The mammalian female reproductive tract develops from the Mullerian ducts which differentiate, in a cranial to caudal direction, into oviducts, uterine horns, cervix and the anterior vagina. The developmental processes taking place during this organogenesis are notably under the control of steroid hormones, such as members of the Wnt and Hox families, which regulate key developmental genes. At ...

most complex environmental health threats known today. By mimicking natural hormones such as estrogen and testosterone, these chemicals can interact with the body's endocrine system and exert toxic effects that may lead to reproductive and developmental abnormalities or cancer. In October 2000, the National Toxicology Program (NTP) and the NIEHS convened an independent panel of experts from aca...

Why all the talk about endocrine disruptors? In response to public concern that certain environmental chemicals may interfere with endocrine processes in humans, the U.S. Congress passed the Food Quality Protection Act and amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act in 1996. These laws directed the US EPA to develop and implement a program to investigate the potential for substances to cause adve...

Endocrine disruptor compounds are exogenous agents able to interfere with a gland function, exerting their action across different functional passages, from the synthesis to the metabolism and binding to receptors of the hormone produced. Several issues, such as different levels and time of exposure and different action across different ages as well as gender, make the study of endocrine disrup...

a Department of Bioand Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 65, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland b Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University, Cowcaddens Road, Glasgow G4 0BA, Scotland, UK c Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), Marine Centre, P.O. Box 2, FI-00561 Helsinki, Finland d Finnish Institute for Verification of the Chemical Weapons Convention, P.O....