You may not know the term ‘environmental hormone,’ but you may have heard of DBP, phthalates, bisphenol A or BPA……. Or these may still sound very chemical, and one may feel quite distanced from them. But how about Lavender Oil and Tea Tree Oil? There have been some interesting publications regarding environmental hormones, stating some interesting observations. Scientists often publish articles on peer-reviewed academic journals, and that often sparks discussions from the scientific community and lead to many other studies to further investigate the topic.

Here is one article to start our discussion. Follow this link of US Department of Health and Human Services, and read the National Institute of Health publication.

http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/jan2007/niehs-31.htmLinks to an external site.

Do some research and answer the following:

1. What are environmental hormones? How do they affect the human body?
2. Give two examples of environmental hormones, and discuss if those are man-made or natural, and how are they released into the environment.
3. Why was bisphenol A (BPA) used in baby bottles and water bottles?
4. Why was dibutyl phthalate (DBP) used in nail polish?

After reading the article from NIH…..

5. Is the National Institute of Health publication factual and applicable to the general public? Why or why not? Cite form the article to support your point.

Module 6 Assignment: (Pages 133-136) Complete only the numbers listed below, and submit your answers here。
If the question requires drawing of chemical structures, you may do so by taking photo pictures of your hand-drawn images or utilize any computer graphic software.
• Exercise Questions: 1, 3, 7, 11, 13, 14
• Problems: 15, 19, 21, 23, 27, 33
• Feature Problems and Projects: 45, 46