We newspaper folk are famous for overreacting to freakish things. But when scientists start getting nervous ... well ...

Biologists in Colorado are beside themselves over the discovery of fish with both male and   female sex tissue.

The deformed white suckers -- that would be the fish -- have been found near wastewater discharge pipes on the South Platte River and Boulder Creek near Denver.

"This is the first thing that I've seen as a scientist that really scared me," said John Woodling, 58, a retired fisheries biologist with the Colorado Division of Wildlife who is now working with the University of Colorado.

Woodling told reporters with The Denver Post that he and his team of scientists first noticed the male-female fish near wastewater treatment plants about two years ago. The discovery sent chills through the Environmental Protection Agency, which quickly approved a $100,000 grant for an expanded investigation.

According to the Post, federal officials want to know whether the abnormalities -- the first of their kind discovered in Colorado and perhaps the nation -- are a result of the chemical brew now flushed by state sewage treatment plants. So far, the biologists can say only that they have consistently found these mutations in fish collected near these two wastewater pipes.

These pipes, and the chemicals they spew into the river, are proving to be of particular concern to the biologists. Right now, they're looking at excreted birth-control hormones, natural female hormones, and common detergents that are flushed down toilets and drains.

The suspicion is that some combination of these chemicals is disrupting the fish hormones, such as estrogen, and causing the gender-bender phenomenon by fooling the hormone system of male fish into producing the cells of female fish.

Not only are there fish with male and female characteristics, but normal female fish far outnumber the male fish near the plants.

And while the scientists and government officials have nothing but love for the white sucker, an ugly bottom-feeder, they're also wondering whether these chemicals could be a threat to drinking water in the Denver area. Because then we're talking about people.

"We're all concerned about it," said Barbara Biggs, Metro Wastewater Reclamation District's governmental officer. "We don't want to leap to any conclusions yet. There are a lot of estrogen sources in the environment."

But as Woodling said, "If you're messing with the hormonal balance in your aquatic community, you're going deep down. You're twiddling with how life proceeds."

And that's something you don't want to twiddle with.

Pitt is already benefiting from extending the benefits
Sometimes there are same-sex benefits. Such as the ones the University of Pittsburgh has announced it will extend to employees starting in January. Because of those new benefits, an 8-year-old discrimination lawsuit filed by seven workers is being dropped.

It's a bitter pill to swallow
A woman in Bethel Park thought she'd try some of those pills that promise to "enhance" your sex life. What she got was one of those companies that rip you off. She has turned to consumer columnist Yvonne Zanos for help.

First Published: October 5, 2004, 4:00 a.m.