Plastic chemicals 'feminize boys'

[alfreda89]

Chemicals in plastics alter the brains of baby boys, making them "more feminine", say US researchers.

Males exposed to high doses in the womb went on to be less likely to play with boys' toys like cars or to join in rough and tumble games, they found.

The University of Rochester team's latest work adds to concerns about the safety of phthalates, found in vinyl flooring and PVC shower curtains.

The findings are reported in the International Journal of Andrology.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8361863.stm

This is a BBC article -- One would hope we could turn up a few articles in the US, since this was a study from the University of Rochester. I knew about the 25% of the male population under 30 being sterile -- hadn't heard that some of the other problems found in animals and water creatures are showing up in humans.

If you haven't shifted to organic cleaning products -- or even returned to vinegar and ammonia -- why not?

Comments

[janni.livejournal.com]

While I consider all the effects on male reproduction deeply troubling, and suspect things that mess with brain chemistry are also Not Good, and already consider exposure to phthalates a Bad Thing ... I confess to also being a bit troubled that the idea of boys not playing in stereotypical boy ways would be considered ... abnormal in and of itself. There's something weird going on there, though I think the fundamental concern about phthalates is well-founded.

Maybe it's the fact that we found "playing like a girl" troubling enough to study in the first place that's creeping me out? I don't know. I get that hormones that change behavior are troubling, but something in the article/study is bugging me, too.

I mean, even the picture--why is swooping an airplane through the air "boy play"? Do girls not do it? Would we be troubled if they did? Hmmm ...

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

This also occurred to me. I would have learned to fly an airplane, if cost had made it possible. I know plenty of fine men who do not delight in beating the crap out of each other who seem to be more than adequately charged with the big T.

Chemical changes concern me. The "yardstick" they are using, not so much. How about the high incidence of ADD and ADHD boys being born? The high numbers never finishing school? Women apparently surpassed men enrolling for medical school last year. And why so many autistic boys?

What they are investigating seems very important...but the questions they are asking may not be the right ones.


I mean, even the picture--why is swooping an airplane through the air "boy play"? Do girls not do it? Would we be troubled if they did? Hmmm ...

[janni.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think that's it--there are so many yardsticks. Why that one?

There's enough that geniunely is troubling out there around this issue--why is that the thing that showed up on their radar?