Male Frogs May Be Turning Female Thanks to Estrogen in Suburban Waste

Asurprising study has found that frogs in suburban lakes tend to be mostly female, and suggests that urbanization and estrogenic wastes are likely turning male frogs female.

These chemicals, which can mimic estrogen and affect the sexual development of frogs and other animals (including humans), are produced by plants such as clover and other legumes (soybeans and peanuts, for example). It could be that just by maintaining a lawn and removing native plants from their yards, humans could be impairing the hormonal development of animals. Chemicals that have this effect, like bisphenol A, are called endocrine disruptors.