Environmental Endocrine Disruptors
PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
the public health literature tells us that a
number of cancers, reproductive problems, and
developmental abnormalities are on the rise. For
example:
➤ In the past fifty years, the rate of new cases of
testicular cancer in industrialized countries has
increased by a factor of two to four.1
➤ The rate of new breast cancer cases in the
United States has increased forty percent since
1973.2
➤ Also increasing, at least as tracked into the early
1990s, are abnormalities of sexual development,
such as malformations of the genitals and
urinary tract in males.3
➤ Since the 1950s, physicians have also observed
that the age of initial breast and pubic hair de-
velopment and the onset of menstruation in girls
in the United States is occurring earlier than
traditional norms.4
The increased frequency of these and other
reproductive and developmental problems is puz-
zling. Improved diagnosis may account for some
of the increase, but it is probably not the only
explanation.
THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONNECTION
This same half-century has seen the advent of the
large-scale production, use, and discharge of man-
made chemicals into our environment. Yet most
of the over 80,000 chemicals that have been pro-
duced in the United States have not been tested to
determine whether they could harm human health.5
Recent evidence confirms that environmental
factors play a significant role in causing diseases such
as cancer.6 In addition, there is now more attention
focused on a wide range of subtler, non-cancer
effects of exposure to synthetic chemicals.
Many synthetic chemicals have been detected
at low levels in the bodies of animals and in hu-
mans for years, but scientists have only recently be-
gun to investigate whether such low dose exposures
might be highly significant, especially during fetal
and infant development. In the last decade, medical
This document addresses the following
topics about endocrine disruption:
➤ Do You Have the Answers?
2
➤ What Are Endocrine Dis