Booby Trap

Yesterday, I blogged about how the Catholic Church is blaming The Pill for male infertility. Something about how women taking contraception are polluting the water supply by flushing away all that estrogen into the world's water supply.

Blame the fornicating females, as usual.

Coincidentally, today comes this news from the Canadian Women's Health Network. No, it's not your imagination. Little girls are turning into big girls a lot sooner than they used to. They're developing breasts and getting their periods at younger ages than, say, 40 years ago and that apparently puts them at greater risk for breast cancer.

That girls are hitting puberty earlier comes as no surprise to me. I can remember very well when my friends and I all got their periods back in the day, because it was pretty much all we talked about. I also can recall that few of us filled more than a ''training bra'' in Grade 7. 

As I type this, I am watching the kids from the middle school not far away head home for the day and, although they are now bundled up, I know that those girls have women's bodies underneath their puffy jackets.

For years now, I have observed class after class of girls with boobs and hips while the boys lag way behind developmentally. T'was always thus of course but now the difference seems much more pronounced. What's more, thanks to media, fashion and other socio-cultural shifts, girls are dressing and behaving much more sexually. I imagine it must be very different to be a ''tween'' nowadays.

But I digress.

According to research, all kinds of factors may be behind this earlier onset of puberty, including better nutrition. Perhaps. But, growing up in an affluent neighbourhood as I did, I didn't notice anybody starving.

So there must be other reasons for this, as the Canadian Women's Health Network piece points out:

In The Falling Age of Puberty in US Girls (2007), Sandra Steingraber, who is probably best known for her groundbreaking work on the links between environmental health contaminants and cancer, undertakes a thorough meta-analysis of the existing data on early puberty in girls. She carefully traces the complex and interlocking relationships between puberty, which includes the advent of breast buds, pubic hair and menarche (first menstruation), with physiological, psychological and environmental (nutritional, chemical) conditions, and the consequences for the maturation process of our young women.

<SNIP>

Steingraber argues that more recently, particularly in the last several decades, trends in the decline of the onset of puberty in the United States (which are similar with other affluent countries or countries with similar ethnic heritage) seem to be responding to stimuli beyond nutrition and general health.

Her report highlights numerous studies which have linked exposure to chemicals in our environment, particularly endocrine-disrupting chemicals (which can mimic hormones in the body), to a plethora of health concerns, such as shortened gestational periods in fetal development, low birth weight babies, higher rates of obesity and poor insulin regulation in the body, which are all risk factors for early puberty. This should make us sit up and take notice, since as Steingraber says, “children are exposed continuously to low-level endocrine disruptors in their diets, drinking water and air supply.” 

Chemical flame retardants, for example, polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) have been linked to earlier menstruation in girls and with earlier pubarche. Similarly, high levels of dioxin exposure have been associated with elevated risks for breast cancer and early menarche.

Also, hormonally active components, which have been linked to earlier pubertal development, can be found in a wide array of consumer products, including hair tonics, pesticides, packaging and building materials.

As a result, studies have shown hormonally active agents in the urine of US girls and traces of such known human contaminants as phthalates and bisphenol A (which was originally developed as a synthetic hormone, but is now used in all polycarbonate plastics and the linings of food and beverage cans, among other uses; it has been recently been banned in Canada for use in baby bottles). Rat studies on bisphenol A indicate that prenatal and early-life exposure can induce earlier sexual maturity.

The use of natural and synthetic hormones to promote growth in US livestock and stimulate milk production in dairy cattle (a practice banned in European countries) has also raised concern; critics of the practice believe this may contribute to early puberty onset, but again, more research is necessary.

Steingraber concludes that, in combination, this chemical cocktail may be a significant factor in causing the “new normal” rates of pubertal development in US girls, but we don’t have enough research to say for certain—only enough research to raise red flags and caution.

If women are becoming more womanly because of pollution, then it stands to reason that men are becoming less like men -- at least in fertility terms.

I don't know about you but I am finding more and more reasons to avoid eating meat and to go completely organic. This I believe will develop into one of the biggest issues of the next few years, especially as we look for ways to slow down climate change. If more people cut back on animal products, we'll cut back on environmental degradation.

Do you suppose the Pope will get down with that?

Nah. Thaty's because early puberty = early pregnancy and the more babies, the better.

Comments

[brebis noire]

I think it's simply more calories.
The other day I was looking at my dad's old photos from World War II, and boy were those soldiers ever scrawny - wiry, actually - compared to the beefy boys we send out there today.
And look at male athletes as well - the hockey players are inches taller and many pounds heavier on average than they were in the 1970s, and the football players are, imho, giant mutants.
I'd love to hear the Vatican's opinion on these issues as well.

[Alison@Creekside]

"If women are becoming more womanly because of pollution, then it stands to reason that men are becoming less like men -- at least in fertility terms."

