[Pharmwaste] A World Without Men

[Tenace, Laurie]

A World Without Men 
http://wholelifetimes.com/2008/02/healthyliving0802.html

Gender-bending industrial chemicals are skewing the birth ratio in favor of
baby girls. Could a world without men be a few short generations away?
By Elizabeth Barker
Last summer a team of Scandinavian scientists announced that twice as many
girls as boys are being born in the Arctic, a region said to serve as a
"pollution sink" for the rest of the planet. Earlier in the year a report
from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences determined that
the ratio of male-to-female births has substantially dropped in the United
States and Japan, yielding about 250,000 fewer boys than would have been born
had the sex ratio circa 1970 endured. In both cases, researchers pegged
environmental exposures as a probable factor in the shortage of boy births.

As more and more research reveals a decline in the number of bouncing baby
boys born each year, scientists are zeroing in on a class of synthetic
chemicals known as endocrine disruptors. Including plastic ingredients like
phthalates and bisphenol-A, these commonplace compounds are known to mimic
female hormones and thwart the production of testosterone, explains Shanna
Swan, Ph.D., director of the Center for Reproductive Epidemiology at the
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. So far, most
studies have focused on how endocrine-disrupting chemicals can affect the
reproductive systems of animals. But in 2005 the journal Environmental Health
Perspectives published Swan's findings that - among a group of 85
mother-and-son pairs - boys whose moms had high levels of phthalates were
more likely to show signs of "demasculinization" (such as a shorter distance
between the anus and the genitals and incompletely descended testicles).
What's more, that recent report from the Arctic detected high levels of
hormone-mimicking pollutants in the blood of pregnant women throughout Inuit
villages with an excess of female births.

"Every month there is another study that suggests all these different
endpoints may be the same problem," says Charlotte Brody, R.N., executive
director of Commonweal, a Bolinas, California-based nonprofit health and
environmental research institute. And baby boys aren't the only population
threatened by endocrine disruptors: In another study published in
Environmental Health Perspectives (released last year), University of
Rochester environmental health researcher Richard Stahlhut, M.D., linked
abdominal obesity and insulin resistance (two conditions associated with low
testosterone levels) to phthalate exposure in men. Women and girls,
meanwhile, face increased incidence of premature puberty, infertility and
breast cancer - all of which could be related in part to chemicals that
interrupt hormonal signaling, according to Brody.

Like about 95 percent of all synthetic chemicals used in the United States,
most endocrine disruptors were never tested for their impact on human health
- or on the environment - before turning up in our baby bottles, plastic wrap
and perfume. "What we need in this country is a government that will protect
us from all these dangerous chemicals, but instead there's no one minding the
store," says Brody. Stahlhut likens the current system to the pre-FDA, "wild
wild west" days of the pharmaceutical industry, when there was little to no
regulation of drugs and therapeutic products. "I'd like for us to do better
than that," he laments. "But if you look at any health hazards we've already
learned about - whether it's lead or smoking - there's always been exposure
for decades and decades before someone says, 'Oh, look, there's a problem
here.'"

Perhaps most readily associated with pesticides and plastics, endocrine
disruptors are found in a dizzying array of everyday items, from laundry
detergent and lipstick to water bottles and children's toys. With studies
showing that the gender-bending chemicals may pose the greatest risk during
prenatal and early postnatal development, environmental organizations like
Healthy Child, Healthy World (HCHW) urge parents - and parents-to-be - to
curb their exposure to known endocrine disruptors such as phthalates.
"Children have increased vulnerability because their ability to detoxify
isn't as strong as the average adult's, and because their organ systems are
still developing," explains Christopher Gavigan, HCHW executive director and
author of the upcoming book Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Greener,
Cleaner, Safer Home. "Pregnant women are incredibly vulnerable as well, since
phthalates can enter the womb or be delivered later through breast milk." 

"Cutting back on plastic is key," says Gavigan. "The more natural materials
you have in your home, the better off your family is," Brody concurs. "That
goes for what you cook in, what you eat from, what your bed and your couch
are made from." To keep away from pesticides, eat organic whenever possible,
seek out gentler means of pest management and take off your shoes at the door
so you don't track in chemicals from outside. Using non-toxic cleaners is
another smart step, according to Brody. "The notion that a product has to
take your breath away to be strong enough to get your house clean is just a
Madison-Avenue-created bad idea for your health," she says.

Still, most enviro-experts warn that endocrine disruptors are ultimately
inescapable. "Even though I recommend choosing PVC-free, phthalate-free
products whenever possible, I can't say conclusively that it will
significantly reduce your exposure," says Swan. "These chemicals are so
pervasive, and you're probably not going to be able to eliminate them from
your food, drinking water, house dust and air." Brody agrees that although
her clean-and-green strategies serve as "little things that may make us a bit
safer," exposure to endocrine disruptors isn't a problem that can be remedied
through individual action. "The bigger issue is that we need a government
that punishes companies that make harmful products and rewards those that
don't," she says.

While national groups such as Women's Health and the Environment 
(womenshealthandenvironment.org) are heading up critical awareness-building
and action campaigns to protect consumers against troublesome chemicals, the
most sweeping change has taken place beyond U.S. borders. Last year the
European Commission, for instance, enacted the REACH program, through which
all chemicals sold across the continent are now safety-tested before hitting
the market. "Like with climate change, the question is whether or not we're
going to let other countries take the lead," says Brody. "Either we're in the
way or we're out of the way."

Since the United States. isn't likely to get its own REACH program any time
soon, Stahlhut suggests "keeping Zen" while taking care to cut any avoidable
chemical exposure. "Given the way the current model works - where the
industry invents a new class of chemicals, turns it loose, and then 20 years
later someone asks if it's safe - it's important to choose less exposure when
possible, without being paranoid," he says. In other words, don't panic or
slip into despair anytime you end up sipping from a plastic bottle - but go
for glass whenever you can. "I think we should certainly be upset about the
way these things are handled and fight for a change," Stahlhut continues.
"But we also have to understand that this is the world we're living in, and
it's very imperfect. It's not an environment that allows us to be completely
clean, but we can always try to be cleaner."

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 

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