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Manly Man to Metrosexual Man to Extinction?!
Interesting article!
Read Evolution or Extinction of Men, Hormones Matter, May 2012.
Chemicals: a worry for pregnant women?
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has issued a report with the purpose to raise awareness.
But the list of things the RCOG suggest avoiding during pregnancy is extensive and is likely to cause alarm.
Alastair Hay, Prof of Environmental Toxicology at the University of Leeds said “This report is really unhelpful and does not provide mothers-to-be with useful advice…” What do you think?
Sources: Chemical Exposures During Pregnancy: Dealing with Potential, but Unproven, Risks to Child Health, the RCOG, May 2013
Related post: Environmental Chemicals are a Pregnancy Risk says the ACOG Report
Stacy Malkan about Plastics Industry Makeover
Stacy Malkan, the leader of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, speaks about the connection between plastic pollution and cosmetics. What you put on your skin goes directly into your body.
Unexpected results in a randomized dietary trial to reduce phthalate and bisphenol A exposures
A study, published by lead author Dr. Sheela Sathyanarayana, addresses how people may be unable to escape exposure to endocrine disruptors as they are appearing in their diets, even when their individual meals were organic in nature and the foods were prepared, cooked and stored in non-plastic containers. The study also reinforces the notion that the most vulnerable population are our children.
Read Even Eating Organic Foods Can Result In BPA, Phthalate Exposure by Alan McStravick
Diet is a primary source of exposure for high-molecular-weight phthalates and bisphenol A (BPA), but little is known about the efficacy of various interventions to reduce exposures. We conducted a randomized trial with 10 families to test the efficacy of a 5-day complete dietary replacement (Arm 1; n=21) versus written recommendations to reduce phthalate and BPA exposures (Arm 2; n=19). We measured phthalate and BPA concentrations in urine samples at baseline, intervention, and post-intervention periods. We used Wilcoxon paired signed-rank tests to assess change in concentrations across time and multi-level mixed effects regression models to assess differences between Arms 1 and 2. Urinary di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) metabolite concentrations increased unexpectedly from a median of 283.7 nmol/g at baseline to 7027.5 nmol/g during the intervention (P<0.0001) among Arm 1 participants, and no significant changes were observed for Arm 2 participants. We observed a statistically significant increase in total BPA concentration between baseline and intervention periods in Arm 1 but no significant changes in Arm 2. Arm 1 food ingredient testing for DEHP revealed concentrations of 21,400 ng/g in ground coriander and 673 ng/g in milk. Food contamination with DEHP led to unexpected increases in urinary phthalate concentrations in a trial intended to minimize exposure. In the absence of regulation to reduce phthalate and BPA concentrations in food production, it may be difficult to develop effective interventions that are feasible in the general population. An estimate of DEHP daily intake for children in the dietary replacement Arm was above the US Environmental Protection Agency oral reference dose and the European Food Safety Authority’s tolerable daily intake, suggesting that food contamination can be a major source of DEHP exposure.
Dr. Sheela Sathyanarayana study: Unexpected results in a randomized dietary trial to reduce phthalate and bisphenol A exposures, Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, July/August 2013.
The Toxic Substances Control Act is in need of an update
The USA need a new toxic chemical law–and fast.
Join Moms Clean Air Force in Telling the Senate to Pass Stronger Toxic Chemical Standards and keep the air within our homes safe and clean for our children.
” Recently, a team of researchers from Duke University and UC Berkeley found that 85% of couch cushions contain toxic or untested chemicals. For instance, 41% of couch cushions contain chlorinated Tris, a carcinogenic flame retardant chemical.
That’s because the 35-year-old Toxic Substances Control Act allows hazardous or untested chemicals to be added to furniture and other household products without being tested for their health effects.
Right now, there are 80,000 chemicals on the market in the United States that are either known to be harmful or that haven’t been tested.
These dangerous chemicals migrate into the air inside and outside our homes–the air our families breathe every day–exposing us to harmful carcinogens.
The Toxic Substances Control Act is in need of an updated. I urge you to support stronger toxic chemical standards so that we may protect our families from dangerous, cancer-causing chemicals and preserve clean air within our homes. ”
TAKE ACTION and SEND YOUR MESSAGE
Buying Local and Organic? You’re Still Eating Plastic Chemicals
” A team led by Sheela Sathyanarayana of University of Washington’s Seattle Children’s Research Institute performed a “dietary intervention” on two sets of five local families… …using urine tests to establish baseline BPA and phthalate levels for each group… ”
” The lesson is that you can try to reduce exposure, but there are unknown sources of phthalates that could be very large lurking in the food chain. ”
” These results add to a weight of evidence that should push the FDA to take action on the role of plastic conditioners in food processing and packaging. ”
Read Buying Local and Organic? You’re Still Eating Plastic Chemicals, MotherJones, MAR. 4, 2013.
Plastics Derived Endocrine Disruptors (BPA, DEHP and DBP) Induce Epigenetic Transgenerational Inheritance of Obesity, Reproductive Disease and Sperm Epimutations
Chemicals found in every home may cause breast cancer, asthma, infertility and birth defects, global health chiefs said yesterday
Environmental compounds are known to promote epigenetic transgenerational inheritance of adult onset disease in subsequent generations (F1–F3) following ancestral exposure during fetal gonadal sex determination. The current study was designed to determine if a mixture of plastic derived endocrine disruptor compounds bisphenol-A (BPA), bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) at two different doses promoted epigenetic transgenerational inheritance of adult onset disease and associated DNA methylation epimutations in sperm. Gestating F0 generation females were exposed to either the “plastics” or “lower dose plastics” mixture during embryonic days 8 to 14 of gonadal sex determination and the incidence of adult onset disease was evaluated in F1 and F3 generation rats. There were significant increases in the incidence of total disease/abnormalities in F1 and F3 generation male and female animals from plastics lineages. Pubertal abnormalities, testis disease, obesity, and ovarian disease (primary ovarian insufficiency and polycystic ovaries) were increased in the F3 generation animals. Kidney and prostate disease were only observed in the direct fetally exposed F1 generation plastic lineage animals. Analysis of the plastics lineage F3 generation sperm epigenome previously identified 197 differential DNA methylation regions (DMR) in gene promoters, termed epimutations. A number of these transgenerational DMR form a unique direct connection gene network and have previously been shown to correlate with the pathologies identified. Observations demonstrate that a mixture of plastic derived compounds, BPA and phthalates, can promote epigenetic transgenerational inheritance of adult onset disease. The sperm DMR provide potential epigenetic biomarkers for transgenerational disease and/or ancestral environmental exposures.
Read Plastics Derived Endocrine Disruptors (BPA, DEHP and DBP) Induce Epigenetic Transgenerational Inheritance of Obesity, Reproductive Disease and Sperm Epimutations, PLOS one, January 24, 2013.