However, the results of this kind of research are not usually opened to the public, and the public is leery of these projects. Let us see highlight several overall trends in the science over the pastfive years. The US pesticide industy continues to make this claim in its ongoing disinformation campaign aimed at farming organizations across the country. Dr. Lou Guillette's studies of Lake Apopka shows that the alligators in Lake Apopka have been a regular feature in news coverage of endocrine disruptors because of their dramatic symptoms. A new study by Dr. Guillette and his colleagues shows that the problem of hormone abnormalities and reproductive problems in alligators extends far beyond Lake Apopka.
Frogs are another ominous sign of the deepening crisis in our ecosystems.
Frogs species have disappeared, and in some cases become extinct, in what appear to be pristine parks and wildlands around the world. They have vanished from the rainforests in Costa Rica and Australia, from the Rocky Mountains and from famous US national parks. Now it is clear that man-made compounds can interfere with the male hormone, testosterone, and thyroid hormones, which play a vital role in proper brain development. There is also growing evidence that synthetic chemicals can interfere with other kinds of chemical messages in the body, so the problem of message disruption extends beyond hormone messages. The investigation of the deformed frogs provides an interesting example of an unexpected new kind of chemical message disruption.