7/12/2009

Hysterical Pregnancy: Endocrine Disruptors in Our Water Supply

In 2008, the NYT reported that "there are traces of sedatives in NY's water. Ibuprofen and naproxen in D.C. Anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety drugs in southern California..."

And now it's reporting that there are artificial estrogens in the water that contribute (like Bisephenol in plastics) to hormonal disruption in unborn children and women of reproductive age.

Nick Kristoff writes on June 27: In heavily polluted Lake Apopka, one of the largest lakes in Florida, male alligators developed stunted genitals. In the Potomac watershed near Washington, male smallmouth bass have rapidly transformed into “intersex fish” that display female characteristics. [M]ore than 80 percent of the male smallmouth bass in the Potomac are producing eggs.

Now scientists are connecting the dots with evidence of increasing abnormalities among humans, particularly large increases in numbers of genital deformities among newborn boys. For example, up to 7 percent of boys are now born with undescended testicles, although this often self-corrects over time. And up to 1 percent of boys in the United States are now born with hypospadias, in which the urethra exits the penis improperly, such as at the base rather than the tip.

Apprehension is growing among many scientists that the cause of all this may be a class of chemicals called endocrine disruptors. They are very widely used in agriculture, industry and consumer products. Some also enter the water supply when estrogens in human urine — compounded when a woman is on the pill — pass through sewage systems and then through water treatment plants.

These endocrine disruptors have complex effects on the human body, particularly during fetal development of males.

Some are even positing that the decrease in male children is a result of this phenomenon. And there is a big fossil fuel link... no surprise there, I guess.

How does a woman who wants children or who is pregnant even respond to this? Can't drink bottled water, the plastic is full of estrogens. Can't drink tap water, now we learn that it ,too, has estrogens. Paddle to the middle of a lake, lean over and drink? God!...

Visit the Endocrine Disrupters Exchange for even more troubling reportage...
http://www.endocrinedisruption.com/home.php