Funding sought for intersex fish study

A Washington environmental group is calling for more funding for research on intersex fish in the Potomac River.

The Potomac Conservancy announced its Fish Mystery campaign on Tuesday to call attention to the issue and seek more funding.

A 2008 study found as many as 77 percent of male smallmouth bass in the South Branch of the Potomac had started to produce eggs, with the highest percentages adjacent to farming and population centers.

Some suspect drugs like birth-control pills and chemicals in household products that make their way through sewer systems and into waterways may be responsible. Researchers are concerned about not only the affect on fish, but people and the rest of the environment.

And the conservancy says the problem is not limited to the Potomac, noting intersex fish have been found nationwide.

-- Associated Press