Long-term maternal exposure to atrazine in the drinking water reduces penis length in the tammar wallaby Macropus eugenii

Abstract

Marsupials are experiencing devastating population declines across Australia. Exposure to environmental endocrine disruptors, through ingestion of contaminated resources in the environment, could be contributing to this decline. Atrazine (ATZ), a widely used herbicide in Australia, is an endocrine disruptor with the ability to cause reproductive abnormalities in a diverse range of vertebrates. We exposed adult female wallabies (Macropus eugenii) to drinking water containing ATZ (450 p.p.m) throughout pregnancy, parturition and lactation. We assessed the outcome of this exposure to the reproductive development of their young by assessing gonad and phallus development. Both these organs are es..