| October 29, 2006 / Penn State (link is html) www.bk.psu.edu/ faculty/shibley/Estrogen.PDF |
| Earth¡¯s Unisex Future: Examining the Effects of Estrogen mimics |
| ESTROGEN MIMICS >>> |
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| Excerpt: Ponder the existence of a unisex planet. Without sexual differentiation,higher life would cease to exist. While this proposition may seem like just anotherapocalypse theory, sexual transformation can be caused by environmentalpollutants. A specific group of these pollutants mimic estrogen, the female sexhormone, and have already caused isolated populations to undergo shifts insexual composition.Since higher forms of life are based of the sexual recombination of genes,this issue is of dire importance to all members of both sexes. Feminization of themale sex would affect every aspect of life on Earth. While life could evolve inresponse to other forms of pollution, environmental estrogens affect sexualdifferentiation, a necessary component of evolution. This facet alone makes theissue of environmental estrogen pollution important to everyone. As recently asOctober, 1998, the Environmental Protection Agency mandated that allindustrial chemicals be screened for hormonal hazards. Considering the severity of environmental estrogen pollution, anexamination of available information seems appropriate. Backgroundinformation will consist of estrogen mimic properties, and the estrogen receptormechanism. This knowledge will be used to examine claims regarding theeffects of environmental estrogen pollution. Properties of Estrogen MimicsEstrogenic compounds have a variety of purposes and forms. Varioussynthetic chemicals used in pesticides, pharmaceuticals, industrial chemicals,household detergents, spermicides, food packing agents, plastics, and sewagetreatments, mimic estrogen... click on link above for full article |