A threshold for DES adverse effects is needed. Even the lowest recorded dose has given rise to vaginal adenocarcinoma. Thus, the biological endpoints determined in in utero DES-exposed offspring will lead the investigation in humans following possible ambient exposures. Therefore, early detection methods are needed to determine if human reproductive capability is declining. This is important from an individual level, as well as at the population level, because infertility is a subject of great concern and has psychological and economic impacts.
Methods are now available to determine fertility rates in humans.
These should be accompanied by more and better biomarkers of social and behavioral development, the use of multigenerational histories of individuals and their progeny, and congener-specific chemical analyses of reproductive tissues and products, including breast milk. Acknowledgement Funding was provided by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, W. Alton Jones Foundation Inc., The Keland Endowment Fund of The Johnson Foundation and World Wildlife Fund. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. T. Colborn and C. Clement. Princeton Scientific Publishing, Princeton, NJ 1992.