Article re research on this in The Independent:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/its-official-men-really-are-the-weaker-sex-1055688.html
"Evolution is being distorted by pollution, which damages genitals and the ability to father offspring, says new study
...a host of common chemicals is feminising males of every class of vertebrate animals, from fish to mammals, including people."

April Reign at Birth Pangs also wrote to this.

I think this is probably the paper that freaked out the pope.

[brebis noire]

I forgot to add that the very fact that we in the West are consuming more calories (and more from animal products) is also linked to increased pollution - fast foods, packaging that makes storage of unreal foods more convenient and long-lasting, the unreal foods themselves that make our metabolism go all wonky, etc. You are right that cutting down on animal products would make a big difference to our health and well-being.

"Eat food, not too much, mostly plants."
- Michael Pollan

[John]

I think you'd be interested in the work done by Devra Davis.
She recently published "The Secret History of the War on Cancer".
She was also interviewed by Alan Gregg for TVO, and that interview can be watched at:

http://www.tvo.org/TVO/WebObjects/TVO.woa?video?AG_Full_20081003_907694_DevraDavis

[Adam]

I've noticed this for a while now. I don't blame my friends for finding some younger girls attractive because frankly, they look much older than they are. My neighbour, a kid in grade 10, has a girlfriend who is absolutely ahead of the development curve. I swear, unless she's stuffing her cups(which it doesn't look like she'd need to) she must be a D or bigger, and the rest of her body follows suit in how "mature" it seems. The first time I saw her I figured she was my friend's (brother of neighbour) new girlfriend, and I told her he wasn't home and I was shocked that she was there to see the younger(much younger, by like 5 years or so) brother.

And it's not just special cases like her. There are others who just look older than they are. it's almost like I'm watching one of those tv shows where they get these kids in their late teens to play freshmen in high-school, or where students are played by actors 5+ years older than the character role. It's almost eerie.

[...pat.]

Women with endometriosis have been pointing for over 15 years to research that has shown a relationship between that disease and PCBs in our ape cousins.

Truly, we're messing with women's ability to reproduce with all the stuff in water and food as much as with the hormone mimickers.

Oh... boys? Alcohol mimics estrogen in some aspects. Just thought I'd let you know.

[Mark Francis]

Despite this evidence, the Pope is pushing only one flawed theory, leading his loyal followers to ignore the real problem.

[hysperia]

Adam, actually, the close attention you pay to women's "cup" sizes is what's eerie.

[laura k]

While organic is a good idea for our health, it may not be for the environment. Much of our organic produce comes from a really long ways away (especially in winter) adding many transport calories to our meals. Not to mention that organic farming has increasingly become one branch of industrialized farming that lobbies to have organic standards weakened allowing more additives. Eating more local produce gives consumers the opportunities to be closer to farming practices. This is especially true when food is purchased at farmers markets where consumers can discuss farming practices with the farmer and even arrange visits to their farms. If food doesn't need to travel the world, fewer additives are needed so while local produce may not be "organic" you can set your own benchmarks. This strengthens our relationship to the food we eat, it strengthens local economies and communities and helps the environment to boot.

[The Stygian and his Shemitish Dogs]

“Adam, actually, the close attention you pay to women's "cup" sizes is what's eerie.”

Hizb-IRI-ya,

That’s actually a point in Adam’s favour. So long as he doesn’t make it too obvious, and there’s no hint he does. It’s not really any different from admiring the tastefully sexy picture of the Esteemed and Beautiful Moderator when we sign on.

After all, as Mark Steyn reminded us today
S IS FOR THE SMALL-BREASTED DEFENSE
“When Kathleen Willey accused the President of assault, Monica was indignant: how could the President be unfaithful to her? Fortunately, Mr Clinton was able to reassure her that Mrs Willey’s story was completely unbelievable because he’d never grope a woman with such small breasts. If you study the women who disrobed for Playboy and Penthouse, this appears to be one of the less risible Clinton defense arguments.”
http://www.steynonline.com/content/view/1324/30/

meanwhile, on another issue on this thread
http://www.amazon.com/Really-Inconvenient-Truths-Environmental-About-Because/dp/1596980540
The Really Inconvenient Truths: Seven Environmental Catastrophes Liberals Don't Want You to Know About--Because They Helped Cause Them

Chapter Three has a bit about the release of excessive hormone into the environment. My daughter’s boyfriend’s father has my copy, and I’m skimmed it at my local Chapters to check (maybe it’s the local Chapters for some other contributors here . . . . )

[Kathy]

Here is another interesting article about this topic:
http://articles.latimes.com/2007/mar/12/health/he-puberty12

What parents now must do is start discussions with their children at a much earlier age about changes experienced during puberty and sexuality at an age when their kids might not be ready or able to absorb the information.

[Adam]

Hysperia:
It's just a natural reaction for me. See, being a mtf transsexual, I tend to get envious of those who are naturally given what I'm not. :P I'll be lucky if, after hormones, I'm bigger than an A cup.