Scary stuff. Here's Nick Kristof:
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.
"A lot of these compounds act as weak estrogen, so that's why developing males -- whether smallmouth bass or humans -- tend to be more sensitive," said Robert Lawrence, a professor of environmental health sciences at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "It's scary, very scary."
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Avoid endocrine disruptors by getting a reverse osmosis filter on your drinking water, for starters.
Lord Karth - it is not just exposure from drinking water - handling pesticides, fungicides,fertilizers can transmit. You can breathe it too. Burning plastic is very bad in this regard. It is especially prevalent in fatty foods and it is recommended that you do not store fatty foods in plastic containers nor heat foods in plastic containers. Plastic teethers can leach the substances. Fish can be a problem - some states will give you a handout on how many fish of each type it is recommended to eat given the concentrations in your state. There is a lot of info on the web - google and you will find many recommendations.
Hector - that is fascinating - calls to mind the rat studies on sterility we spoke of yesterday - do you have a citation? Would like to read more.
I have a feeling that if it came down to 5-10% of boys (or more) being born genitally deformed, and 30%+ men lacking sufficient sperm to reproduce, vs. giving up the ever precious birth control pill, that the birth control pill would win, hands down.
Survival of the species, in the mind of its users, is much much less important than their being able to get a little more nookie, whenever and wherever they want it, without worrying about the normal subsequent consequences (babies).
What a sad commentary on our society.
The birth control pill is one of the most important elements in the demographic transition which has allowed us to, potentially, avoid the threat of overpopulation. I rather think that overpopulation is a bigger threat to the environment than some sterile frogs and alligators. These are big problems, but they should be dealt with by developing new and better birth control pills (perhaps some more slow release types?) The birth control pill is not going away.
And no, babies are not the 'normal' consequence, not for our species anyway, as the probability of pregnancy in any single unprotected sex act is very low. We are one of the few species in which sexual receptivity is not restricted to the fertile period, which should tell you something.
Cecelia and Karth,
Yeah, I will furnish cites later today, I have to run right now.
Ceceilia and Karth,
Here are a few cites....while it's not my area of ecology (at all) it is a fascinating hypothesis.
Hoier, S. 2003. "Father absence and age at menarche: a test of four evolutionary models." Human Nature 14(3); 209-233.
Moffitt, T.E., Caspi, A., Belsky, J., and Silva, P. 1992. "Childhood experience and the onset of menarche: A test of a sociobiological model." Child Development 63(10): 47-58.
Maestripieri, D., Roney, J., DeBias, N., Duranti, K., and Spaepen, G. 2004. 'Father absence, menarche, and interest in infants among adolescent girls." Developmental Science 7(5): 560-566.
Kanazawa, S. 2001. "Why father absence might precipitate early menarche: The role of polygyny." Evolution and Human Behavior 22(5): 329-334.
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