Scientists are warning that it may be a forerunner of what lies ahead for mankind unless urgent action is taken. It is like the canary in the coal mine. It may be nature's way of saying, 'Something is wrong, do something before it gets too far up the food chain'. The extent of the problem was revealed just months after scientists found hermaphrodite polar bear cubs born on the Arctic island of Spitzbergen, with exposure to chemicals again the prime suspect. In Britain, conservationists see the US data as evidence of the threat posed by farm chemicals.
All animals have similar cell responses.
We would be kidding ourselves if we thought that exposure to these chemicals would not have a similar effect on humans. Scientists are still debating the exact cause. Some say pesticides affect hormones which make amphibian embryos develop abnormally or make them vulnerable to parasites which disrupt limb development as tadpoles grow into frogs. They also found that few deformed tadpoles made it to adulthood, which could explain why amphibian numbers are declining worldwide. Another possibility is that pesticides combine to create poisons which we do not understand.