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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#000099"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/opinion/kristof-how-chemicals-change-us.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120503">http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/opinion/kristof-how-chemicals-change-us.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120503</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#000099"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<h6 style="line-height:16.8pt"><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";text-transform:uppercase">Op-Ed Columnist<o:p></o:p></span></h6>
<h1 style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";font-weight:normal">How Chemicals Affect Us<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h6 style="mso-margin-top-alt:1.5pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:1.5pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:14.4pt">
<span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:gray">By <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/nicholasdkristof/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More Articles by Nicholas D. Kristof">
NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF</a><o:p></o:p></span></h6>
<h6 style="line-height:14.4pt"><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:gray">Published: May 2, 2012
<o:p></o:p></span></h6>
<h6 style="line-height:14.4pt"><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:gray"><o:p> </o:p></span></h6>
<h6 align="right" style="margin-bottom:2.25pt;text-align:right;line-height:14.7pt">
<span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#909090">Damon Winter/The New York Times<o:p></o:p></span></h6>
<p class="caption"><span style="font-size:8.5pt">Nicholas D. Kristof <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<h3 style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:15.4pt"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Related News<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<h6 style="margin-left:0in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo2"><![if !supportLists]><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><![endif]><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif""><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/14/world/americas/14bpa.html?ref=opinion">Canada Declares BPA, a Chemical in Plastics, to Be Toxic</a> (October 14, 2010)
<o:p></o:p></span></h6>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:18.0pt"><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#333333"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:18.0pt;background:#EBF1F5"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#333333">Readers shared their thoughts on this article.</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#333333"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:0in;text-indent:-.25in;line-height:14.4pt;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3;background:#EBF1F5">
<![if !supportLists]><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#333333"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><![endif]><span style="font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/opinion/kristof-how-chemicals-change-us.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120503#comments"><span style="color:#00325B;text-decoration:none">Read
All Comments (203) »</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;line-height:17.6pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;line-height:17.6pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black">Scientists are observing with increasing alarm that some very common hormone-mimicking chemicals can have grotesque
effects. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;line-height:17.6pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black">A widely used herbicide acts as a female hormone and feminizes male animals in the wild.
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/opinion/28kristof.html" title="A June 2009 column">
<span style="color:#00325B">Thus male frogs can have female organs</span></a>, and some male fish actually produce eggs. In a Florida lake contaminated by these chemicals, male alligators have tiny penises.
</span><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;line-height:17.6pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black">These days there is also growing evidence linking this class of chemicals to problems in humans. These include breast
cancer, infertility, low sperm counts, genital deformities, early menstruation and even diabetes and obesity.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;line-height:17.6pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black"><a href="http://www.mssm.edu/profiles/philip-j-landrigan"><span style="color:#00325B">Philip Landrigan</span></a>,
a professor of pediatrics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, says that a congenital defect called hypospadias — a misplacement of the urethra — is now twice as common among newborn boys as it used to be. He suspects
<a href="http://www.endocrinedisruption.com/home.php" title="More information here">
<span style="color:#00325B">endocrine disruptors</span></a>, so called because they can wreak havoc with the endocrine system that governs hormones.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;line-height:17.6pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/16/opinion/16kristof.html" title="A July 2009 column"><span style="color:#00325B">Endocrine
disruptors are everywhere</span></a>. They’re in thermal receipts that come out of gas pumps and A.T.M.’s. They’re in canned foods, cosmetics, plastics and food packaging. Test your blood or urine, and you’ll surely find them there, as well as in human breast
milk and in cord blood of newborn babies. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;line-height:17.6pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black">In this campaign year, we are bound to hear endless complaints about excessive government regulation. But here’s an
area where scientists are increasingly critical of our government for its failure to tackle Big Chem and regulate endocrine disruptors adequately.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;line-height:17.6pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black">Last month, the
<a href="http://www.endo-society.org/"><span style="color:#00325B">Endocrine Society</span></a>, the leading association of hormone experts,
<a href="http://www.endo-society.org/media/press/2012/Endocrine-Experts-Disappointed-in-FDAs-Approach-to-BPA.cfm" title="A news release">
<span style="color:#00325B">scolded the Food and Drug Administration</span></a> for its failure to ban bisphenol-A, a common endocrine disruptor known as BPA, from food packaging. Last year, eight medical organizations representing genetics, gynecology, urology
and other fields made a joint call <a href="http://www.dbs.nus.edu.sg/lab/cons-lab/documents/Gibson_Sodhi_Science_2011.pdf">
<span style="color:#00325B">in Science magazine</span></a> for tighter regulation of endocrine disruptors.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;line-height:17.6pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black">Shouldn’t our government be as vigilant about threats in our grocery stores as in the mountains of Afghanistan?
