Fertility and the environment : endocrine disruption

pharmaceuticals; alkylphenols used in the production of industrial detergents; and organochlorine pesticides including DDT, which is already banned in most developed countries [1, 2]. Although in adults the endocrine system has the ability to recover from fairly significant disturbances, in the foetus even minor changes in hormone levels may have lifelong effects. Because hormone receptor systems are similar in humans and animals, effects observed in wildlife species (e.g. alligators with stunted genitalia, male fish becoming hermaphroditic and female molluscs with penises) arouse concern regarding potential human health effects. Hence the current scientific debate centres on whether there is evidence of health effects or significant risks to the general human population from exposure to these chemicals. Unfortunately, these challenges uncover a second aspect of the reproductive-environmental health problem – namely, the extraordinary paucity of useful information. Three decades ago, information was available on reproductive and developmental effects for only a small number of physicobiological, chemical, and biological agents and only on those effects that occurred at high levels of exposure. Physicians are ill-prepared to answer most of the questions concerning reproductive or developmental risks which may arise from environmental pollution in general. Evaluating potential low-dose effects of environmental oestrogens (xenooestrogens) was identified as a major research priority which led to the Swiss research programme ‘Hormonal active substances: Consequences on humans, animals and the ecosystem’ (NFP 50).