| Reproductive Toxins and Alligator Abnormalities at Lake Apopka, Florida Jan C. Semenza,
1,2
Paige E. Tolbert,
2,3
Carol H. Rubin,
2
Louis J. Guillette Jr.,
4
and Richard J. Jackson
2
1
Epidemic Intelligence Service, Epidemiology Program Office, and
2
National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30341 USA;
3
Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322 USA; and
4
Department of Zoology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611 USA Abstract
The alligator population at Lake Apopka in central Florida declined dramatically between 1980 and 1987. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals and specifically DDT metabolites have been implicated in the alligators' reproductive failure. The DDT metabolite hypothesis is based largely on the observation of elevated concentrations of p , p -DDE and p , p -DDD in alligator eggs obtained from Lake Apopka in 1984 and 1985. In the following commentary, we draw attention to two nematocides that are established reproductive toxins in humans, dibromochloropropane (DBCP) and ethylene dibromide (EDB) , which could also have played a role in the reproductive failure observed in alligators from Lake Apopka in the early 1980s. Key words : alligator, DBCP, DDT, EDB, environmental estrogen, nematocides, pesticides, reptile. Environ Health Perspect 105:1030-1032 (1997) .
Address correspondence to J.C. Semenza, University of California Irvine, College of Medicine, 224 Irvine Hall, Irvine CA 92697-7550 USA. We would like to thank Mark McClanahan for helpful discussions and Philip Beane for his assistance with the graphics. Received 28 April 1997 ; accepted 12 June 1997.
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