White Paper Environmental Endocrine Disrtuptors and Its Potential Impacts on Public Health and the Environment in New Jersey
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WHITE PAPER ENVIRONMENTAL ENDOCRINE DISRTUPTORS AND ITS POTENTIAL IMPACTS ON PUBLIC HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT IN NEW JERSEY May 2003 Prepared By: Thomas Ledoux, Ph.D., DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION DIVISION OF SCIENCE, RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY Acknowledgements This paper would not have been possible without the unceasing assistance of Mary Kearns-Kaplan, Dorothy Alibrando and Maria Baratta, technical librarians at the New Jersey DEP, Information Resource Center. Their help in acquiring numerous reprints, volumes, and other technical information is gratefully acknowledged and appreciated. Also acknowledged is the technical assistance of Terri Tucker, DSRT. Also gratefully acknowledged is the assistance of Dr. Alan Stern, Chief, Bureau of Risk Analysis, DSRT; Dr. Eileen Murphy, Assistant Director, DSRT; Dr. Keith R. Cooper, Dean of Research & Graduate Programs, Cook College; Dr. Mark G. Robson, Chairman, Department of Environmental & Occupational Health, UMDNJ-School of Public Health; Dr. Michael A. Gallo, Professor of Environmental Medicine, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School; Dr. Perry Cohn, New Jersey Department of Health & Senior Services; and Drs. Michael Aucott and Branden Johnson, Division of Science Research & Technology for critical comments in the review and editing of the manuscript. i TABLE OF CONTENTS I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................. 1 II. PURPOSE ...................................................................................................................................... 3 III. BACKGROUND .......................................................................................................................... 4 IV. ENDOCRINE DISRUPTORS...................................................................................................... 6 V. BASIC BIOLOGY AND MAJOR CONCEPTS .......................................................................... 7 DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY AND TOXICOLOGY .............................................................. 7 VI. HORMONES.............................................................................................................................. 10 A. HOW HORMONES WORK / MECHANISM OF ACTION ................................................... 10 B. FEMALE HORMONES........................................................................................................... 10 1. ESTROGENS ....................................................................................................................... 10 2. PROGESTERONE ............................................................................................................... 11 3. FOLLICLE-STIMULATING HORMONE (FSH), LUTEINIZING HORMONE (LH), AND THYROID-STIMULATING HORMONE (TSH) ................................................................... 11 C. MALE HORMONES ............................................................................................................... 11 1. ANDROGENS...................................................................................................................... 11 2. THYROID HORMONE ....................................................................................................... 11 3. ESTROGEN.......................................................................................................................... 12 VII. SPECIFIC ENDOCRINE DISRUPTORS ................................................................................ 13 A. PHARMACEUTICAL NONSTEROIDAL ESTROGEN MIMICS & ANTIESTROGENS... 13 B. ANTIANDROGENS................................................................................................................ 13 C. CLASSES OF COMPOUNDS OF POTENTIAL CONCERN................................................. 14 D. SPECIFIC ENDOCRINE-MEDIATING CHEMICALS OF POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN................................................................................................ 15 1. DIETHYLSTILBESTROL (DES)........................................................................................ 15 2. NONYLPHENOL POLYETHOXYLATES ........................................................................ 17 3. BISPHENOL A..................................................................................................................... 18 4. PHTHALATES..................................................................................................................... 20 5. POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS (PCBs).................................................................... 21 6. DIOXINS .............................................................................................................................. 24 7. POLYBROMINATED DIPHENYL ETHERS .................................................................... 25 8. PHYTOESTROGENS .......................................................................................................... 26 9. PESTICIDES ........................................................................................................................ 28 10. GROWTH PROMOTERS.................................................................................................. 31 11. ORGANOTIN COMPOUNDS........................................................................................... 31 12. PHARMACEUTICAL COMPOUNDS.............................................................................. 32 13. DIESEL GASES ................................................................................................................. 32 E. IMPACTED ANIMALS........................................................................................................... 33 1. SNAILS................................................................................................................................. 33 2. MOLLUSKS......................................................................................................................... 33 ii 3. FROGS.................................................................................................................................. 33 4. FISH...................................................................................................................................... 36 5. ALLIGATORS ..................................................................................................................... 38 6. TURTLES............................................................................................................................. 38 7. HUMANS ............................................................................................................................. 39 VII. ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT OF ENDOCRINE DISRUPTIVE CHEMICALS ......... 42 IX. ALTERATIONS IN THE POPULATION DISTRIBUTIONS OF VARIOUS ENDOCRINE-RELATED PARAMETERS .................................................................................... 42 X. RELATIONSHIP OF ESTROGENIC SUBSTANCES TO CANCER....................................... 43 A. BREAST CANCER ................................................................................................................. 43 B. PROSTATE CANCER............................................................................................................. 44 XI. OTHER MALE EFFECTS......................................................................................................... 45 XII. ROLE OF GOVERNMENT - FEDERAL, STATE, AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS.......................................................................................................................... 46 A. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ................................................................................................... 46 B. STATE GOVERNMENT......................................................................................................... 49 C. INTERNATIONAL.................................................................................................................. 50 XIII. ENDOCRINE DISRUPTOR POSITIONS TAKEN BY NATIONAL SOCIETIES .............. 51 A. NEHA POSITION ON ENDOCRINE DISRUPTERS (1997)................................................. 51 B. TERATOLOGY SOCIETY POSITION PAPER: THE DEVELOPMENTAL TOXICITY OF ENDOCRINE DISRUPTORS TO HUMANS (1999) .................................................................. 51 C. NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES REPORT: HORMONALLY ACTIVE AGENTS IN THE ENVIRONMENT (1999) ................................................................................................ 52 XV. DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................................... 55 XV. NEW JERSEY-SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS .............................................................. 56 A. GENERAL ............................................................................................................................... 56 B. INDICATOR DEVELOPMENT/IMPLEMENTATION......................................................... 56 C. ENVIRONMENTAL SURVEILLANCE ................................................................................ 57 D. RESEARCH............................................................................................................................. 58 D. OTHER ACTIVITIES.............................................................................................................. 59 XVI. EXAMPLES OF RECENT AND ONGOING ENDOCRINE DISRUPTOR RELATED NEW JERSEY RESEARCH PROJECTS....................................................................