最近的科学证据提醒公共卫生官员、环境科学家和饮用水行业，在环境中发现的各种各样的人造和天然化学物质会扰乱鱼类、野生动物，甚至可能是人类的内分泌系统。其中一些化学物质的特征是雌激素，即产生与天然雌激素相同效果的化合物。雌激素化合物已通过测试确定，表明该化合物与雌激素受体结合并引发反应。 其中许多化合物存在于水生系统中，包括烷基酚聚氧乙烯酯（表面活性剂）、邻苯二甲酸酯（增塑剂）、天然雌激素（即17β-雌二醇和雌酮）和合成雌激素17α-乙炔基雌二醇（在口服避孕药中发现），以及一些有机氯农药和工业化学品，如二恶英和多氯联苯（PCBs）。目前尚不清楚饮用水源或成品饮用水中是否存在或在多大程度上存在雌激素化合物。 在由美国水厂研究基金会资助的研究中，威斯康星国家卫生实验室正在对来源和饮用水进行全国性调查，以确定具有雌激素活性的水域。我们正在使用两种生物检测方法:E-Screen，一种基于细胞培养的检测方法，其中乳腺癌细胞系在雌激素化合物的作用下增殖；还有一项生物测试，使用直接暴露在水中的雄性鱼类。报告了这些研究的初步结果。包括9个参考文献、图表。

Recent scientific evidence has alerted public health officials, environmental scientists and the drinking water industry that a diverse array of man-made and natural chemicals found in the environment can disrupt the endocrine systems of fish, wildlife, and possibly humans. Some of these chemicals are characterized as estrogenic, i.e., compounds that produce the same effects as naturally occurring estrogens. Estrogenic compounds have been identified using tests that indicate the compound binds to the estrogen receptor and elicits a response. Many of these compounds are found in aquatic systems, including alkylphenol polyethoxylates (surfactants), phthalates (plasticizers), natural estrogens (i.e., 17beta-estradiol and estrone) and the synthetic estrogen 17alpha-ethynylestradiol (found in the oral contraceptive pill), and some organochlorine pesticides and industrial chemicals such as dioxin and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). It is not known whether or to what degree estrogenic compounds are found in drinking water sources or in finished drinking water. In research funded by the American Water Works Research Foundation, the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene is conducting a national survey of source and finished drinking waters to identify waters with estrogenic activity. We are using two biological assays: the E-Screen, a cell culture based assay in which a breast cancer cell line proliferates in response to estrogenic compounds; and, a bioassay that uses male fish directly exposed in water. The initial results of these studies are reported. Includes 9 references, figures.