Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) exert weakly hormonal effects, however there are also unexpected effects due to ancillary toxic actions Therefore, it is important to distinguish specific neuroendocrine impacts of EDCs and the risk that field relevant exposures have for wild populations The Japanese quail provides a precocial avian model, which is sexually differentiated prior to hatch. Of particular concern are potential effects of EDCs on neural targets from embryonic exposure and subsequent impact on reproductive function in adults Because birds maternally deposit EDCs into their eggs, we compared the effects of early embryonic injection of estradiol, androgen-ic compounds, or atrazine, a highly utilized herbicide on hypothalamic neuroendocrine systems and behavior.
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