GOP don't blame feminism or the Democrats for pussifying the Western male, blame the plastics industry:
Scientists
in America have found the first evidence that common chemicals used in
products as diverse as cosmetics, toys, clingfilm and plastic bags may
harm the development of unborn baby boys.
Researchers
have long known that high levels of substances called phthalates have
gender-bending effects on male animals, making them more feminine and
leading to poor sperm quality and infertility. The new study suggests
that even normal levels of phthalates, which are ubiquitous, can
disrupt the development of male babies' reproductive organs.
The
discovery poses a huge problem for the chemical industry, which is
already embroiled in a battle with the government over EU proposals on
chemical safety.
Several types of
phthalates, which are used to make plastics more pliable, and have been
around for more than 50 years, have been banned, but many are still
produced in vast quantities.
The study was carried out by
scientists from centres across the US, including the University of
Rochester and the National Centre for Environmental Health.Several
types of phthalates, which are used to make plastics more pliable, and
have been around for more than 50 years, have been banned, but many are
still produced in vast quantities.
The study was carried out by
scientists from centres across the US, including the University of
Rochester and the National Centre for Environmental Health.
The
researchers measured the levels of nine widely used phthalates in the
urine of pregnant women and compared them with standard physiological
measurements of their babies.
Tests
showed that women with higher levels of four different phthalates were
more likely to have baby boys with a range of conditions, from smaller
penises and undescended testicles to a shorter perineum, the distance
between the genitals and the anus. The differences, say the authors, indicate a feminisation of the boys similar to that seen in animals exposed to the chemicals.
Gwynne Lyons, toxics adviser to the WWF, said: "At the moment regulation of the chemicals industry is woefully inadequate."
She added: "Right now
the government is looking at how the regulation of hormone disrupting
chemicals could be made more effective under new EU chemicals law, but
the chemicals industry is lobbying very hard to water down this
legislation.
"Political agreement
on this legislation is not expected until later this year so it remains
to be seen whether the UK government has the guts to stand up to
industry lobbying. If they don't, wildlife and baby boys will be the losers."
All sick joking aside, this is a very worrying result. This story
isn't new and it has lots of hard data to back it up. I first saw a
documentary on it in Canada about eight years ago and the WHO has been
trying for ten years to figure out why Men's sperm counts have been in
dramatic decline for the last twenty years.
