Urban Environmental Quality and Human Health: Conceiving a Sustainable Future

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 08.07.11

  1. Unit Guide
  1. Introduction
  2. Background
  3. The Endocrine System
  4. Evidence of Disruption in the Endocrine Systems of Diverse Animals
  5. Spread of Synthetic Chemicals
  6. Endocrine disrupting chemicals
  7. Conclusion
  8. Lesson Plans
  9. Reading Materials
  10. Electronic Resources
  11. Readings for Students
  12. Endnotes

Effects of Plastics on Top Predators' Health

Francisca Sorensen

Published September 2008

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Background

It seems that in our efforts to improve upon nature, to make materials which will be more durable, less expensively, more comfortable and more efficient we have inadvertently unleashed great problems on the fauna of the earth. Among the products that were supposed to resolve many of our problems were pesticides, synthetic estrogens, and plastics.

At first the products did seem to produce the desired effects, mosquitoes that cause so many diseases were dying, women were having fewer problems during their pregnancies and plastics were keeping our foodstuff clean. With time however, we have come to realize that there were, and are, many and complicated unsuspected secondary effects to the production and use of these products. Foremost among the effects are the health issues that have affected various aspects of the endocrine systems in a wide variety of fauna including humans. Among these are: impaired immune function, early puberty, underdeveloped reproductive organs, infertility, behavioral changes, diabetes, and obesity 1

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