Endocrine Disrupters Report Calls for More Research

A long-awaited report from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) on

endocrine disrupters (or hormonally active agents) says that more research is needed to understand whether (and how) these chemicals might affect human health and the environment. Hormonally active agents (HAAs) include a wide variety of chemicals that mimic the actions of sex hormones and have been associated with adverse reproductive and developmental effects in wildlife (see review of

Our Stolen Future in

EBN

Vol. 5, No. 6). Although the NAS committee studying the issue says that there is evidence of harmful health and ecological effects associated with high doses of HAAs, little is known about the effect of these chemicals in low concentrations. The committee did say that environmental HAAs probably have contributed to declines in some wildlife populations, including fish and birds in the Great Lakes and alligators in Lake Apopka in Florida, but called for further studies to determine cause and effect. The study was funded by EPA, the National Biological Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For more information on the report, visit the NAS web site at

www.nas.edu.