REPRODUCTIVE TOXINS AND ALLIGATOR ABNORMALITIES AT LAKE-APOPKA, FLORIDA

The alligator population at Lake Apopka in central Florida declined dr amatically between 1980 and 1987. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals and s pecifically DDT metabolites have been implicated in the alligators' re productive failure. The DDT metabolite hypothesis is based largely on the observation of elevated concentrations of p,p-DDE and p,p-DDD in a lligator eggs obtained from Lake Apopka in 1984 and 1985. In the follo wing commmtary, we draw attention to two nematocides that are establis hed reproductive toxins in humans, dibromochloropropane (DBCP) and eth ylene dibromide (EDB), which could also have played a role in the repr oductive failure observed in alligators from Lake Apopka in the early 1980s.