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Hormone Disrupters
Hormone or endocrine disrupters, i.e. chemicals which interfere with hormones in humans or other animals, are the subject of large scale research projects in the US and elsewhere. There is evidence linking reproductive abnormalities in wildlife, cancer in women, and decreasing sperm counts in men to exposure to some synthetic organic chemicals which compete with or disrupt the effects of hormones. Chemicals which are linked to these problems include some pesticides, PCBs, nonylphenols (used in surfactants), bisphenol A (a component in epoxy), phthalates (primarily used as plasticizers in plastics), and heavy metals. Legislative actions were taken in 1996 as part of the Food Quality Protection Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act. EPA together with the Endocrine Disrupter Screening and Testing Committee (EDSTAC) is designing biological screening assays and prioritizing chemical lists to identify potential hormone disrupters. For further information, the following references and web sites are recommended:
http://pubs.acs.org/hotartcl/ac/98/aug/endo.html
(Anal. Chem. Aug 1, 1998; p 528A)
WCAS performs tests for most of the chemicals under investigation.
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