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Reason Foundation is a national research and education organization that
explores and promotes the twin values of rationality and freedom as the
basic underpinnings of a good society. Since 1978, the Los Angeles-based
Foundation has provided practical public-policy research, analysis, and
commentary based upon principles of individual liberty and responsibility,
limited government, and market competition. REASON, the Foundation\u2019s
independent monthly magazine of Free Minds and Free Markets, is the

monthly print magazine of \u201cfree minds and free markets.\u201d It covers politics, culture, and ideas through a provocative mix of news, analysis, commentary, and reviews.Reason provides a refreshing alternative to right-wing and left- wing opinion magazines by making a principled case for liberty and individ- ual choice in all areas of human activity.

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The endocrine system, a system of glands and the hormones they release, regulates the development of a fetus in the womb, sexual development and reproductive function, maturation of the brain and nervous system, and energy metabolism. Some researchers have postulated that a range of natural and synthetic chemicals in the environment could damage or disrupt human and animal endocrine systems at exposure levels much lower than what previous studies and regulatory agencies have determined to be dangerous or toxic. Proponents of this hypothesis have dubbed the implicated chemicals \u201cendocrine disruptors.\u201d

Many chemicals can exert toxic effects at high levels of exposure. Regulatory agencies set exposure limits for chemicals intended to protect even sensitive people from adverse effects due to chemical exposure, and few people are ever exposed to chemicals at levels above these safety limits. But proponents of additional regulatory safeguards believe that hormonally active chemicals could cause harm even at very low exposure levels. They observe that:

Studies in the early 1990s raised concerns over whether synthetic chemicals were causing widespread harm through endocrine disruption. Researchers in Europe published a study reporting that average human sperm counts had declined by more than 40 percent between 1938 and 1990. Other researchers reported that male alligators in a pesticide-contaminated Florida lake had abnormally small penises and reduced fertility. A breast cancer study reported that a group of women with breast cancer had higher average levels of the