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#atrazine

2 public questions tagged with this topic.

Atrazine-induced feminization documented in:

Feminization associated with atrazine first documented in northern leopard frogs displaying hermaphroditism in contaminated ponds, but subsequent studies confirmed effects across multiple vertebrate classes including fish such as zebrafish and medaka showing oocyte production in male gonads, reptiles altering temperature-dependent sex ratios, birds reducing male behavior, mammals including rats decreasing testosterone. Conserved steroidogenic pathways involving aromatase and estrogen receptors render many vertebrates vulnerable. Broad phylogenetic conservation of estrogen signaling means atraz

Ref: NCBI, Environmental Health: Atrazine feminization documented broadly in vertebrates.

Atrazine affects sex determination by elevating:

Atrazine is chlorotriazine herbicide widely applied to corn crops known to impair male reproductive development in amphibians. Mechanism involves induction of cytochrome P450 aromatase enzyme encoded by CYP19A1 converting androgens testosterone and androstenedione to estrogens estradiol and estrone in developing gonad. Elevated local estrogen feminizes testis, causes testicular oocytes, skewed sex ratios and reduced testosterone. Transcriptional upregulation via orphan nuclear receptor SF-1 increases aromatase promoter activity. This shift in steroidogenesis toward estrogen synthesis disrupts

Ref: Gilbert, Developmental Biology, 12th ed., Chapter 20: Atrazine elevates estrogen via aromatase.