Her ground-breaking investigations on chemical contamination recognized that looking only at the cancers that resulted from exposure was masking a large part of the problem because, in the case of toxic chemicals, cancers were often the result of higher exposures. Once she started to include non-cancer disease, a pattern formed and she found, to her surprise, that low doses given over a longer time were responsible for more subtle, non-fatal, but still very damaging health impacts. These non-cancer effects included reproductive and neurological abnormalities, low-birth weight and premature birth.
Colborn’s realization that low doses of endocrine disrupters, delivered at just the wrong time, can cause non-fatal, non-cancer disease, mirrors an uncomfortable truth in radiation protection: there is a lack of focus on the impact of small, long-term doses on the developing child and other sensitive populations. Studies that have been conducted showing disruption of the birth gender ratio, thyroid abnormalities, and cardiovascular disease, have been minimized or ignored and remain unincorporated fully into protection regulations. This remains true even for some types of cancers like childhood leukemia. Dr. Colborn has expanded the way science and society examines the impact of endocrine disrupting chemicals, and public health will be better for it. In demonstrating that fresh methods were needed to assess chemical damage, she has shown us that, likewise, different methods of assessment for radiation damage are needed for much the same reasons. This is just one of the many gifts she has left us. And we are eternally grateful.
Our Stolen Future, a chemical contamination detective story written by Dr. Theo Colborn, “brought world-wide attention to scientific discoveries about endocrine disruption and the fact that common contaminants can interfere with the natural signals controlling development of the fetus.”