Fertilizers, deformities linked

CU study shows frogs with defects hit by parasites

BOULDER - Fertilizers from farms and lawns are responsible for frog deformities cropping up in ponds and lakes across North America, a new study shows.

The finding not only has implications for worldwide amphibian declines, but could shine light on such diseases as cholera, malaria, West Nile virus and diseases affecting coral reefs, said assistant professor Pieter Johnson of the University of Colorado's ecology and evolutionary biology department.

By Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News
September 25, 2007

Rocky Mountain News.com