[Pharmwaste] IVF Feared in Defects

Tenace, Laurie Laurie.Tenace at dep.state.fl.us
Thu Apr 26 09:07:42 EDT 2007


We are all looking for a human connection to pharmaceuticals in water. This
article shows how difficult it will be to tweeze one cause from a possible
multitude of causes for human health problems. 

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/national/ivf-link-feared-in-defects/2007
/04/25/1177459788215.html

IVF Feared in Defects

THE number of boys born with genital defects has risen by more than 50 per
cent in the past two decades, leading researchers to speculate that in-vitro
fertilisation drugs, airborne pollution or agricultural chemicals are playing
havoc with hormone levels of male foetuses.

By 2000, one in 118 boys in Western Australia was born with hypospadias, in
which the opening of the penis forms on its underside rather than its tip.
The incidence - which probably reflects the true rate of the condition
nationwide - is more than double that acknowledged in NSW's state data
collection.

Although hypospadias can be corrected with surgery and is usually considered
a relatively minor malformation, the rapid increase in the hormone-linked
condition was of serious concern, said Natasha Nassar, a research fellow at
the respected Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, who collated the
figures from West Australian state health records.

Sex hormone imbalances during foetal development were also linked to
undescended testicles, testicular cancer and low sperm count later in life.

"These conditions are considered to represent a syndrome ... as they have
been found to share a common origin of lowered [male hormone] production," Dr
Nassar wrote in the medical



journal Archives of Disease in Childhood.

Her results are the strongest evidence yet of endocrine disruption in humans
in Australia.

Worldwide, pollutants that derail genital development have been linked to
falling fish and reptile populations, while scientists continue to debate
whether sperm counts are lower compared with earlier generations.

As well, Dr Nassar recorded a growing proportion of more severe hypospadias
during the study period, and an increasing likelihood that an affected baby
would also have other defects.

This suggested imbalances at seven to 14 weeks of pregnancy - which overload
a developing male foetus with oestrogen or deprive it of testosterone - might
have damaging effects on development generally rather than just on sex
organs.

Dr Nassar said growth in more severe cases - which doubled during the two
decades - meant there had been "a real increase in the rate of hypospadias
and not just an increase or change in reporting of mild cases".

Although the study could not identify causes for the abnormal development, Dr
Nassar said air pollution, pesticides and the use of potent drugs in assisted
reproduction treatment were possible contributors to the problem.

Another theory blamed maternal diets high in soy protein, which promotes
oestrogen production, though Dr Nassar emphasised there was no direct
evidence for this. The next step would be to analyse affected boys' records -
stripped of names and addresses for privacy reasons - to identify other
patterns.

"We'll see whether there's a higher number among siblings, in bigger babies
or smaller babies, urban versus rural," Dr Nassar told the Herald.

Mothers' occupations would be analysed for possible chemical links.

The WA findings are more reliable than other Australian statistics because WA
links surgery records to a state-wide birth defects register and collects
data for children aged up to six rather than just for newborns whose
abnormalities may not yet be apparent.

Laurie J. Tenace
Environmental Specialist
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
2600 Blair Stone Road, MS 4555
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2400
PH: (850) 245-8759
FAX: (850) 245-8811
Laurie.Tenace at dep.state.fl.us 

Mercury web pages:
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/mercury/default.htm

Unwanted Medications web pages:
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/medications/default.htm




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