Let's Face Facts The first step toward a solution is recognizing
there's a problem. In this issue's cover story, we alert you to
a serious problem that you may not be aware of: Our environment
is pervaded by hundreds -- perhaps thousands -- of man-made
chemicals known as endocrine disruptors, so named because they
interfere with the endocrine system, the hormones that regulate
our metabolism, sexual development, fertility, and brain
function. Scientists are now discovering that these synthetic
chemicals can mimic, block, or otherwise alter the activity of
hormones in animals and humans alike. These compounds can be
found in food cans, baby bottles, and cosmetics; in the air, in
farm fields, and in streams; in cattle and birds, in polar bears
in the Arctic, and in us, even in breast milk. In both wildlife
and laboratory studies, researchers have observed malformed
sexual organs, impaired sexual reproduction, gender reversal
(female fish, for example, that develop male sex organs), and
behavioral abnormalities.