"I think everyone is a little stunned that we have all these chemicals in the environment that have the potential to cause harm. Hormones at very small doses regulate just about everything, and if you've got chemicals that can mimic that, they can mess with growth, behavior and development."

- Deborah Swackhamer, an environmental health professor at the University of Minnesota

An article in today's Minneapolis Star-Tribune gives a brief Biology 101 refresher on what pesticides and other synthetic chemicals that can be found in makeup and household products can do to the body:

The endocrine system is responsible for brain and nervous system development, reproduction, metabolism and blood sugar. Hormones, including estrogen and testosterone, are like messengers moving through the body, telling receptors on cells what to do.

The problem is that many chemicals -- called endocrine disrupters -- mimic hormones. They attach to receptors and cause cell division, altered gene expression and other harmful changes.

In short, endocrine disruptors interrupt and alter the body's natural communication system. In the wild, endocrine disrupters are known to cause serious reproductive problems to fish and wildlife; for us, they cause autism, cancer, diabetes, earlier puberty, immune problems, obesity and infertility.

-Mark