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RACHEL'S HAZARDOUS WASTE NEWS #264 l Ml Providing news and resources to the Movement for Environmental Justice - December 18, 1991 The Wingspread Statement-Part 2 MAJOR CHALLENGE TO "BUSINESS AS USUAL" An international group of 21 scientists1 met at Wingspread in Racine, Wisconsin in July, 1991 to discuss evidence that chemicals in the environment are causing changes in the sexual development of wildlife and conceivably in humans as well. (See RHWN 0263.) The group produced a five-page "consensus statement." Sexual development in wildlife, as in humans, is controlled by the endocrine system, a group of organs, tissues and cells that secrete hormones; the hormones interact with other cells, initiating chem ical/biological reactions with far-reaching conse quences. Male hormones are called androgens; female hormones are called estrogens.' It is now known that some chemicals disrupt the endocrine system. The Wingspread statement identifies the following: "Chemicals known to disrupt the endocrine system include: DDT and its degradation products [DDE and DDD], DEHP (di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate), dicofol, HCB (hexachlorobenzene), kelthane, kepone, lindane and other hexachlorocyclohexane congeners [forms], methoxychlor, octachlorostyrene, synthetic pyrethroids, triazine herbicides, EBDC fungicides, certain PCB congeners [forms], 2,3,7,8-TCDD and other diox ins, 2,3,7,8-TCDF and other furans, cadmium, lead, mercury, tributyltin and other organo-tin com pounds, alkyl phenols (non-biodegiadable deter gents and anti-oxidants present in modified poly styrene and PVCs), styrene dimers and trimers, soy products, and laboratory animal and pet food pro ducts." In animals, and- in humans, sexual characteris tics are established at a particular point during development in the womb or egg. For example, Dr. Theodora Colbom of the World Wildlife Fund (Washington, DC) points out that a single dose of dioxin, administered to a pregnant rat at day 15 of the pregnancy-near the time when gender is estab lished-results in demasculinization and feminiza tion of male offspring.2 Samples of herring gulls from Lake Ontario collected in 1975 and 1976 showed cellular and anatomical changes in embryos and in newly hatched chicks that caused feminization of male chicks and overdevelopment of female reproductive organs. Elevated concentrations of DDE [a break down by product of DDT] and other residues were found in eggs from the same population. To test whether these sexual problems might be linked to the presence of the DDT, laboratory experiments were conducted in which Western gull eggs were injected with concentrations of DDT similar to those found in the Great Lakes environment. Male chicks became feminized, developing ovarian tissue and oviducts.3 What is becoming clear is that the older pic ture of chemical toxicity underestimates the num ber and kinds of effects that chemicals can have in fish, birds, and mammals. For decades, U.S. regu latory officials have focused their attention almost exclusively on cancer. Meanwhile, many of the chemicals that have been dumped into the environ ment, and are now coursing through food chains, cause many other detrimental effects besides can cer. For example pesticides such as DDE, dieldrin, lindane, mirex, toxaphene, and PCBs, block com munication between cells. Normal metabolism [energy use] and development of a cell may be disrupted because movement of nutrients, electro lytes, and hormones in and out of a cell is blocked by the presence of these poisons.4 Furans, benzo[a]pyrene, 2,3,7,8-TCDD [dioxin], DDE, dieldrin, HCB [hexachlorobenzene], lindane [beta-HCH], mirex, toxaphene, and PCBs induce enzyme activity. [Enzymes are large protein mole cules that promote chemical activity in the body; the presence of particular enzymes makes possible particular chemical reactions that would not other wise be possible.] When the enzyme activity is induced, normal products of the endocrine hormo nal system can be released into the bloodstream. This can disrupt the role of steroid hormones, affecting growth and sexual maturation.4 The structure of DDT and DDE are, them selves, quite similar to estrogens and thus may mimic female hormones. In addition, DDE in duces enzymes that break down male hormones. Under different circumstances, dioxin acts like an estrogen, or it may act as an anti-estrogen (what causes the same chemical to have opposite effects is not understood).4 At one Superfund site where data are avail able, humans are experiencing abnormalities of sexual development. At the Brio site south of Houston, Texas, where a housing development was built atop a chemical dump, girls 4 to 5 years old have developed pubic hair and enlarged breasts. One child (now four years old) was born without any genital organs; chromosome tests revealed that this is a male child, though he has a birth