Estrogen-like Hormones in Society

A while ago, (2001), I wrote about whether toxins in the environment were interfering with the development of our children and affecting our population as whole. I have read some articles in the past that made me concerned enough where I started to look at what I ate and drank. I observed that this generation appears to be more docile than previous generations of America. The term- "emasculated" has been used to describe our society, its laws, and government. Indeed, I was concerned about our back sliding, exchanging the rights of our children for governmental privileges, and not vigorously standing up for what we believe in. I read enough about our great grand parents and their fathers to believe that they were more aggressive than the generations today. It appeared that even the children looked and acted differently than today.

One observation I made of Americans today is the noticeable increase in obesity, especially with our young, believing most of it was from inactivity playing Nintendo and watching television. A few interesting facts puzzled me though. One being the well-reported decrease in sperm count of males in this country. Another interesting fact is that America has the highest cancer rate in the world. Yet another fact was that females were going through puberty on average two or more years earlier than generations before. Although, I had no proof, it appeared to me that more boys were "late bloomers" than before too. It wasn't only this I observed, but it appeared more boys were fatter than ever as well. When my generation was growing up, most of us kids were as "skinny as a rail." There were only a couple of kids that were over weight that I can remember. Of course, kids today are on the computer and playing computer games. I have to literally kick my son out of the house sometimes so he gets fresh air. Computers are something we didn't have growing up. So, we made our fun else where like swimming and riding bikes all over town. Even with computer games, it still didn't add up for why kids are so obese these days. Children typically have a much higher metabolism than adults do. Sitting around doesn't necessarily mean becoming fat. I certainly did my fair share of laying around the house watching television growing up. Most of us were skinny kids. Not so with kids today though.

A while ago, I remember reading about a puzzling event in Florida where there was found to be a disproportionately higher rate of female alligators. This was attributed to estrogen-like chemicals in fertilizer and pesticides leaching into the waterways. I reasoned that this had to be harmful for the people of Florida drinking this water. In addition, it made me wonder how widespread the problem was. Could we have the same problem here in Minnesota? I remember the drought Minnesota had in 1989 when the water table levels were very low. The drinking water tasted terrible. I could distinctly smell boat fuel and "marsh water" in the potable water. This is when I started to drink bottled water never again to drink from city tap water. Another story I recall reading was a bizarre story about a man vacationing in the Virgin Islands. It was stated he "lived on" chicken and bourbon while he was down there. Bourbon contains a natural androgen suppressant that affects the production of testosterone in men. The chicken he consumed contained estrogen-like growth hormones farmers use to make them develop faster. Well, the story goes on to say that the man complained about extreme sensitivity and swelling around his nipples. His physician reported to officials that this man was developing female breasts. That was enough to scare me.

I had some good experience reading hormone levels when I use to work out in the gym with body builders. I knew fellows that took steroids religiously and I have seen the effect of steroids on people that didn't know much about them. A friend of mine pointed out the nuances of steroid use. Ed said to me, "see that guy over there with the "bitch-tits?" Ed told me he could tell because his tits "didn't look right." He was right, they didn't look right. Well, the story of steroids is that they can have some serious effect on masculinity in that it replaces the production of testosterone. With less testosterone, a male becomes more effeminate and bitch-tits result. What isn't male is really female. Ed told me about another drug bodybuilders use to conteract and prevent the formation of bitch-tits. All of this complexity was enough for me to avoid steroid use all together. At college, there was an obese fellow that had a baby face and a high effeminate voice. I remember he said he was a wrestler in high school. That made me suspect he took steroids, which could have screwed up his development.

The lastest information of toxins affecting us came yesterday. As I waited in my chiropractor's office, I read some more bizarre stories concerning estrogen-like chemicals in our environment. This time though it appears the problem is far worse than I ever imagined. One story stated Lake Mead, the primary drinking source for all of southern Nevada, is contaminated. A recent study reveals Lake Mead contains higher levels of "micro-pollutants" such as birth control pills. Well, you might not be surprised by hearing "birth control" pills with the close proximity of "Sin City" itself, but the levels are high enough to be "feminizing" the lake's population of male fish. This ought to make someone concerned.