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;line-height:17.6pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black">Researchers warn that endocrine disruptors can trigger hormonal changes in the body that may not show up for decades.
One called<a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5627698"><span style="color:#00325B"> DES</span></a>, a synthetic form of estrogen, was once routinely given to pregnant women to prevent miscarriage or morning sickness, and it did little
harm to the women themselves. But it turned out to cause vaginal cancer and breast cancer decades later in their daughters, so it is now banned.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;line-height:17.6pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black">Scientists have long known the tiniest variations in hormone levels influence fetal development. For example, a female
twin is very slightly masculinized if the other twin is a male, because she is exposed to some of his hormones. Studies have found that these female twins, on average, end up slightly more aggressive and sensation-seeking as adults but have lower rates of
eating disorders. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;line-height:17.6pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black">Now experts worry that endocrine disruptors have similar effects, acting as hormones and swamping the delicate balance
for fetuses in particular. The latest initiative by scholars is a landmark <a href="http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2012/low-doses-big-effects">
<span style="color:#00325B">78-page analysis</span></a> to be published next month in Endocrine Reviews, the leading publication in the field.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;line-height:17.6pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black">“Fundamental changes in chemical testing and safety determination are needed to protect human health,” the analysis
declares. <a href="http://www.niehs.nih.gov/about/od/director/index.cfm"><span style="color:#00325B">Linda S. Birnbaum</span></a>, the nation’s chief environmental scientist and toxicologist, endorsed the findings.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;line-height:17.6pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black">The article was written by a 12-member panel that spent three years reviewing the evidence. It concluded that the nation’s
safety system for endocrine disruptors is broken. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;line-height:17.6pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black">“For several well-studied endocrine disruptors, I think it is fair to say that we have enough data to conclude that
these chemicals are not safe for human populations,” said Laura Vandenberg, <a href="http://ase.tufts.edu/biology/labs/levin/people/currentMembers.htm">
<span style="color:#00325B">a Tufts University developmental biologist</span></a> who was the lead writer for the panel.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;line-height:17.6pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black">Worrying new research on the long-term effects of these chemicals is constantly being published. One study found that
pregnant women who have higher levels of a common endocrine disruptor, <a href="http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/newscience/2012/03/2012-0418-prebirth-PFOA-obese-women/">
<span style="color:#00325B">PFOA</span></a>, are three times as likely to have daughters who grow up to be overweight. Yet PFOA is unavoidable. It is in everything from microwave popcorn bags to carpet-cleaning solutions.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;line-height:17.6pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black">Big Chem says all this is sensationalist science. So far, it has blocked strict regulation in the United States, even
as <a href="http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/topic/bisphenol.htm"><span style="color:#00325B">Europe</span></a> and
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/14/world/americas/14bpa.html" title="A Times article">
<span style="color:#00325B">Canada</span></a> have adopted tighter controls on endocrine disruptors.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;line-height:17.6pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black">Yes, there are uncertainties. But the scientists who know endocrine disruptors best overwhelmingly are already taking
steps to protect their families. <a href="http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/Members/jpmyers/john-peterson-myers">
<span style="color:#00325B">John Peterson Myers</span></a>, chief scientist at Environmental Health Sciences and a co-author of the new analysis, said that his family had stopped buying canned food.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;line-height:17.6pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black">“We don’t microwave in plastic,” he added. “We don’t use pesticides in our house. I refuse receipts whenever I can.
My default request at the A.T.M., known to my bank, is ‘no receipt.’ I never ask for a receipt from a gas station.”
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;line-height:17.6pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black">I’m taking my cue from the experts, and I wish the Obama administration would as well.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#000099"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#000099"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy">Deborah L. DeBiasi</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy"><br>
</span><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy">Email: Deborah.DeBiasi@deq.virginia.gov</span></b><b><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:red"><br>
</span></i></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy">WEB site address:
<a href="http://www.deq.virginia.gov/">www.deq.virginia.gov</a></span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy"><br>
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy">Virginia Department of Environmental Quality</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy"><br>
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy">Office of Water Permit and Compliance Assistance Programs</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy"><br>
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy">Industrial Pretreatment/Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) Program</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy"><br>
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy">PPCPs, EDCs, and Microconstituents<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy"><a href="http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/PermittingCompliance/PollutionDischargeElimination/Microconstituents.aspx">http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/PermittingCompliance/PollutionDischargeElimination/Microconstituents.aspx</a></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy">Mail: P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA 23218</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy"><br>
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy">Location: 629 E. Main Street, Richmond, VA 23219</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy"><br>
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy">PH: 804-698-4028 FAX: 804-698-4032</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#000099"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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