NCAP identified 10 of the 25 most frequently detected pesticides as chemicals that disrupt the hormone system.
Hormones regulate growth, development, behavior, and sexuality.
But when synthetic chemicals mimic hormones, they can cause irreversible damage, especially if exposure happens just before and after birth. The USGS sampling uncovered 48 different pesticides at 40 sites in the basin. For example, it's really alarming that the USGS found the weed-killer atrazine in 90 percent of the river samples. Like DDT, atrazine has strong links to breast cancer. That's one reason why six European countries have banned the chemical.