3/16/2014 Female Sea Snails No Longer Growing Penises Thanks to Ban on Toxic Chemical - D-brief | DiscoverMagazine.

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Female Sea Snails No Longer Growing Penises
Thanks to Ban on Toxic Chemical
By Breanna Draxler | January 15, 2014 11:46 am
Whelks like t hese wer e gr owing bot h male and female genit alia aft er being exposed t o
t oxic TBT.
Ships in the 1960s were often coated in a chemical called TBT to prevent sea critters like snails
from clinging to the hull. After researchers found that the toxic chemical caused female sea snails
to grow penises (alongside equally frightening effects in other species) the stuff was banned in
2008. Now, six years later, things are starting to look up for the snails.
Fed Up With Fouling
Ship builders have long struggled with the problem of fouling, whereby mollusks and barnacles
hitch onto a hull, causing boat damage and creating drag that drives up fuel costs. Starting in the
1960s, a chemical called tributyltin (TBT) was painted on ships to keep them free from aquatic
hitchhikers. It was toxic and therefore did the trick, as described in a 2002 report [pdf] from the
International Maritime Organization:
As a biocide in anti-fouling paint, it proved extremely effective at keeping smooth and
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clean the hulls of ships and boats. And when it was introduced into anti-fouling paints, it was
considered less harmful than biocides used in anti-fouling systems at the time: such as DDT
and arsenic.
But as the chemical began to leach off the ships and accumulate in marine environments, especially
around shipping ports, scientists started seeing negative effects on aquatic plants and animals.
Shellfish and sea snail populations were hit especially hard. Female whelks, for example, started
growing penises and vas deferens (the tubes that directs sperm from the testes). This left the
snails sterilea condition called imposex. In Australia in 2004, for example, between 43 and 100
percent of snails studied were found to be imposex.
Dr. Peter Matthiessen, an ecotoxicologist from the UK who has been researching the effects of
TBT for the past three decades, told Australias ABC,
Really badly contaminated populations were wiped out because the females effectively
exploded because they couldnt shed their eggs.
Sea Snails Get Sick
As research on the toxicity of the chemical piled up, starting in the 1980s, discussions about
discontinuing its use ramped up as well. Finally in 2001, officials agreed upon a ban on TBT,
which took effect in 2008.
Since then, whelk populations seem to be recovering. As described in the ABC,
[Queensland marine biologist Scott] Wilson has noticed not only a reduction in the severity of
the condition but also some of his study sites are for the first time showing no signs of imposex
at all. He has even noticed snail populations occurring in regions where they werent found
before.
The reduction of TBT is good news for other marine invertebrates too, such as crustaceans and sea
squirts. Single-sex snails: finally an environmental story to cheer.
Image credit: Edward Westmacott/Shutterstock
CATEGORIZED UNDER: ENVIRONMENT, TOP POSTS
MORE ABOUT: ANIMALS, ECOLOGY, ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY, POLLUTION
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bud278 2 months ago
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3/16/2014 Female Sea Snails No Longer Growing Penises Thanks to Ban on Toxic Chemical - D-brief | DiscoverMagazine.com
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Reply
There is one other issue to consider - many marine creatures hitchhike on vessels to other parts
of the world and invade new territories, pushing out native species... which is worse - a
declining local snail population or mass migrations that damage other biospheres?

3
Reply
mvpeeler 2 months ago
of course we now need to still deal with flame retardants, nanosilver in baby pacifiers and
GMOs

2
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Don't Even Try It! 2 months ago
So we spend masses amounts of money on added shipping costs due to fuel use and scrubbing
the ship's bottoms, etc? We pollute more of the air and sea by using more fuel and other
cleaning chemicals, etc. All to save some snails? Some of the snails will develop immunity to
TBT over time as illustrated by their influs into other areas of habitat. The snails will survive.
This is stupid. Let nature protect the snails from TBT. TBT should continue to be used in anti-
fouling paints until something equally cost effective can be developed and implemented.


Reply
Jong W Kim 2 months ago Don't Even Try It!
lets be kind to our home, until we must leave. the sea snails are a lifeform which
evolved over epoch, then we could wipe them out in decades. It is worrisome how some
people can be so selfish. I am somewhat assured that a majority is more caring.

4
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teddybowties 2 months ago Don't Even Try It!
haha. that snail is you. you're just too shortsighted to see that. although, maybe if we
gave YOu some tributyltin...
According to the article as i understand it, it could be implied that the snails only
appeared in new habitats because the use of tributyltin was halted; it's the same thing as
suppressing a life form for a long time, then when they are allowed to take or find
freedom because change is a constant, they surge for a while. ;) same psychology here.
build a dam, eventually the water finds its way out. but there are instances where the
force dissipates, as well. for instance, the threat to the snails. who knows how it might
have turned out? we don't know weither way. BUT REGARDLESS
ebb and flow. entropy exists in every system. and yes, I am aware of the potential
backfire of that statement as a point to countermand my argument and thusly make
counterargument. i just don't CARE.

2
duelles 2 months ago
My life is stressed by global warming. I live in Santa Fe, NM. I find shell fossils, and petrified
wood at 7,000 ft. Now it is a desert. A high desert, but a desert. Things change and we are part
of that change. Bummer!
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3/16/2014 Female Sea Snails No Longer Growing Penises Thanks to Ban on Toxic Chemical - D-brief | DiscoverMagazine.com
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of that change. Bummer!


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surgeen 2 months ago
Now do they use something else or they just put up with the inconvenience?


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Richard Wilson 2 months ago
Note that there's a typo in your link to the chemical. It's tributyltin, not tributylin.


Reply
Breanna Draxler 2 months ago Mod Richard Wilson
Thanks for catching that, Richard. I've made the change.


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