canal. C000S6 This information, and other data about abnormal sexual development of children at the Brio site, is contained in a unique database of information that resulted from a health survey of the community by a local group (HELP) and by the Environmental Health Network (EHN) in Harvey, Louisiana.5 Such surveys--providing an unusually valuable source of information about health problems near chemical dumps--are under way in several Super fund communities, looking for patterns of prob lems, including the kinds the Wingspread statement warns of. The Wingspread statement presents a major new challenge to advocates of "business as usual." The participants in the conference represent 17 different fields of scientific inquiry. They have many thousands of data points on which they have based their conclusions. If they are right, we are all being exposed, on a daily basis, to chemicals that threaten out reproductive health, and the health of our offspring. Because hormones and hormone disrupters do their work at extremely low concentrations, the only "safe" dose of an endocrine-system disrupter is zero. Thus any new sources of these chemicals should be aggressively discouraged while we figure out how to minimize exposure to the quantities of these chemicals already in the environment.1 1 Participants in the Wingspread meeting included the following individuals (whose institutional affiliations are given for identification purposes only): Dr. Howard A. Bern, Professor of Integrative Biology (emeritus) and Research Endocrinologist, University of Califomia-Berkeley; Dr. Phyllis Blair, Professor of Immunology, Univer sity of Califomia-Berkeley; Sophie Brasseur, Marine Biol ogist, Research Institute for Nature Management, Texel, The Netherlands; Dr. Theo Colbom, Senior Fellow, World Wildlife Fund, Washington, DC; Dr. Gerald R. Cunha, Developmental Biologist, University of Califomia-San Francisco; Dr. William Davis, Research Ecologist, En vironmental Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Sabine Island, FL; Dr. Klaus D. Dohler. Director, Research, Development & Production, Phar ma Bissendorf Peptide GmbH, Hannover, Germany; Glen Fox, Contaminants Evaluator, National Wildlife Research Center, Environment Canada, Quebec, Canada; Dr. Mich ael Fry, Research Faculty, Department of Avian Sciences, University of Califomia-Davis; Dr. Earl Gray, Section Chief, Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology Divi sion, Health Effects Research Laboratory, U.S. Environ mental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC; Dr. Richard Green, Professor of Psychiatry in Residence, School of Medicine, University of Califomia-Los Angeles; Dr. Melissa Hines, Assistant Professor in Residence, School of Medicine, University of Califomia-Los Angeles; Timothy J. Kubiak, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, East Lansing, MI; Dr. John McLachlan, Director, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC; Dr. J.P. Myers, Director, W. Alton Jones Foundation, Charlottes ville, VA; Dr. Richard E. Peterson, Professor of Toxi cology and Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Dr. PJ.H. Reijnders, Head, Section of Marine Mammology, Research Institute for Nature Management, Texel, The Netherlands; Dr. Ana Soto, Associate Professor, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA; Dr. Glen Van Der Kraak; Assistant Profes sor, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada; Dr. Frederick vom Saal, Professor, Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia; Dr. Pat Whitten, Assis tant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Emory Uni versity, Atlanta, GA. 2 David J. Hanson, "Dioxin Toxicity: New Studies Prompt Debate, Regulatory Action," CdcES [Chemical & Engi neering Sew s] August 12, 1991, pg. 13. 3 Theodora E. Colbom and others, Great Lakes Great Legacy? (Washington, DQ Conservation Foundation, 1990), pg. 139. 4 Theodora E. Colbom and others, cited above, pg. 142. 5 For more information about the Brio site, contact HELP: 10904 Scarsdale Boulevard, M263, Houston, TX 77089; phone (713) 992-1867. For advice about health surveys, contact Linda King, Environmental Health Network, P.O. Box 1628, Harvey, LA 70058; phone (504) 362-6574. Rachel's Hazardous Waste News is published weekly by Environmental Research Foundation, P.O. Box 73700, Washington, D C 20056-3700. Telephone (202) 328-1119; fax; (202) 483-5110. Editor Peter Montague. Ph.D.; Associate Editor Maria B. Pellerano; Assistant Editor Annette Eubank; Circulation M anager Laura Burt Director Bobbin Lee Zeff, Ph.D. Subscription rates: $40 per year for individuals and citizen groups, $80 for government agencies, $15 for students and seniors with ID, $400 for businesses and professionals. In Canada and Mexico, add $6.00; in all other countries, add $11.00. All payments in U.S. funds. Printed on 100% recycled paper. 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