"Pharmaceuticals in the water are being blamed for severe reproductive problems in many types of fish: The endangered razorback sucker and male fathead minnow have been found with lower sperm counts and damaged sperm; some walleyes and male carp have become what are called feminized fish, producing egg yolk proteins typically made only by females.
Meanwhile, female fish have developed male genital organs. Also, there are skewed sex ratios in some aquatic populations, and sexually abnormal bass that produce cells for both sperm and eggs".
There are problems with other wildlife as well: kidney failure in vultures, impaired reproduction in mussels, or inhibited growth in algae."
After reading the above paragraph, a population fish is decreasing every year. Flushing medicine down the toilet is an action that has produced changes in the marine ecosystem. You are the company's chemist responding to a government finding about pharmaceuticals contaminating the fishing waterways of NJ.
- What design possibilities might save the marine ecosystem?
- What tests could you use to indicate what macromolecules are overly abundant in the water system?
- What macromolecules are responsible?
- Why are these kinds of macromolecules responsible for feminizing fish?
- How would you convince the FDA that you have a possible solution.