff into the swamps. Scientists have hypothesized that DDT had an anti-estrogen affect in these frogs, which reduced the amount of amount of females in the population and damaged their reproductive organs, causing the frog population to decline. In addition, the highest rates of intersex frogs that were found occurred between 1946 and 1959, the same time period when DDT was being most used to kill mosquitos. This evidence adds to the notion that a variety of chemicals and industrial-used products can alter the sex chromosomes and hormones of animals.

This is just one example of how animals can evolve and gain mutations as a result of the pollutants that humans put into the environment. This just goes to show that we need to be more aware of the potential harmful effects we can have on the environment. Corporations should band together to prevent ecologically harmful practices and work towards protecting the earth and all its species because it is essential to our survival as humans.

On the left, a healthy frog. On the right, a frog exposed to the chemical DDT.

                                                                     Works Cited

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/ddt-years-saw-boost-in-hermaphrodite-frogs/ 

https://www.exploratorium.edu/frogs/researcher/researcher_3.html