Environmental Oestrogens

Those man-made chemicals which have been identified as being oestrogenic belong to several major groups of chemicals including organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, alkylphenolic compounds,  

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ECETOC, Document No. 33 Environmental Oestrogens A C/ mpendinm of Test Methods, ECETOC, Brussels, 1996. 

Figure 1 The major hormones involved in growth and funetion of the fetal/neonatal testis illustrating how exogenous, environmental oestrogens eould disrupt the normal balanee of these meehanisms.

It is biologically plausible that exposure to a sufficient level of an oestrogenic chemical could cause harmful biological effects. However, it is far more difficult to establish that environmental oestrogens are responsible for adverse effects on... 

Filby, A.L., Thorpe, K.L., and Tyler, C.R. (2006). Multiple molecular effect pathways of an environmental oestrogen in fish. Journal of Molecular Endocrinology 37, 121-134. 

Sohoni, P. and Sumpter, J.P. (1998). Several environmental oestrogens are also anti-androgens. Journal of Endocrinology 158, 327-339. 

MAZUR w and adlercreutz h (1998) Natural and anthropogenic environmental oestrogens the scientific basis for risk assessment. Naturally occurring oestrogens in food. Pure Appl Chem. 70 (2) 1759-76. 

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Ibarluzea JJ, Fernandez MF, Santa-Marina L, Olea-Serrano MF, Rivas AM, Aurrekoetxea JJ, Exposito J, Lorenzo M, Tome P, Villalobos M, Pedraza V, Sasco AJ, Olea N. 2004. Breast cancer risk and the combined effect of environmental oestrogens. Cancer Causes Control 15 591-600. 

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R. Waring, University of Birmingham, UK, Private Communication, (Ongoing EU funded ENDOMET project) several plasticisers (alkylphenols, adipates, phthalates and bisphenol-A) tested are shown to act as environmental oestrogens in mammals, in vivo, 1999. 

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