PCBS AS ENVIRONMENTAL ESTROGENS - TURTLE SEX DETERMINATION AS A BIOMARKER OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are wide-spread, low-level environmen tal pollutants associated with adverse heath effects such as immune su ppression and teratogenicity. There is increasing evidence that some P CB compounds are capable of disrupting reproductive and endocrine func tion in fish, birds, and mammals, including humans, particularly durin g development. Research on the mechanism through which these compounds act to alter reproductive function indicates estrogenic activity, whe reby the compounds may be altering sexual differentiation. Here we dem onstrate the estrogenic effect of some PCBs by reversing gonadal sex i n a reptile species that exhibits temperature-dependent sex determinat ion.