The Tribune printed an Associated Press story (Main news, Aug. 22) asserting that because one study on the effects of pesticides was debunked, the entire “pesticide-estrogen link (is) in doubt.” Nothing could be further from the truth.
I was a lobbyist for Andoz Agro, a major pesticide manufacturer, when that study was released, and I know from experience that the pesticide industry fears much, much more than what was theorized regarding the cumulative health effects of pesticides. They have every reason to be afraid since the truly scary science shows a much more devious impact of very low exposures to certain pesticides. Scientists are discovering that in utero–before birth–exposure to pesticides that mimic estrogen may cause irreversible damage to fragile biological systems that are just beginning to develop.
Other studies show that certain pesticides may promote breast cancer by, in effect, fooling the body into thinking that the chemical compound is an estrogen. Atrazine, a corn herbicide widely used in Illinois and the rest of the Corn Belt, has been implicated in such effect. This extensive research theorizes that the misled body reacts to atrazine by depressing one biological pathway in the hormonal system (the “good estrogen” pathway) and elevating the bad pathway, thus contributing to breast cancer, sort of the way that “bad” cholesterol contributes to heart problems.
Researchers, led by Dr. Fred vom Saal at the University of Missouri and Ana Soto of Tufts New England Medical Center, have found that low doses of an estrogenic pesticide may affect the hormonal system much more readily than massive, or combined, exposures. Since estrogen directs hundreds of body functions, the potential effects of a low exposure to an estrogenic pesticide (like one would find in real life) are profound and insidious.
No one study is going to answer all the questions. And the realization that a single theory was in error should not stop the search for answers. Congress was correct in demanding that pesticides be tested for the devastating effects that may result when a hormonal system is thrown into anarchy by pesticides that mimic estrogen.
