Ecological Sustainability

283Sustainable Agriculture

and West Virginia. The study reported a higher incidence of inter-

sex in streams draining areas with intensive agricultural production

(Blazer et al. 2007).

• A study of extensive sh kills in the Shenandoah River (Virginia)

found that endocrine disruptors had damaged the immune systems

of sh (Ripley et al. 2008).

Another interesting trend co-occurring with the widespread use of growth

hormones in animal husbandry is increasingly early puberty in humans.

The trend toward earlier puberty provides additional evidence of the effects

of environmental EDCs. It is relevant not only because it shows that EDCs

affect