THE REPRODUCTIVE TOXICOLOGY OF GREAT-LAKES CONTAMINANTS

The Great Lakes basin is characterized as a heavily populated and indu strialized region in which a large number of environmental contaminant s have been identified. Both the scientific community and the public h ave voiced concern that contaminants present in the Great Lakes may po se undue risk to human reproduction. Evidence from animal experiments, wildlife studies, and reports of occupational and accidental human ex posures indicate that chemical contaminants can adversely affect repro duction. The purpose of this paper is to review the reproductive toxic ity of some of the many contaminants known to be present in the Great Lakes. Since the number of chemicals present in ?he Great Lakes is far too great for each to be adequately reviewed here, discussion will be limited to those contaminants that have been identified in human seru m, ovarian follicular fluid, and semen obtained from people residing i n the Great Lakes region: It is concluded that a) the data al present is too limited to support the notion that reproduction, in the general population, has been impaired by exposure to chemicals present in the Great Lakes; b) the lack of data in some cases such as for hexachloro ethane and 1,2,4-trichlobenzene does provide reason for concern and un derscores the need for further research in this area; and c) the poten tial for a number of the compounds, including polychlorinated biphenyl s (PCBs) and 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl) ethane (DDT), to disrupt endocrine functions suggests that additive or synergistic effe cts of these compounds may already be causing adverse effects on repro duction in sensitive individuals, which needs to be explored.