By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Dr. Richard Littenberg shows the sonar that will be used in research.
UH group
investigating
ocean toxins
The marine scientists want to
By Helen Altonn
know why there are more female fishes
Star-BulletinUniversity of Hawaii marine scientists are trying to identify chemical pollutants in Hawaii's environment and determine if they're affecting sea life.
They're concerned about endocrine disrupting chemicals -- called EDCs -- interfering with the hormonal system.
The scientists include E. Gordon Grau, interim director of the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, institute researcher Harold Richman, and Milton Stetson, a University of Delaware professor who spends about seven months a year at the Coconut Island laboratory.
Partners in the project are Dr. Richard Littenberg and his wife, Barbara, who use their Medical Foundation boat, Searcher, to collect fish, water and sediments for analysis.
Grau, who directs the Laboratory of Fish Endocrinology and Environmental Physiology, said certain strains of fish in Japan and Britain have more females than normal because exposure to chemicals when they were young caused a sex reversal.
He said certain industrial chemicals, herbicides, pesticides and detergents "have hormone-like actions. In particular, they have a strong ability to mimic estrogens, so this has become a big issue."
Estrogen everywhere
There also is some concern that estrogens used in birth control pills and post-menopausal treatment may be entering sewage systems, he said.There are well-documented cases of pesticide spills in the United States having profound effects, for example, on reproduction of alligators and some birds, Grau said. There are also examples of it affecting thyroid gland production, he said.
Grau said Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology researcher Shannon Atkinson has found that corals release estrogen-like compounds into the water as part of their normal reproductive activity.
"So it appears that estrogens may serve to synchronize spawning in corals," Grau said.
"Since many man-made chemicals may also be estrogens, the worry is that it may interfere with the biology of corals," he said.
Turtles affected too?
Grau said his group is working with Atkinson to try to determine if tumors found on many turtles could be related to a compromised immune system induced by substances in the environment.He said he and Atkinson, who studies Hawaiian monk seals and reproductive biology of marine mammals, also are collaborating on a project with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Besides trying to learn what chemicals may be where around the Hawaiian Islands, Grau said they have Sea Grant Program funding to study the effects on fish development.
Scuba divers from the Searcher have mapped outfalls around the islands and they're collecting fish and sediment samples for the project, Littenberg said.
"A lot of worldwide data is coming in that shows marine life is affected by this (endocrine disrupters)," he said. "They're found in the Great Lakes and also in the ocean."
Littenberg, president and chief executive officer of the Honolulu Medical Group, began looking into endocrine disrupters several years ago.
He said his preliminary research, before hooking up with the institute, shows chemicals seem to be washing up off the West Coast from Mexico and Central America that have strong endocrine disrupting effects.They're believed to be from the pesticide DDT and other U.S.-banned chemicals still in use in those countries for agriculture, he said.
Dioxins and industrial products such as polychlorinated biphenyls are among other known hormone disrupters. They persist for long periods in the environment and can be carried by wind or water currents, ending up in distant food chains and water supplies.
Disrupters are disturbing
Littenberg said he found chemical disrupters in huge trash lines associated with a lot of fish in the mid-Pacific."Whether the chemicals are dumped off ships or cruise ships are dumping tanks with human estrogen products is unclear," he said. "But we found high concentrations of EDCs, which gets you kind of nervous."
Grau said the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology and Littenberg are planning a workshop of scientists from around the United States next spring to focus on environmental interactions, the endocrine and immune systems and resistance to disease.
"This is a new area," Grau said, "an area that's becoming increasingly apparent that it's important. This workshop really will be, as far as I know, the first step toward defining this area of research."
Private vessel
By Helen Altonn
a big help for UH
ocean research
Star-BulletinA Honolulu doctor's interest in environmental research has been a boon for University of Hawaii marine scientists.
The Searcher, a vessel owned by a medical foundation established by Dr. Richard Littenberg, is on a research mission in Big Island waters for the next two weeks.
Among those aboard is UH researcher Chris Kelley, who has been out three or four times on the 65-foot trawler with Littenberg, head of the Honolulu Medical Group, and his wife, Barbara.
They've donated the boat, supplies and services to help Kelley collect bottom fish and study their habitats.
They also collect water and sediment samples for chemical analysis in a research partnership with E. Gordon Grau, Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology interim director.
"We're very fortunate," Kelley said. "They drive the boat and prepare a lot of meals. They gas it and get it ready. It's an extraordinary deal."
Kelley said the Searcher is "a beautiful boat, with all types of electric gizmos that really helped us with our surveys."
Littenberg said he and his wife established the private foundation about 10 years ago to support university researchers. Then they became interested in endocrine disrupting chemicals, which are basically man-made substances that interfere with the hormone system, he said.
"We felt it probably has impact on people as well as other animals in the environment. One thing is, sperm counts worldwide are falling in humans.
"It turned out the simplest place to look was the ocean because fish are affected by this as well."
Littenberg said they bought the boat for the foundation about two years ago to do their own research.
Although he's still president and chief executive officer of the Honolulu Medical Group, he said he gave up his internal-medicine practice. "I was doing so much research of water, it really interfered with my ability to be available for patients on a full-time basis."
When he learned Grau shared his interest in endocrine disrupting chemicals, Littenberg said, they began collaborating.
"Basically, we're taking two teams of scientists at the same time," collecting fish and ocean bottom sediments, Littenberg said.
He said the Searcher carries a smaller boat used for endocrine work, while the bigger boat is used for the bottom-fish survey.
His wife handles the logistics and keeps schedules and watches going, he said.
The 30-ton steel trawler is designed for long-range cruises. "It can go 5,000 miles and has all types of backup systems," Littenberg said. "It is a very stable platform. We've been out in 30-plus-knot winds and 16-foot seas and still able to fish."
The boat can make its own water and carries enough food and supplies to stay at sea for months at a time, Littenberg said.
With operational costs of similar vessels estimated at more than $1,000 a day, the free use of the Searcher is a big boost for UH and its doctorate program.
Grau said the endocrine project wouldn't be possible "were it not for the hard work and contributions of Dr. Littenberg and his foundation."
Grau said the Littenbergs "are very bright, challenging colleagues helping us to think about how we should approach the subject."
