There are recent signs that chemicals in Taiwan's increasingly
polluted environment may disrupt endocrine systems in human and
wildlife populations, researchers said yesterday. At an
international conference on environmental hormones and what's
known as "persistent organic pollutants," Lee Ching-chang ( "We
found that levels of total mercury in the sediment and fish
samples of two rivers were higher than the rest. The sources [of
the mercury] have yet to be identified," Lee said. Around the
world, scientific evidence is mounting that suggests that
exposure to certain toxic chemicals in industrial waste has
caused abnormal growth in shellfish and slowed the breeding rate
of aquatic creatures. Lee measured the levels of mercury,
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides,
phthalates and others in his report. He said that the sediments
and fish samples in 17 harbors collected from 2001 to 2003
contained higher levels of tributyltin (TBT) than previous
samples collected in 1990 and in 1997. TBT i