Florida's coral reef decline linked to sewage, coastal runoff

http://www.cdnn.info/news/eco/e060416.html

MIAMI, Florida (16 April 2006) -- Study backs environmentalists' suspicions that chemicals from sewer pipes and coastal runoff may be harming coral reefs. Prozac, estrogen fertilizer, pesticides, anti-bacterial soap and countless other chemicals pour into the ocean off southeast Florida, shot through sewer pipes and washed off lawns, golf courses, roads and farms. Environmentalists have long suspected this chemical brew of playing a role in the decline of coral reefs. Now a study by academic and government scientists has tentatively linked sewage pipes and coastal runoff to coral damage off southeast Florida. The study found that corals near sewage pipes and inlets -- where urban and agricultural runoff flows into the ocean -- showed harmful changes in levels of molecules associated with the ability to heal wounds. When scientists cut holes in corals, they found the ones near sewage pipes and inlets took longer to heal. At samples tested next to the Hollywood sewer pipe, wounds expanded rather than healed.