| Popis: |
The effects of ‘endocrine disrupters’ on the health of human and wildlife populations are currently receiving a great deal of interest from the popular press and the scientific community. At the present, scientists are grappling with research needs in this new area and the need for new test protocols to screen for endocrine effects. The impetus for this new approach began at a Work Session in July of 1991 on ‘Chemically Induced Alterations in Sexual Development: the Wildlife/Human Connection’ attended by a multidisciplinary group of experts (Colborn and Clement, 1992). A consensus statement from this Work Session (Colborn and Clement, 1992: 1–6) concluded that ‘Many compounds introduced into the environment by human activity are capable of disrupting the endocrine system of animals, including fish, wildlife, and humans. The consequences of such disruption can be profound because of the crucial role hormones play in controlling development.’ In addition, one portion of the consensus statement indicated that many wildlife populations were already affected by such compounds, with effects (relevant to this chapter) including demasculinization and feminization of male fish, birds and mammals and defeminization and masculinzation of female fish and birds. |
