Hormone disruption
Optional Resources
Online Resources
"Introduction to Hormone Disrupting Chemicals," Dr A. Michael
Warhurst, Friends of the Earth, London, October 1999.
"Endocrine Disruptors Research Initiative," Endocrine Disruptor
Working Group of the National Science and Technology Council's (NSTC) Committee on the
Environment and Natural Resources (CENR) -- provides coordination across the federal
government "related to examining the hypothesis that there are chemicals present in
the environment of humans and wildlife that, by virtue of their ability to interact with
endocrine system, are causing a variety of adverse health effects"-- despite this
mealy-mouthed statement, the site contains useful information, especially links to related
sites.
DES Action USA, home page -- "...a national, non-profit consumer
organization dedicated to informing the public about DES (diethylstilbestrol) and helping
DES-exposed individuals." See the 1957 medical journal ad for DES, recommending
its routine use in all pregnancies.
Environmental Estrogens and Other Hormones (EEOH), home page, Tulane/Xavier
Center for Bioenvironmental Research -- Frequently updated endocrine disruptor news and
views, conference announcements, bibliography, etc.
"Environmental Endocrine Modulators Do Not Threaten Human
Health," American Council on Science and Health (ACSH), July 1999 -- ACSH) is a
nonprofit, tax-exempt organization which presents itself as a "consumer education
consortium concerned with issues related to food, nutrition, chemicals, pharmaceuticals,
lifestyle, the environment and health, ...defending the achievements and benefits of
responsible technology within America's free-enterprise system." In fact, ACSH
is significantly funded and biased by industry and right-wing foundations.
Hormonally Active Agents in the Environment, Commission on Life Sciences,
National Academy Press, 1999 (400+ page book online) -- "...fully and deeply
searchable version of the publication which we can inexpensively and quickly produce to
make the material available worldwide."
"Cause for Precautionary Action," Peter Montague, Rachels Environment and
Health Weekly #655, 26 August 1999 -- Analysis of the new report (cited above) on
hormone-disrupting chemicals in the environment, published by the National Research
Council (NRC) of the National Academy of Sciences.
"Pesticide, fertilizer mixes linked to range of health problems," James W.
Jaeger and Ian H. Carlson, University of Wisconsin-Madison, March 1999 -- Combinations of
commonly-used agricultural chemicals-- aldicarb (an insecticide), atrazine (a herbicide),
and nitrate (a chemical fertilizer)-- in concentrations often found in groundwater, can
significantly influence the immune and endocrine systems as well as neurological health.
"Thyroid Hormone Disruption: Dioxins Linked To Attention Deficit,
Learning Problems," ScienceDaily magazine, 13 January 1998.
Endocrine Disruptors, World Wildlife Fund
"Our Stolen Future, Part 2," Peter Montague, Rachel's Environmental
& Health Weekly #487, 28 March 1996 -- Basics concerning
endocrine (hormone) systems: what they are, how they normally function, and our gradually
increasing knowledge of how synthetic chemicals in our environment can disrupt their
action, causing various human maladies. [1,400 words]
"Researchers
raised fears about safety of controversial hormone," Anne McIlroy, Globe &
Mail, 27 October 1998 -- The Health Department of Canada pressured scientists to
approve bovine growth hormone, manufactured by Monsanto, despite the scientists' concerns
about its safety. Though the genetically engineered product was approved by the United
States in 1993, it is still prohibited in Canada and Europe.
Endocrine
Disruptors, Home page, Physicians for Social Responsibility -- news and information
Hormone Disruptors, National Environmental Trust -- includes NET's Great Lakes Report On
Hormone Disrupting Chemicals, June 1997, and Scientific Findings
Revealed in Our Stolen Future, November 1997.
"Theo
Colborn," an interview by Marilyn Berlin Snell, Mother Jones, March-April
1998
Links exploring endocrine disruption and man-made chemicals -- 26 links, with
brief descriptions, provided by PBS
"EPA Studies Potentially Toxic Chemicals," Environmental News Network,
29 October 1998 -- "This October, EPA accepted a report by the Endocrine Disruptor
Screening and Testing Advisory Committee recommending how to proceed in scrutinizing...
heretofore unregulated chemicals." Also: "...doses 25,000 times lower than doses
used by the plastics industry to establish toxicity levels can cause irreversible damage
in the developing fetus."
"The Chemical Juggernaut," Deborah Cadbury, People & the Planet,
1997 (v. 6, n. 3) -- "New evidence has shown that some chemicals found in plastics,
pesticides and industrial products, are weakly estrogenic, modifying the action of the
female hormone; others can affect the male hormone, the androgens, or anti-androgens;
others are thought to target different hormone systems, such as the thyroid and adrenal
glands. More frightening still, these are chemicals which we may be eating, drinking,
breathing, and bathing in. They are chemicals which no human infant escapes, sometimes
even from before birth."
"U.S., Europe
Lock Horns in Beef Hormone Debate," Paul Jacobs, Los Angeles Times, 9 April
1999
Print Resources
Hormonal Chaos: The Scientific and Social Origins of the
Environmental Endocrine Hypothesis, Sheldon Krimsky and Lynn Goldman, 1999, Johns
Hopkins Univ. Press -- A diverse group of industrial and agricultural chemicals can mimic
or obstruct hormone function, not only disrupting the endocrine system but fooling it into
accepting new instructions that can result in reproductive and development abnormalities,
immune dysfunction, and cognitive and behavioral pathologies. (about
the book)
Altering Eden, Deborah Cadbury, 1999, St. Martins Press
-- Scientists around the world are finding alarming changes in human reproduction and
health. There is strong evidence that sperm counts have fallen dramatically. Testicular,
prostate, and breast cancer are on the rise. Different animal species are even showing
signs of 'feminization' or 'changing sex,' the males actually producing eggs like females.
According to scientific evidence compiled worldwide, the prime suspect in these worrying
findings is the increased exposure to chemicals that can mimic the female hormone estrogen
and other hormones. (about
the book)
Generations at Risk: Reproductive Health and the Environment,
Ted Schettler, ed., 1999, MIT Press -- Presents compelling evidence that human exposure to
some toxic chemicals can have lifelong and even intergenerational effects on human
reproduction and development. (about
the book)
Pesticides and the
Immune System: The Public Health Risks, Robert Repetto and Sanjay Baliga, 1996,
World Resources Institute, Washington, D.C.
Our Stolen Future, Theo
Colborn, Dianne Dumanoski and John Peterson Myers, 1996, Dutton, Penguin Books USA.
(Released in paper by Plume/Penguin, March 1997.) (about the book)
Thomas Detwyler maintains this page (tdetwyle@uwsp.edu)
Last updated 23 March 2001
� Copyright 1998-2001 by Thomas Detwyler