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Grace Kawas Lemasters,¹ Sally D. Perreault,² Barbara F. Hales,³ Maureen Hatch,⁴ Anne N. Hirshfield,⁵ Claude L. Hughes,⁶ Gary L. Kimmel,⁷ James C. Lamb,⁸ Jon L. Pryor,⁹ Carol Rubin,¹⁰ and Jennifer G. Seed⁷

¹University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; ²U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA; ³McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; ⁴Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA; ⁵University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; ⁶Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA; ⁷U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, USA; ⁸Blasland, Bouck & Lee, Inc., Reston, Virginia, USA; ⁹University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; ¹⁰Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Abstract

This work group report addresses the central question: What are the critical windows during development (preconception through puberty) when exposure to xenobiotics may have the greatest adverse impact on subsequent reproductive health? The reproductive system develops in stages, with sex-specific organogenesis occurring prenatally and further maturational events occurring in the perinatal period and at puberty. Complex endocrine signals as well as other regulatory factors (genetics, growth factors) are involved at all stages. Evidence from animal models and human studies indicates that many specific events can be perturbed by a variety of toxicants, with endocrine-mediated mechanisms being the more widely studied. Prioritized research needs include basic studies on the cellular-molecular and endocrine regulation of sexual differentiation and development ; increased efforts regarding potential adverse effects on development in females, including breast development ; expanded animal studies on different classes of chemicals, comparing responses during development (prenatal and postnatal) with responses in adults ; and, more extensive explorations regarding the reproductive biology and toxicology of puberty in humans. Key words: children, fetal, gametes, gonads, reproduction, sexual development, urogenital system. -- Environ Health Perspect 108(suppl 3) :505-509 (2000) .

http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2000/suppl-3/505-509lemasters/abstract.html