DDT exposure of frogs: A case study from Limpopo Province, South Africa

• Contaminants is suspected to play a part in amphibian declines worldwide.
• No POPs data in frogs from areas where DDT is used for malaria control.
• Quantifiable DDT was found in frog fat from an area where DDT is used.
• No testicular oocytes were found in any frog.
• Significant asymmetric testicular morphology in frogs from the sprayed area.

Amphibians are globally under pressure with environmental contaminants contributing to this. Despite caution aired more than 80 years ago of threats posed to amphibians by DDT spraying for disease vector control, no data have been published on concentrations or effects of DDT contamination in frogs from areas where DDT is actively sprayed to control the insect vectors of malaria. In this study, we sampled fat bodies of Xenopus laevis and Xenopus muelleri naturally occurring in an area where indoor residual spraying of DDT is employed and from adjacent, non-sprayed, areas. ΣDDT concentrations ranged between