ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION The array of chemicals in the environment has increased exponentially in the last century with the widespread use of a range of chemicals for agriculture, industry, medicine, and residential use. Many of these chemicals, especially pesticides, herbicides, or phytochemicals have structural attributes which enable the compounds to interact with physiological systems. These endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) often interact with endocrine and neuroendocrine systems by mimicking hormones. As such, EDCs can affect hormone sensitive neural systems, organs, and tissues including those from the immune and stress axes as recent evidence suggests. Many of these compounds are also toxicologically active and as such have additional deleterious actions on physiological systems. Investigations of EDCs have been conducted in a variety of animal models, including invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, fi sh, birds, and rodents. In addition, there has been increased attention on short-and long-term effects of early exposure to EDCs, especially in terms of lifetime impacts. Specifi cally, if early EDC exposure affects developmental processes, alterations are likely to subsequently infl uence physiological function in adults and aging individuals. These long-term effects during aging may be expressed as early onset neural disease, premature reproductive senescence, impaired immunocompetence, and possibly reduced lifespan. Unfortunately, few data address potential EDC effects on the process of aging. This chapter will consider the effects of embryonic EDC exposure to select estrogenic or androgen active compounds on neuroendocrine systems, behavioral responses, and immune function, with focus on data collected in avian species. Additionally, aging processes in birds, rodent models of neural disease, and non-human primates will be discussed in the context of potential effects of EDCs on age-related declines in reproductive, metabolic, or immune axes and on cognitive senescence.
