Timothy Roemer: “I offer an amendment on endocrine disrupters. Before I get into what this amendment does and what we hope to accomplish…”

“I offer an amendment on endocrine disrupters. Before I get into what this amendment does and what we hope to accomplish with it, I think I should explain what endocrines are and what endocrine disrupters are. Endocrines are chemicals that control many functions of the human body, including our ability to reproduce, grow up, metabolize food, and fight diseases. Endocrine disrupters are chemicals in the environment that imitate these hormonal chemicals and potentially alter growth, reproduction, and other biological functions in animals and humans. Reports in many works of scientific literature, including 'Our Stolen Future,' this book that I hold in my hand by Theo Colburn, among others, indicate that some man-made chemicals have endocrine effects in birds and other wildlife that result in abnormal development and potential reproductive problems. High levels of certain man-made endocrine disrupting chemicals have been associated with increased rates of breast cancer in some human beings. Thus, some endocrine disrupters are man-made chemicals. Others are naturally occurring substances. A wide variety of substances, including pesticides, 'plasticizers' and breakdown products from detergents, have been shown to have the ability to act in some cases as endocrine disrupters. For example, the microwaving of food in plastic containers may transfer endocrine-disrupting chemicals from the plastic into the food.”