Gender-Bending Chemicals Turning Man and Animals Feminine

Daily Mail UK

• Much research have been done on this and there is no doubt about its veracity. Of course, those in the plastic and chemical compound industry will disagree and come out with their ‘paid for’ research. Is this the real reason why are are seeing increasing sexuality problems? Are these problems merely cases of prolonged gradual poisoning?
   
• The Daily Mail UK reports :
    
  Chemicals in food, cosmetics and cleaning products are ‘feminising’ unborn boys and raising their risk of cancer and infertility later in life, an expert warns today.
   
  Professor Richard Sharpe, one of Britain’s leading reproductive biologists, says everyday substances are linked to soaring rates of birth defects and testicular cancer, and to falling sperm counts.
   
  The government adviser’s report published today is the most detailed yet into the threat posed to baby boys by chemicals that block the action of the male sex hormone testosterone, or mimic the female sex hormone oestrogen.
    
  Professor Sharpe says many could be harmless on their own – but warned that their cumulative effect could be devastating for developing foetuses and warned women trying for a child to avoid them. ‘You can’t do anything about chemicals in the environment but you can control what you expose a baby to through your lifestyle choices,’ he said.
   
  ‘Because we don’t know the complete list of chemicals that may be hormone disrupters, and we don’t know how they interact, we can’t point a finger at an individual chemical. ‘The message is to avoid them, just as you should avoid alcohol and drugs.’
   
  Doctors are concerned about rising levels of birth defects, with 7 per cent of British boys born with partially descended testes and seven in 1000 with malformed genitals. The latest estimates indicate that one in six men in the UK has a low sperm count and will struggle to father a child. And the number of testicular cancer cases among men in their 20s and 30s has been doubling every 25 years.
   
  Following an analysis of available evidence, Professor Sharpe concluded that gender-bending chemicals are ‘likely to account for a proportion’ of birth defects in baby boys – and the testicular cancer and fertility problems the boys may suffer later in life.
   
  His report looked at studies into birth defects of boy’s genitals, low sperm counts and testicular cancer – a range of problems collectively called Testicular Dysgenesis Syndrome or TDS.
   
  In repeated experiments, testosterone-disrupting chemicals found in pesticides, drugs, plastics and household products created symptoms of TDS in laboratory animals. Some of the experiments showed that the chemicals work in combination – causing problems at doses where the individual chemicals should be harmless.
   
• In an earlier report the Daily Mail commented :
    
  The soaring number of gender-bending chemicals in the environment has disturbing fertility implications for humans and wildlife, scientists are warning.
   
  They say wild animals are being ‘feminised’ by a host of common man-made pollutants which mimic the female sex hormone oestrogen and escape into seas, rivers, the earth and air when waste is disposed of. The chemicals  -  found in food packaging, cleaning products, plastics, sewage and paint  -  cause genital deformities, reduce sperm count and even turn males into females.
   
  Dozens of species  -  including polar bears, fish, bald eagles, otters and whales  -  are suffering, according to the environmental group ChemTrust. Its report looked only at the impact of gender-bending chemicals on wildlife. But all vertebrates  -  or creatures with backbones  -  have similar sex hormone receptors in their bodies.
   
  ‘Therefore, observations in one species may serve to highlight pollution issues of concern for other vertebrates, including humans,’ the report says. Its author, Gywnne Lyons, a former government adviser on chemical-pollution, said: ‘Urgent action is needed to control gender-bending chemicals and more resources are needed for monitoring wildlife. ‘If wildlife populations crash, it will be too late. Unless enough males contribute to the next generation there is a real threat to animal populations in the long term.’
   
  Some studies have shown that sperm counts in the West have fallen over the past 30 years. Others have shown a rise in boys born with genital deformities. Communities heavily polluted with hormone-disrupting chemicals in Russia, Canada and Italy have produced twice as many girls as boys.
   
  The ChemTrust report draws on more than 250 scientific studies from around the world to look at the effect of hormone-disrupting chemicals  -  including bisphenol A used in the linings of food cans, plastic bottles and dental sealants, and phthalates added to plastics such as PVC and glues.
   
  ‘Males of species from each of the main classes of vertebrate animals (including bony fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals) have been affected by chemicals in the environment,’ the report said. ‘Feminisation of the males of numerous vertebrate species is now a widespread occurrence.’ Fish have been badly hit by man-made gender-bending chemicals. In one study, half the male fish in British lowland rivers had signs of being feminised, including the development of eggs in their testes.
   
  Some male roach changed sex completely after exposure to oestrogen from the contraceptive pill pouring out of sewage works. A study at Cardiff University found that the brains of male starlings at a sewage plant were altered by a diet of worms contaminated with female hormones. The birds sang longer and more skilful ‘female’ songs.
   
  A University of Florida study revealed that 40 per cent of male cane toads had become hermaphrodites  -  having both male and female reproductive organs  -  in a heavily-farmed part of the state. Elsewhere in Florida, male snapping turtles have been found with female characteristics, while male alligators have been born with abnormal sexual organs and fertility problems.

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