ABSTRACT
Recently, it has been reported that many chemicals released to the environment can disrupt the endocrine system of wildlife and humans. A large number of nonsteroidal chemicals, referred to as xenoestrogens, can bind to estrogen receptor and evoke biological responses. The key factor causing interaction of xenoestrogens with the binding pocket of the receptors has chemical similarity to estradiol (usually a phenolic A-ring) (Witorsch 2002). Xenoestrogens appear in natural resources such as food, water, or soil in very low concentrations ranging from ng/L to μg/L (Staples et al. 2000). For illustration, the amount of some xenoestrogens in the surface waters is shown in Table 8.1.
