Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
are found in the environment. They are ubiquitous in modern life, found
in plastic bottles, cosmetics, some toys, hair conditioners, and fragrances.
At least forty chemical compounds used in pesticides, and many in pre-
scription medications, are known to be endocrine disrupters. Among the
harmful effects these chemicals are known to cause are sexual and repro-
ductive anomalies, which have been documented in studies of rats, toads,
mice, fi sh, dogs, panthers, reptiles, polar bears, and birds. In the Potomac
River watershed near the nation's capital, more than 80 percent of male
smallmouth bass are producing eggs.
In 2008, research showed that humans are affected as well.
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Among
the most common endocrine disrupters are chemicals called phthalates,
which suppress male hormones and sometimes mimic female hormones.
Boys born to women exposed to widespread chemicals in pregnancy have
smaller and imperfect penises and feminized genitals. They also have a
shorter distance between their anus and genitalia, a classic sign of femi-
nization. A study in Holland showed that boys whose mothers had been
exposed to PCBs grew up wanting to play with dolls and tea sets rather
than with traditionally male toys. As expressed by Gwynne Lyons, an
advisor to the British government on the health effects of chemicals, “The
basic male tool kit is under threat.” If terrorists were putting phthalates
in our drinking water, we would be galvanized to defend ourselves, but
we seem less concerned when we are poisoning ourselves.
Sperm counts are dropping precipitously. Studies in more than twenty
countries have shown that they have dropped by 60 percent over fi fty
years.
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There is also some evidence that endometriosis, a gynecological dis-
order, is linked to exposure to endocrine disrupters. Researchers also
suspect that the disrupters can cause early puberty in girls.
Women in communities heavily polluted with gender benders in
Canada, Russia, and Italy have given birth to twice as many girls as boys,
which may offer a clue to the reason for a mysterious shift in sex ratios
worldwide. Normally 106 boys are born for every 100 girls, but the ratio
is slipping. It has been calculated that over the years, 250,000 babies
who would have been boys have been born as girls instead in the United
States and Japan alone.
In June 2009, the Endocrine Society, an organization of scientists
specializing in this fi eld, issued a landmark fi fty-page warning to
Americans.
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“We present evidence that endocrine disrupters have effects
on male and female reproduction, breast development and cancer,
prostate cancer, neuroendocrinology, thyroid metabolism and obesity,
