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Endocrine Disruptors, Pesticides Pesticides and their possible link to endocrine (hormone) disruptors have been in the news since the book Our Stolen Future by Theo Colburn, John Peterson Myers, and Dianne Dumanoski was published. Vice President Al Gore has compared the book with Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, which warned against the threats posed by pesticides like DDT. Gore writes in the book's foreword: Our Stolen Future takes up where Carson left off and reviews a large and growing body of scientific evidence linking synthetic chemicals to aberrant sexual development and behavioral and reproductive problems." Research has suggested that the average male sperm count has plunged by almost a half in the past 50 years. Synthetic chemicals such as pesticides, plastics, detergents, and toiletries are suspected as interferring with the human hormone system. Skeptics question, however, why (if sperm counts are dropping) infertility rates have stayed fairly constant. John Peterson Myers states that "it's possible we're not only eroding our humanity but putting our species at risk of extinction," while Elizabeth M. Whelan, president of the American Council on Science and Health, says that "it's innuendo on top of hypothesis on top of theory." The debate will no doubt rage on well into the future. A study from Tulane University has added to the controversy. A report in the journal Science found that in some cases the combinations of chemicals would be additive. John McLachlan of Tulane University said, "We found in some cases that one plus one equals a thousand." Although chemicals in the environment are much less potent than natural estrogens, the effects of combinations of the compounds were 10 to 1,600 times more potent than the individual compounds in activating estrogen receptor-mediated transcription. Lynn Goldman, Chief of the USEPA Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances, said "The policy implications are enormous about how we screen environmental chemicals for estrogen effects." Goldman said the McLachlan study will have to be verified in other labs. Other scientists also said that the work will have to be double-checked by other researchers. The USEPA has taken several steps to address this issue. On May 15, Lynn Goldman asked for suggestions on where to go from here. The American Crop Protection Association and the Chemical Manufacturers Association stated, "As EPA decides how to address endocrine disrupting chemicals, remember pesticides already are subjected to much testing." The USEPA said in a background paper (EPA Activities on Endocrine Disruptors) that "they believe the potential implications of endocrine disruptors for our children and for our future are serious enough to warrant the Agency taking prudent, preventive steps, without waiting for the research to be complete." Although much more research needs done on this issue, it will play a role in future pesticide rules and regulations. The Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 added provisions for endocrine testing to current law (see page 1).
(Adapted from Sun Times, June 7, 1996; Science, June 7, 1996; U.S. News & World Report, March 11, 1996; P&TCN, July 17, 1996; EPA Background Paper: EPA Activities on Endocrine Disruptors; and EPA email messages) |
