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Chemicals in Everyday Products Turning Boys Into Girls?
Christopher Gavigan
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
(Originally published by Christopher Gavigan for The Huffington Post)
A new report from the Danish Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) highlights the critical risks facing toddlers from gender bending chemicals in everyday products. Chemicals like phthalates (found in PVC and fragrances), parabens (found in lotions and sunscreens), and pesticides are increasingly being linked to hormone disruption – and two year olds have more in their blood than any previous generations.
What does it mean?
• Today’s boys have less sperm. Sperm counts are falling so fast that young men are about half as fertile as their fathers (and have about one-third the amount of sperm per milliliter as a hamster if you care to compare.)
• More boys are playing like girls. The DEFRA report highlights research from Rotterdam's Erasmus University that found that boys whose mothers were exposed to certain hormone disruptors were more likely to dress up in girl’s clothes and play with dolls and tea sets.
• Fewer boys are being born. According to coverage of the report in the Telegraph, "A Canadian Indian community living on ancestral lands at the eastern tip of Lake Huron, hemmed in by one of the biggest agglomerations of chemical factories on earth, gives birth to twice as many girls as boys. It's the same around Seveso in Italy, contaminated with dioxins from a notorious accident in the 1970s, and among Russian pesticide workers. And there's more evidence from places as far apart as Israel and Taiwan, Brazil and the Arctic.”
• Boys’ unmentionables are getting smaller. Scientists at the University of Rochester in New York discovered that boys born to women exposed to phthalates had smaller penises and other feminization of the genitals.
Many of the chemicals being criticized have received their fair share of criticism in the past. What’s new about this report is the emphasis on “chemical cocktails” – or the fact that these chemicals mixed together are far worse than they are alone. And, this is how we are exposed to them – in mixtures from our everyday environments – not isolated like they are often tested in the laboratory. Beyond the machismo these occurrences may invoke in many a male, the overwhelming concern is the threat to reproduction.
What can you do?
Reduce your exposure to hormone disruptors like pesticides, plasticizers, and chemically-laden personal care products.
• Eat organic food, whenever possible. Some of the offending chemicals mentioned in this report are stored in fat. So if you eat meat, choose low-fat cuts and remove excess fat. Also, choose low-fat dairy products.
• Avoid using plastic containers, especially for food and beverages. Use glass or stainless steel instead.
• Find safer personal care products. Cut back on how many and how much you use. And, maybe even try making your own (simple olive oil makes a wonderful skin moisturizer).
• Avoid using pesticides. Don’t give pests food or shelter. Clean up spills immediately, fix leaks, repair cracks, and mend torn screens. Yank weeds or pour boiling water on them instead of resorting to herbicides.
• Find safer toys, teethers and clothes for your family. Help friends out, too by sharing some handy, pocket-sized shopping guides.
Posted by lbliss on 12/11/2009 at 12:32 PM
I have always been sensitive to plastic. I don’t like being around it. I discovered that wrapping left over food in wax paper preserved it much longer. And it’s a lot better for the environment. I also started to collect glass bottles to store food in, instead of using the plastic containers. I also have a sensitivity to artificial clothing. My skin literally crawls when I have synthetic clothing on.
Posted by Tonie on 12/03/2009 at 02:24 PM
Great article. Gives me more reason to insist my kids have their homes green . The best are the first. We used all natural things growing up, except Clorox, and that is the worst. I cannot stand the smell of that stuff since I have purged it from my life.
Tonie
Posted by Jackie Lombardo on 12/03/2009 at 11:34 AM
Excellent article! Very worthwhile knowledge, not only for prevention and protection of our kids and ourselves, but perhaps for re-thinking the shame and blame that society puts on “pink boys” for *choosing* to be pink. Science sheds light that there may be something else, other than choice, going on.
Jackie
Posted by Lucy on 11/20/2009 at 07:11 PM
Thanks for all of the great info you continue to provide. I love to share your articles with my friends and continue to advocate for safer products, going green, buying organic and being informed consumers overall !! :)
Lucy Accardo
Mother of Four
www.MyKidsAreMyBoss.com
Going Green, One Family At A Time
Posted by Christopher Gavigan on 11/13/2009 at 04:49 PM
I’m very sorry you found this information offensive - in no way was it meant to denigrate anyone. We just report the scientific findings - and they are what they are. All over in the scientific literature these days are studies on the “feminization of boys” from exposure to endocrine disruptors. I suppose there are fewer “masculinization of girls” studies simply because most of the synthetic chemical hormones found in our everyday products act like estrogen and not testosterone.
Again, this information is not presented to malign anyone for being who they are. If the studies showed that chemicals were making light-skinned people turn dark-skinned, we would report that and have no judgement towards the color of someone’s skin. We are simply highlighting that chemicals are impacting our health and development.
ctg
Posted by Lisa on 11/12/2009 at 05:10 PM
As the mother of a “pink boy”, I find this article incredibly irresponsible and it is presented in a way that I find offensive. While I agree that removing pthalates is a good idea (I’m not against that), I object to the way this article suggests there is something wrong with a “pink boy”. As if it’s a birth defect.
Posted by Christopher Gavigan on 11/11/2009 at 06:35 PM
Another strong and shocking video: The Disappearing Male
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=7530701744597358451&ei=ndU-Sc-KFZ-QiQL369XeBQ&q=the+disappearing+male#
ctg
Posted by Christopher Gavigan on 11/11/2009 at 04:33 PM
Here’s an educational video by highly regarded Dr. Theo Colborn about Endocrine Disruption - very worthwhile.
http://www.endocrinedisruption.com/endocrine.videoplayer.php
ctg
Posted by Tiffany@Mommy Goes Green on 11/11/2009 at 09:35 AM
Great info - this is the kind of information that helps convince my husband of the changes we’ve made in our household. He doesn’t want our son getting too girly on him!
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Posted by Good For You Girls on 02/01/2010 at 03:04 PM
Yes, boys are at as much risk as girls. We will share with our followers to help spread the word. Keep up the good work!
Best!
Kim Grustas
Founder/Owner
Good For You Girls