The only problem was that vinyl products generally contain significant amounts of Bisphenol-A (BPA), a plastic additive, exposure to which causes disruption of endocrine hormones

BPA in plastic baby bottles

What makes BPA such a problem? It affects everyone, but developing fetuses and small children are particularly vulnerable.

5. Should humans be concerned for their health based on evidence that fish, birds and alligators have been affected? Yes. All vertebrates (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, including humans) are fundamentally similar during early embryonic development. Scientists can therefore use the evidence acquired on other species to make predictions about endocrine disrupting effects on humans.

6. Is there direct evidence that humans are susceptible to endocrine disruption?

8. These days don't chemicals have to be safe to be allowed on the market? No.

a few parts per million levels of vinclozolin contamination profoundly alter sexual development in male rats, producing significant feminization of the male reproductive tract, hypospadias, low sperm counts and other deformations.

When vinclozolin enters the body it is degraded into two metabolites. These metabolites then act as anti-androgens

Some Health Consequences of DES

Timeline of Synthetic Endocrine Disruptors (POPs)

Mechanisms of Endocrine Disruption

The sex steroids (testosterone, estrogen, etc.) contribute to, among other things, sexual differentiate of brain centers, and thereby, to the development of sexual identity and sexual behaviors

A rapidly increasing body of scientific research is revealing mechanisms of action, demonstrating impacts of disrupted development, and exploring links between intelligence, behavior and contamination experienced in the womb. What is emerging from this research is that brain and behavior are likely to be the most sensitive endpoints vulnerable to endocrine disruption. Many synthesized compounds in commercial use today, moreover, can derail neurological development.

April 2003. Exposure in the womb to extremely low levels of bisphenol A alters sexual differentiation of the brain and behavior in rats. More...

it has been shown that many of the environmental chemicals found in alligator plasma or eggs bind the alligator estrogen and/or progesterone receptors in vitro

Guillette et al. ( 1 ) suggested that the reproductive failure at Lake Apopka could have been related to general agricultural pollution and to a spill from a nearby pesticide manufacturing facility. From 1957 to 1981, the facility (Tower Chemical Co.) manufactured and stored both chlorinated and organophosphate insecticides as well as a copper-salt-based fungicide at a site 1.5 miles from Lake Apopka. Wastewater from the manufacturing process was discharged into an unlined pond, and chemicals were burned or buried on site. During a heavy rain in 1980, the percolation pond overflowed and acidic wastewater discharged into a marsh that drains into Lake Apopka. DDT and other chemicals contaminated the lake during this extensive spill.

ecause of the endocrine-disruptive potential of DDT's degradation products DDE and DDD, they have been the prime suspects in the reproductive abnormalities of the alligators

DDT and DDE are probable human carcinogens and endocrine disrupters.

Mercury is not known to be a carcinogen, but it is toxic to the fetuses of humans and animals.

ercury in Lake Huron fish has caused fish consumption advisories and has been detected in Lake Huron water, sediment and wildlife.