Because chemicals introduced into the environment by humans can affect both long-term survivorship and reproduction of amphibians, discovering the specific mechanisms through which these chemicals act may facilitate the development of plans for amphibian conservation. We investigated the amphibian pheromonal system as a potential target of common environmental chemicals. By treating female red-...

Pesticides are a group of chemicals made for the purpose of killing or otherwise deterring “pest” species. The word pesticide may refer to insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, or other pest control formulations. Pesticides are inherently toxic and often associated with adverse health effects in non-target organisms.1 Organochlorine pesticides are a large class of multipurpose chlorinated hydro...

In 1969, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) initiated a programme to evaluate the carcinogenic risk of chemicals to humans and to produce monographs on individual chemicals. The Monographs programme has since been expanded to include consideration of exposures to complex mixtures of chemicals (which occur, for example, in some occupations and as a result of human habits) and...

0203 Epidemics of overt toxicity following widespread environmental contamination from commercial toxins heralded the discovery of children’s enhanced vulnerability to lead, methyl mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and tobacco [1,2,3,4,5] (Box 1). Over the past three decades, researchers have found that remarkably low-level exposures to these toxins are linked with less overt symptoms ...