In Puerto Rico, a mysterious public health concern called "premature thelarche" has been affecting girls for the last twenty years. Premature thelarche is the dramatic early breast development of Puerto Rican girls before the age of two years old!! Adult males are affected as well with lower sperm counts. I would surmise behavioral patterns of males are affected as well. A recent study links the cause of premature thelarche to "phthalates," which are found in plastics, lubricants, and many hair care products such as cosmetics. This is another reason why daughters under age should not be wearing cosmetics to make them look older! The environmental impact of phthalates is so ubiquitous in our society that the ramifications may never be known. My theory that there must be something emasculating our people appears to be valid. How does this affect normal male behavior? Are males more submissive as a result? Is this the reason why welfare has increased while our individual rights have decreased? Is this the reason why Christian males are so lethargic to the internationist programs, which are contrary to our Christian beliefs and freedom? Does the high incident of cancer in the United States relate to phthalates and other estrogen-like toxins? Read this article below and get rid of the plastics. Use glass bottles. Buy organic foods.

Dramatically early breast development in Puerto Rican girls has been a long-standing mystery in public health. Colon et al. measured the presence of certain phthalates in the blood of 41 girls experiencing early breast development and a matched set of controls. Girls diagnosed with premature thelarche are 8 years or younger and have one or both breasts enlarged without any other physical signs of the onset of puberty. The majority of cases occur before 2 years of age (average age 31 months).

First noted two decades ago (Pérez 1982, Bongiovanni 1983), no explanation has ever been confirmed. Girls in Puerto suffer from the highest rate of “ premature thelarche” ever recorded.

Moreover, the concurrent publication of a study documenting 7x greater concentrations of di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), a known anti-androgen, in Puerto Rican girls suffering from premature thelarche demonstrates that the DEHP controversy is far from resolved by the results of the current research.

What does this study mean?

American exposure to phthalates is significant. Animal studies demonstrate reproductive toxicity at levels to which some people are clearly exposed. Phthalates are used widely in many unregulated products that fall through the regulatory cracks. These failures in regulation have created many untoward exposures whose health consequences we do not understand but could be quite important. Phthalate use in modern commerce is extremely common. Phthalates crept into widespread use over the last several decades because of their many beneficial chemical properties. Now they are ubiquitous, not just in the products in which they are intentionally used, but also as contaminants in just about anything. About a billion pounds per year are produced worldwide. Intentional uses of phthalates include softeners of plastics, oily substances in perfumes, additives to hairsprays, lubricants and wood finishers. That new car smell, which becomes especially pungent after the car has been sitting in the sun for a few hours, is partly the pungent odor of phthalates volatilizing from a hot plastic dashboard. In the evening's cool they then condense out of the inside air of the car to form an oily coating on the inside of the windshield. In fact, some laboratories have taken advantage of this ubiquity, without knowing it. It turns out that the signature of one set of phthalates is so ubiquitous, so predictably present in samples undergoing analysis, that its signature peak is used to calibrate mass spectrophotometers. One of their primary uses is as plasticizers in flexible polyvinyl chloride (PVC) products such as blood bags and children’s toys. They are also used as as fixatives, detergents, lubricating oils, and solvents. As a result of these diverse uses, phthalates are found in many consumer products, such as cosmetics, as well as in applications, such as wood finishes, that inevitably create opportunities for exposure.

The exposure of women of child-bearing age is especially troubling, as these compounds are particularly known for their ability to interfere with fetal development, especially in males. There may be a tragic irony in the fact that one of the pathways of exposure, cosmetics, is targeted especially toward women of reproductive age. By using phthalate-containing compounds in the battle of the sexes, they could be undermining the future sexuality of their male offspring. High level review of how the regulatory system allowed these exposures to be built into so many products is clearly warranted.