Chemicals in southern California wastewater are sneaking past sewage-treatment plants and into the ocean, where they can seriously wack out fishy hormone levels, according to preliminary research. Flame retardants, PCBs, residue from long-banned pesticide DDT, and other chemicals from pills and beauty products have all showed up in the water, via human pee. An ongoing study of a flatfish called the hornyhead turbot (hee hee) finds that some males of the species have abnormally high levels of estrogen, while one hearty male had actually produced eggs. Activists urge that treatment plants be upgraded to catch more chemicals.
