HOW TO DEMASCULINIZE THE WORLD

The effect of hormone mimickers on the animal life of this planet is frightening. I do not say this in an effort to shock anyone; I simply do not know how to say it otherwise.

The recent paper that addressed the artificial hormone DES was really just the tip of the iceberg.

Scientists have found things happening throughout the world that left them bewildered. When the reports were first presented, other scientists refused to believe them. They set up their own independent studies in hopes of refuting the findings of their colleagues. In Canada, the US, Denmark, Russia; it mattered not where the studies were done; they found the same things happening everywhere:

Men with undescended testes, mutated and shortened urinary tracts. Sperm counts worldwide down by 40 to 50% from earlier this century. Sperm unable to swim properly, mutated, unable to penetrate the egg, cancer of the testes, etc.

A beluga whale was found in the St. Lawrence to be completely hermaphrodite, with both sets of reproductive organs completely developed. This condition had never been reported in a whale in all the centuries of whale hunting. Autopsies on other whale cadavers, that have drifted in, have revealed endocrine disorders, including enlargement and cysts of the thyroid gland, twisted spines and skeletal disorders. All are from Canadian waters.

Various birds from around the Great Lakes will not pair. Female birds are nesting with other females. Infertile eggs are left to rot. Birds are being hatched without eyes, with deformed beaks, clubbed feet, and enlarged thyroid glands. Hatchlings are left to wither and die by confused parents.

Fish have been caught in streams in England, with no discernible sex differences and fish in the Baltic with reduced testes size. Male salmon in Lake Erie, like those in English waters, are found to be feminized.

Frogs everywhere in the world are declining in numbers. (Frogs are particularly sensitive to hormone mimickers because of the mid-life transformation in water, which is triggered by hormones.)

Domestic mink enterprises are in shambles because of reproductive problems. (The mink were fed on a diet of Great Lakes fish.)

Otters and seals in the Baltic region, have the same problems as the mink in North America.

Male alligators in Florida have miniaturized reproductive organs. Female alligators with egg abnormalities and other reproductive irregularities.

The turtle population is declining because of the inability to hatch males.

Thirteen of 17 tranquilized panthers in Florida were found to have undescended testes. The same animals had higher levels of estrogen than testosterone.

Is there a common link? Researchers say "Yes! The link is chemical." The chemicals are not necessarily the same, but they have one thing in common. They mimic a hormone, and the hormone that is most often (but not always) mimicked is estrogen.

Chemicals that are barely detectable in waters similar to the Great Lakes are hazards beyond comprehension. Each animal in the food chain has the phenomenal capacity of re-concentrating these discarded chemicals in their bodies.

There is growing evidence that prenatal exposure to synthetic chemicals and hormone mimickers disrupt hormones, impair reproduction, interfere with development and undermine the immune system. Good news, bad news; where the adult shows little or no sign of problems, the offspring show dramatic signs of fetal damage.

The "solution to pollution is dilution." This is the logic behind all of the environmental water testing, and emission testing throughout the world. However, we have failed to consider the fact that Nature has a way of recollecting and concentrating these chemicals.

As an example, PCB's, dioxins, DDT and its derivative DDE, work their way up the food chain by being concentrated in the body fat and tissues of the various hosts. Microscopic organisms pick up the contaminates. From Zooplankton, and Phytoplankton to Mysids, to Smelt, to Lake trout. At this point it has concentrated 2,800,000 times but it does not stop there. The herring gull, because of its diet, will increase the concentration to a staggering 25,000,000 times.

You may have noted that all of the animals mentioned above are very high on the food chain. Top consumers, as it were. This is where the scientists have concentrated their work on reproductive problems although everything that is in that food chain can suffer the same problems as the end user.

At the top of one specific food chain sit the Inuit of Broughton Island. They survive on fish, fowl, seals, and narwhals. All are full of chemicals. Next week I will attempt to put a face to these Canadian people.

Have a nice day.