Chemical Cocktails

Chemical Cocktails Are Mixed Pesticides More Potent? Increasing evidence suggests that environmental chemicals that interact with the endocrine system harm the health of humans and animals. More recent studies suggest further that these chemicals act synergistically, meaning that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects. While few scientists doubt that endocrine disruptors can cause significant harm to humans and wildlife, there is a great deal of controversy over whether synergism is indeed part of the equation-and how researchers can go about finding out the truth ofthe matter. In a paper published in the JanuaryMarch 1999 issue of Toxicology and Indurtrial Health, Warren P. Porter, a professor of zoology at the University ofWisconsin in Madison, reported that mixtures of the pesticides aldicarb and atrazine and the fertilizer nitrate altered nervous system, endocrine, and immune system function in several strains of mice while each compound alone did not. In the study, mice were given drinking water laced with each of the eight possible combinations of the three chemicals in There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace.