A new study links sewage sludge, used as pasture fertilizer, to stunted testes in fetal lambs. The finding signals a developmental problem that could have consequences in adult male sheep.
Researchers in Scotland treated lamb pastures for 5 years with either conventional inorganic fertilizers or sewage sludge, the nutrient-rich by-product from sewage-treatment plants. The scientists applied the fertilizers so that they would provide equal amounts of the plant nutrient nitrogen.
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