Ecotoxicology Example
•Floridian Feminized
Feral Alligators
•First found in early
1990s
•Due to estrogen-like
pollutants from sewage effluent
•Main chemical
culprits: pesticides, industrial compounds, dioxins, & ingredients of plastics and detergents
–Act to either mimic
estrogen or block testosterone receptors
–Suppress reproduction,
by reducing their effective population size
–Possibly also
occurring in Humans?
