Toxic Bodies: Hormone Disruptors and the Legacy of DES

by Nancy Langston

Overview

In 1941 the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of diethylstilbestrol (DES), the first synthetic chemical to be marketed as an estrogen and one of the first to be identified as a hormone disruptor—a chemical that mimics hormones. Although researchers knew that DES caused cancer and disrupted sexual development, doctors prescribed it for millions of women, initially for menopause and then for miscarriage, while farmers gave cattle the hormone to promote rapid weight gain. Its residues, and those of other chemicals, in the American food supply are changing the internal ecosystems of human, livestock, and wildlife bodies in increasingly troubling ways.

In this gripping exploration, Nancy Langston shows how these chemicals have penetrated into every aspect of our bodies and ecosystems, yet the U.S. government has largely failed to regulate them and has skillfully manipulated scientific uncertainty to delay regulation. Personally affected by endocrine disruptors, Langston argues that the FDA needs to institute proper regulation of these commonly produced synthetic chemicals.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300171372
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	03/29/2011
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Nancy Langston, a professor in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology with a joint appointment in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, was president of the American Society for Environmental History in 2007-9.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Acknowledgments xv

Chapter 1 Disrupting Hormonal Signals 1

Chapter 2 Before World War II: Chemicals, Risk, and Regulation 17

Chapter 3 Help for Women over Forty 28

Chapter 4 Bigger, Stronger Babies with Diethylstilbestrol 48

Chapter 5 Modern Meat: Hormones in Livestock 61

Chapter 6 Growing Concerns 83

Chapter 7 Assessing New Risks 112

Chapter 8 Sexual Development and a New Ecology of Health 134

Chapter 9 Precaution and the Lessons of History 152

Notes 167

Bibliography 195

Index 223

Editorial Reviews

"A fascinating but horrifying account of how the vast majority of the American population became unwitting participants in a large and ultimately disastroua public health experiment."—Jill Sakai, University of Wisconsin—Madison News

University of Wisconsin-Madison News - Jill Sakai

The historical slant is indeed unique. . . . the manuscript is well documented and written in a way that conveys the science in an understandable fashion.”—Dixie Mills, M.D., F.A.C.S., Medical Director, Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation

Dixie Mills

"An important and timely piece of work from a well-established scholar.”—Brian Donahue, Brandeis University

Brian Donahue

Like [Rachel] Carson, Langston uses lively and even lyrical writing. . . to tell the story of the risks posed by synthetic compounds currently found in pesticides, pharmaceuticals and plastics, such as BPA.”—Shawn Doherty, The Capital Times

The Capital Times - Shawn Doherty

"Langston is poised perfectly to examine the scientific and social history of endocrine disruptors. . . . Langston's prose is precise and elegant. Moreover, her explanations of scientific frameworks, data, and debates are quite accessible. . . . This is certainly a fascinating and persuasive study that should be read by anyone interested in environmental health, environmental history, the history of medicine, gender studies, as well as larger questions regarding the entanglements between science, law, industry, medicine, and public policy."—Stacy Alaimo, American Book Review

American Book Review - Stacy Alaimo

"Langston is poised perfectly to examine the scientific and social history of endocrine disruptors. . . . Langston''s prose is precise and elegant. Moreover, her explanations of scientific frameworks, data, and debates are quite accessible. . . . This is certainly a fascinating and persuasive study that should be read by anyone interested in environmental health, environmental history, the history of medicine, gender studies, as well as larger questions regarding the entanglements between science, law, industry, medicine, and public policy."—Stacy Alaimo, American Book Review

— Stacy Alaimo

American Book Review

“Like [Rachel] Carson, Langston uses lively and even lyrical writing. . . to tell the story of the risks posed by synthetic compounds currently found in pesticides, pharmaceuticals and plastics, such as BPA.”--Shawn Doherty, The Capital Times

— Shawn Doherty

The Capital Times