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James G. Burkhart,¹ Gerald Ankley,² Heidi Bell,³ Hillary Carpenter,⁴ Douglas Fort,⁵ David Gardiner,⁶ Henry Gardner,⁷ Robert Hale,⁸ Judy C. Helgen,⁹ Paul Jepson,¹⁰ Douglas Johnson,¹¹ Michael Lannoo,¹² David Lee,¹³ Joseph Lary,¹⁴ Rick Levey,¹⁵ Joseph Magner,⁹ Carol Meteyer,¹⁶ Michael D. Shelby,¹ and George Lucier¹

¹National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
²U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Mid Continent Ecology Division, Duluth, Minnesota, USA
³U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Science and Technology, Office of Water, Washington, DC, USA
⁴Minnesota Department of Health, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
⁵Stover Group, Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA
⁶Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University California Irvine, Irvine, California, USA
⁷U.S. Army Center for Environmental Health Research, Center for Environmental Toxicology and Technology, Foothills Research Campus, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
⁸Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, Virginia, USA
⁹Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
¹⁰Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA
¹¹Northern Prairie Center, Jamestown, North Dakota, USA
¹²Muncie Center for Medical Education, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, USA
¹³AECL, Station 51, Chalk River, Canada
¹⁴National Center for Environmental Health, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
¹⁵Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, R.A. LaRosa Environmental Laboratory, Waterbury, Vermont, USA
¹⁶National Wildlife Health Center, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

Abstract

The recent increase in the incidence of deformities among natural frog populations has raised concern about the state of the environment and the possible impact of unidentified causative agents on the health of wildlife and human populations. An open workshop on Strategies for Assessing the Implications of Malformed Frogs for Environmental Health was convened on 4-5 December 1997 at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The purpose of the workshop was to share information among a multidisciplinary group with scientific interest and responsibility for human and environmental health at the federal and state level. Discussions highlighted possible causes and recent findings directly related to frog deformities and provided insight into problems and strategies applicable to continuing investigation in several areas. Possible causes of the deformities were evaluated in terms of diagnostics performed on field amphibians, biologic mechanisms that can lead to the types of malformations observed, and parallel laboratory and field studies. Hydrogeochemistry must be more integrated into environmental toxicology because of the pivotal role of the aquatic environment and the importance of fates and transport relative to any potential exposure. There is no indication of whether there may be a human health factor associated with the deformities. However, the possibility that causal agents may be waterborne indicates a need to identify the relevant factors and establish the relationship between environmental and human health in terms of hazard assessment. Key words: amphibian malformation, environmental health. Environ Health Perspect 108:83-90 (2000) . [Online 16 December 1999]

http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2000/108p83-90burkhart/ abstract.html

Address correspondence to J.G. Burkhart, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, MD C1-08, Box 12233, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 USA. Telephone: (919) 541-3280. Fax: (919) 541-3137. E-mail burkhart@niehs.nih.gov

Received 8 June 1998 ; accepted 19 August 1999.