The idea that pollutants may interfere with sex hormones has gotten a lot of press lately—stories of alligators and otters with shrunken penises have received wide publicity. In spite of these deformed male organs, most research has focused on estrogen, the female sex hormone: males make it, too, and besides its role in the female reproductive cycle, it carries crucial signals in developing embryos of both sexes. Just as vulnerable, though, are testosterone and other male sex hormones—androgens, as they’re called. This past year a Vanderbilt University School of Medicine study showed that androgens may actually be even more sensitive to interference than estrogen is.
Pesticide by-products, plastic components, red dye no. 3—a wide range of chemical compounds have been shown to bind to estrogen receptors inside cells and thereby block the hormone’s signal. The problem has been that until a few years ago everyone was considering these pollutants as ...
