Posted on 05/28/2005 10:35:44 AM PDT by neverdem
Widely used industrial compounds, called phthalates, are linked by researchers to changes in the reproductive organs of male infants.
Scientists studying the effects of hormone-mimicking chemicals on humans have reported that compounds called phthalates, used in plastics and beauty products and widely found in people, seem to alter the reproductive organs of baby boys.
In the first study of humans exposed in the womb to phthalates, the researchers, who examined the genitalia of male babies and toddlers, found a strong relationship between the chemicals and subtle changes in the size and anatomy of the children's genitals. Phthalates are ubiquitous compounds used as softeners in plastics and to maintain color and fragrance in beauty products such as nail polish and perfume, among other uses.
It is the first time that scientists have shown that any industrial compound measured in mothers' bodies seems to disrupt the reproductive systems of their babies.
But many experts, including the authors of the report published today in the online version of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, say that more research must be done to determine if the genital abnormalities in the boys lead to fertility or health problems and to prove that they are caused by phthalates.
The findings were based on tests of 85 mothers and sons, averaging nearly 13 months of age, born in Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Columbia, Mo. Mothers with the highest levels of chemicals in their urine late in their pregnancies had babies with a cluster of effects. The span between anus and penis, called anogenital distance, was comparatively short, and the infants had smaller penises and scrotums and more instances of incomplete descent of testicles.
Medical experts do not know whether babies with those physical characteristics will later develop reproductive problems. But in newborn animals, laboratory studies show that...
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.
The study is the strongest evidence yet that man-made chemicals in the environment can feminize male babies in the womb. This cannot be a good thing ...
At least they are near San Francisco.
I bet the feminists are loving it too!
Is there anything NORMAL in California!!?? How can studies even think of using NORMAL and CALIFORNIA in the same sentence??
ping
More bad science from the left...the presence of plasticizers in plastics is well understood, Diethylhexylphathate (DEHP) being the main item in PVC. EnviroWackos not only want to ban PVC but CHLORINE as well...
Getting back to the plasticizers, studies have shown that a very small population of male neonated, especially PREMATURE males, can receive some higher levels of DEHP when they are chronically infused with lipid (fat) containing nutritionals. This means months and months at a time in order to provide nutrition for the infant...
The FDA has already said that the typical dextrose and saline IV products DO NOT contribute to this situation.
Other sources of plasticizers in plastics can be absorbed if you suck on plastics...day after day after day after day..you get the idea.
In other news...oxygen has been determined to be a dangerous gas and should not be used near open flame....otherwise use another solvent, dyhydrogen oxide to reduce the rate of oxidation.
That is all..
"Environmental Health Perspectives" has a long history of publishing environmental scare articles that later turn out to have been based on bad data AND/OR that later turn out to be non-replicable by anyone other than the authors of the initial paper.
Steven J. Milloy, who runs the Junk Science website calls the journal a "health scare oriented journal." I concur.
For the truth about pthalates and bisphenol-A (BPA), please read Mr. Milloy's article here:
http://www.canadafreepress.com/2005/milloy042505.htm
Here's a key snippet:
"Fifty years of experience and a lot of scientific examination of BPA indicate it’s safe — so what’s behind the AB319 scare?
The short answer is the same folks who were behind the 1990s scare about so-called “endocrine disruptors.” They’re led by University of Missouri activist-researcher Frederick vom Saal who claims that BPA is a “phenomenally potent sex hormone” that acts like “birth control pills."
But vom Saal has previously made scientific claims that are not only unsubstantiated, but incapable of being substantiated.
In 2001, for example, he claimed that his experiments on laboratory mice supposedly showed that very low doses of some chemicals — thousands of times lower than safety standards — increased prostate weight in male mice and advanced puberty in female mice.
No other laboratory was able to reproduce vom Saal's work — and reproducibility of experimental data is a prerequisite for results to be considered “scientific.”
Vom Saal also guaranteed that his work would never be reproduced.
His experiments involved a unique strain of mice that he inbred in his laboratory for about 20 years. When the mice stopped producing the results he wanted, he killed them. Without the same strain of mouse, vom Saal's experiments can't be reproduced by others and his work can't be thoroughly evaluated."
You can read more about Steve Milloy at the Junk Science website.
jas3
Sounds more like a case of shrinkage to me.
Thanks for the link. Did anyone notify PETA?
<< ... "the researchers" ... examined the genitalia of male babies and toddlers .....
[For]
.... Genital abnormalities in boys? Feh. This proves that the military-industrial complex is a front for multinational corporations whose sole purpose is to conspire against Michael Jackson's monkey! >>
Took the very words FRom me mouth!
At least, that graphic is not a good thing. . .
Hey, before they conspire against your monkey, spread the word.
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