EPA will test pesticides for effect on hormones

The Environmental Protection Agency announced that it will "order the manufacturers of 67 pesticides to test whether their products disrupt the hormonal system of humans or animals," writes Matthew Wald of The New York Times. Congress passed a bill in 1996 requiring such tests but the EPA took years to develop the tests.

"The agency said that the 67 pesticides were chosen because humans and animals are widely exposed to them, not because they are necessarily the most likely disruptors of endocrinal functions," adds Wald. In all 1,000 substances will be tested and manufacturers are supposed to return the results within a year. (Read more)