'Gender-bending' chemicals found to 'feminise' boys

New Scientist ^ | 27 May 2005 | Andy Coghlan

[Lorianne]

“Gender-bending” chemicals mimicking the female hormone oestrogen can disrupt the development of baby boys, suggests the first evidence linking certain chemicals in everyday plastics to effects in humans.

The chemicals implicated are phthalates, which make plastics more pliable in many cosmetics, toys, baby-feeding bottles and paints and can leak into water and food.

All previous studies suggesting these chemicals blunt the influence of the male hormone testosterone on healthy development of males have been in animals. “This research highlights the need for tougher controls of gender-bending chemicals,” says Gwynne Lyons, toxics adviser to the WWF, UK. Otherwise, “wildlife and baby boys will be the losers”.

The incriminating findings came from a study of 85 baby boys born to women exposed to everyday levels of phthalates during pregnancy. It was carried out by Shanna Swan at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, New York, US, and colleagues.

As an index of feminisation, she measured the “anogenital distance” (AGD) between the anus and to the base of the penis. She also measured the volume of each boy’s penis. Earlier studies have shown that the AGD is twice in boys what it is in girls, mainly because in boys the hormone testosterone extends the length of the perineum separating the anus from the testicles.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

Marijuana is the most effective chemical warfare agent to feminize men... look at how the pot head males act... just like a woman who has PMS...

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

Yep... marijuana does not help testosterone either...

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

I said the same (or related) petroleum-based chemical compounds used to manufacture plastics are also found in personal care products.

Yes. Propylene glycol, methylparaben, butylphenyl, isobutylparaben, propylparaben...

[MamaTexan]

Yes. Propylene glycol, methylparaben, butylphenyl, isobutylparaben, propylparaben

Yep. Pretty bad when you need a chemistry degree to understand the ingredients listed on the back of the shampoo bottle.

:-)

[khnyny]

Mutant fish (and other species) are occurring at an alarming rate. The fish "bioaccumulate" these substances, so it is natural that fish would be one of the first species to exhibit more dramatic "changes". The chemicals which have been introduced into the ecosystems haven't been around all that long, (only since the industrial age) and the effects short and long term are not completely known.

[Male Bass Across Region Found to Be Bearing Eggs
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/05/AR2006090501384.html
Abnormally developed fish, possessing both male and female characteristics, have been discovered in the Potomac River in the District and in tributaries across the region, federal scientists say -- raising alarms that the river is tainted by pollution that drives hormone systems haywire.

The fish, smallmouth and largemouth bass, are naturally males but for some reason are developing immature eggs inside their sex organs. Their discovery at such widely spread sites, including one just upstream from the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, seems to show that the Potomac's problem with "intersex" fish extends far beyond the West Virginia stream where they were first found in 2003.]

[Pharmwaste] Sewage Altering Fish, Study Reports (CA)
http://lists.dep.state.fl.us/pipermail/pharmwaste/2005-November/000294.html

Scientists around the world have found sexual abnormalities in frogs, fish, alligators and other wild animals exposed to sewage effluent and industrial contaminants that mimic estrogens and other hormones. But the latest research in the waters off Southern California is among the first to find such effects in ocean creatures.


Mutant fish found in Colorado rivers
http://www.vaildaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041111/NEWS/111110013

[MamaTexan]

The fish "bioaccumulate" these substances, so it is natural that fish would be one of the first species to exhibit more dramatic "changes".

Yep, and so do we.

Here's a good site to find out about personal care products:
Skin Deep

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Here's one for household products:
NIH Household Products Database

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Household products and food additives:
What's in the stuff we buy?

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While the FDA regulates food and drugs, it does NOT regulate the personal care products industry.

[gonzo]

"...It wasn't really PET I was referring to, it was benzene, phenols, formaldehyde and other petroleum derived pesticide/antibacterial compounds..."

Plastics! --- Correctemundo!

You must live near somewhere near the refinerys in Texas, or you're a Chem Engineer!

I started in Plastics 10 years before 'The Graduate', and I've been blessed to be able to work with just about everything used today. Our website needs work, buy my troops are too busy these days.

Stay well armed and safe, Mama..............FRegards

[MamaTexan]

You must live near somewhere near the refinerys in Texas, or you're a Chem Engineer!

LOL! I did work in the plastic industry for a few years, but my knowledge comes mostly from having my hands eaten by chemicals in the soaps and plastic gloves I used at work. I guess you could call it knowledge gained in the interest of self-preservation. :-)

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Our website needs work, but my troops are too busy these days.

'Under Construction', the bane of every website. LOL!

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It was nice to speak with you, gonzo.

Stay safe, stay warm (brrrr Indiana), and keep taking pleasure in your work!

Regards,
Mama Texan

[khnyny]

thanks for links.

[MamaTexan]

thanks for links.

My pleasure. If you're trying to avoid specific chemicals, though, my best advice is go organic!

[geopyg]

I think this has been going on with democrats for some time now - the distance has shortened so much that they now have their heads up their asses.

[VRWCmember]

I suggest that we dose the water in San Francisco with substantial levels of trinoacetol, and wait to see if it has any effect.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Get back to me when there is an actual peer reviewed study done.

By the way. Here is an article about an actual study you might find interesting.

A Whale's Tale: Puzzling marine compounds are natural

If you want to read the actual study the article references you will have to sign up with Science Direct. I find it well worth it to have access to actual studies rather then the hysterical blathering of journalists who have a tendency to be shall we say, flexible? in their handling of facts.

[gonzo]

"...Stay safe, stay warm (brrrr Indiana), and keep taking pleasure in your work!..."

Don't tell anyone, but I live in Florida now. Only go back for important Customers and parties. Stay well - I'm goin' fishin', in my back yard!

[khnyny]

I think you haven't researched what you're talking about thoroughly.

BTW, I find that journalists aren't the only ones who like to stay "flexible", oftentimes it's people in the scientific community and/or lobbyist groups, lol.

[Old_Mil]

They certainly are desperate to try and come up with any sort of scientific basis for homosexuality, aren't they.

[gonzo]

"...I suggest that we dose the water in San Francisco with substantial levels of 'trinoacetol', and wait to see if it has any effect..."

Now that's funny! ...........FRegards

[gathersnomoss]

Shouldn't Kerry be behind the plate?

[VRWCmember]

Well, trinoacetol is the best preventative measure for avoiding AIDS.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

I actually have.

But you believe what you like. But understand, it is not knowing it is simply belief with nothing under it.

I prefer something that has been proven true.

Sometime scientist do indeed shade their findings. That is where peer review is helpful. A non repeatable experiment is interesting but basically worthless. Which is why "Our Swollen Bank Account" is worthless and the Swan study referenced in the malarkey above is the same.

Once subjected to review they proved to be unrepeatable.

But journalist often out and out lie about what the findings and conclusions of studies are. It isn't just in environmental studies either.

More then once I have read an article and then read the study referenced and found that the two do not match.