The solution depends on governments and industry changing the way they do business. Chemicals dispersed in the environment from the late 1940s through the 1970s have been mixing with current chemicals, such as alachlor and atrazine, forming a toxic cocktail that has been brewing for decades. And DDT continues to be used in the developing world. Today it's not just peregrine falcons that scientists are worried about. Here's what she has to say.
Scientific evidence shows that they disrupt the endocrine system in wildlife.
The endocrine system produces hormones that determine sexual development, behavior, and fertility, and regulate daily functions such as metabolism. It seems that the chemicals enter wombs and eggs, where they block or mimic hormones that tell embryos how to grow. Lab tests show that about 45 chemicals, many of them used to kill insects and weeds in North America and Europe, mimic estrogen or inhibit testosterone. In certain wildlife populations, scientists have consistently found males with very low testosterone level, females with extra high estrogen levels, animals with a penis and ovaries. More and more scientists agree that these are more than isolated incidents.