Word: pcbs
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...PCBs, already linked to neurological defects in infants and young children, may have long-lasting effects: 11-year-olds exposed to the contaminant prenatally are more likely than other kids to have low IQ scores and lag behind in reading...
...according to a new, heavily promoted book, there is powerful evidence to support another hypothesis. Our Stolen Future (Dutton; $24.95) says a wide range of reproduction-related ills may be caused by chemical pollutants in the environment, including DDT, some forms of dioxins and PCBs, and a number of other synthetic substances. The idea is that exposure to even traces of these chemicals in the womb can interfere with proper development of the reproductive system, leading to serious consequences years or decades later. Male infertility is just one part of the problem, say the authors; these pollutants may also...
...alarm went off with Rachel Carson's 1962 book Silent Spring and has been sounding ever since. We live, environmentalists warn, in a world laced with dangerous chemicals, from powerful pesticides to toxic industrial wastes like dioxin and PCBs. Despite periodic waves of public concern and efforts at government regulation (the 1972 banning of DDT in the U.S., for example), the chemicals are still found in small but measurable amounts in air, water, soil -- and our own tissues. Many scientists have long argued that even tiny doses of pollutants can cause cancer in humans, but the contention is hotly disputed...
Colborn suspected a cause-and-effect relationship between pollution and fertility problems -- and by extension a possible danger to humans. She began collecting human epidemiological studies, which suggested to her that human fetal exposure to such chemicals as PCBs could produce disorders affecting behavior, immune-system functioning, memory and learning. She also surveyed the literature on humans exposed to diethylstilbestrol, or DES, a synthetic drug that is related to estrogen. DES can be used to prevent miscarriage, treat prostate and breast cancer or reduce the symptoms of menopause; it can even promote growth in sheep and cows...
...others had found in animals exposed to chemicals -- thyroid damage, immune deficiencies, sexual abnormalities -- a pattern emerged. Most of the problems involved malfunctions of the endocrine system that is responsible for producing hormones. Among the chemicals fingered by the group as probable culprits were DDT, kepone, triazine herbicides, certain PCBs and dioxins, styrenes and the alkyl phenols found in some detergents and plastics...