Re: [Killietalk] Hormone degredation

[Barry Cooper <bjc3 at centurytel_net>]

Tim,

I realize that being washed away is not the end of the story and I 
indicated that in a closed system, such as planet earth, these materials 
have to be disposed of somehow. Hormones are either lipid or protein in 
nature. Both would be readily broken down by bacteria and other 
microorganisms in the water and substrate. In fact In my opinion it is 
conjecture that hormones build up in the water, as I know of no data to 
that effect (while admitting that I have not researched the literature on 
the subject). In spite of that, I would be confident that deleterious 
material accumulates in artificial closed systems, which can inhibit 
growth, cause stress, favor infections, etc.

Barry

At 08:47 PM 11/22/2003 +0000, you wrote:
> > I don't know of any data, but presumably in some environments they are
> > washed away by flowing water.
>
> The term 'washed away' implies an end of subject but this stuff ends up in
> the oceans. My question begs an answer as to how hormones are degraded by
> natural means.
> I think it worthy of debate.
>
>      Tim
>
>
>
> To join the AKA see http://www.aka.org/pages/join.html

_____________________________________________________________
Barry J. Cooper, Prof. Emeritus, Dept. Biomedical Sciences, Cornell University
Professor, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oregon State University
Home address: 27505 Riggs Hill Rd., Sweet Home, OR 97386 (bjc3 at cornell_edu) 


To join the AKA see http://www.aka.org/pages/join.html