A Chemical Effect Close to Home

At this point, we all know some negative consequences of dumping destructive chemicals into the ground and water systems. There is now yet another negative effect described in section 10.21 'Can environmental estrogens affect health?" In 1980, DDT's negative effects were still not completely known, so it was still being dumped. Lake Apopka in Florida was one area that exhibited some of these consequences. The reproduction of alligators in the lake started to decrease dramatically as these hormone-like chemicals started to take effect. The few alligator hatchlings to survived had deformed reproductive organs as a result of contact with these chemicals. The chemicals had dramatically increased the ratio of natural estrogen to testosterone, and as a result these hatchlings had little chance of being able to reproduce themselves.

These changes were actually caused by the chemical DDE, which disables the binding of male hormones to their receptor. One of the most discouraging things about this chemical is that is does not directly effect the original mammal who ingests it. Rather, it effects the fetus of that mammal, posing a forboding threat to the continuation of a species. The same thing happened between 1948 and 1971 to the daughters of women who took DES to prevent miscarriage. These daughters were born sterile, and some of them developed a rare vaginal cancer. Another effect of environmental estrogens is the decrease in sperm count and increase in the rate of testicular cancer. Some scientists, however, disagree with the blaming of environmental estrogens.

It is frightening to think of the subtle ways these seemingly beneficial chemicals can have. It only goes to show that before chemicals of any kind are used and released into the atmosphere, there should first be extensive testing and hypothesizing about the possible effects those chemicals could cause.

Baird, Colin. Chemistry in Your Life. W.H. Freeman and Company: New York, 2006.