| | Accession Number | 5004021 |
| | Title | Effects of perchlorate on amphibian metamorphosis |
| | Project Description | Perchlorates are highly water soluble, widespread chemicals that may inhibit amphibian |
| | metamorphosis by preventing assimilation of iodine and interfering with thyroid functioning. |
| | Anthropogenic sources of perchlorates include explosives, propellants, pyrotechnics, cooling |
| | lubricants, and batteries and are thus of interest to the military. Perchlorates are also found in |
| | Chilean nitrate deposits mined from the Atacama Desert and used worldwide as a source of |
| | nitrogen for fertilizers, explosives and other chemicals prior to World War I. Total recorded nitrate |
| | production from these soils between 1830 and 1980 was estimated to be 145 million metric tons. |
| | Calculations from historical and current production volumes indicate the potential for up to 3 billion |
| | pounds (1.36 tetragrams) to be in the environment from just this one source. Perchlorate has |
| | recently been found in ground and surface water of a number of western states and is remarkably |
| | stable in groundwater. The current study will investigate the possible effects of environmentally |
| | realistic concentrations of perchlorates on metamorphosis in a native amphibian species. |
| | Keywords | amphibians, endocrine disruption, metamorphosis, perchlorates, |
| | Principal | Gregory Harvey, Wright Patterson AFB: ; |
| | Investigators |
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