Study: Chemicals in plastic can make boys act more like girls
Done Being Politically Correct
16_study_chemicals_in_plastic_can_make_boys_act_more_like_girls.html
Chemicals found in many plastics are causing little boys to act more like
little girls, according to new research.
A team at the University of Rochester studying the safety of phthalates --
chemicals in the plastic used in many household objects � found that they
can actually disrupt hormones, according to BBC News. The chemicals affect
the baby's developing brain by deactivating testosterone, the male sex
hormone, according to the BBC.
In the study, scientists tested urine samples from pregnant moms for
traces of phthalates, which can actually mimic the female sex hormone,
estrogen, according to the Daily Mail. The women gave birth to 74 boys and
71 girls, who were studied at age 4 and 7, with the moms questioned about
the types of toys and games their kids liked, according to the BBC.
The boys exposed to high levels of two phthalates were less likely than
other boys to play with guns, trains and cars, says the BBC, and they
seemed less likely to join in "rough and tumble" games, according to the
Daily Mail.
While some experts think phthalates may be partly responsible for lower
sperm counts in men over several decades, this is the first study to link
kids' behavior to hormone-mimicking chemicals, according to the Daily
Mail.
Phthalates may reduce levels of testosterone in unborn babies between the
eighth and 24th week of pregnancy, according to Dr. Shanna Swan,
University of Rochester professor of obstetrics and gynecology and lead
author of the study. This alters the developing brain and male genitals,
she told the Daily Mail. An earlier study from Dr. Swan found that boys
born to moms with the highest phthalate levels were more likely to have
smaller genitals and undescended testicles than other boys, the Daily Mail
says.
Phthalates are found in items like packaging and plastic furniture,
according to the BBC. They also are in shoes, polyvinyl-chloride flooring
and shower curtains, reports the Daily Mail.
How concerned should a parent be about phthalates?
"There is the potential to alter development in early pregnancy," Swan
says. "There are a lot of things that can go wrong during pregnancy, and
this is not causing missing limbs. These are subtle changes."
One way to reduce phthalate exposure, she says, is to cook and store food
in glass, not plastic. Not all plastics contain phthalates, but it can be
difficult to know which do.
"I don't want to panic people," Swan says. "But I do want to raise the
concern that we really don't need all these chemicals contacting us in our
daily lives."
On the bright side, it affects liberal men more than others. Probably
because liberal men are raised like pussies, act like pussies, and run
away from their responsibilities like pussies.