Your Kids at Risk from 'Gender Bending' Products

YOUR KIDS AT RISK FROM ‘GENDER BENDING’ PRODUCTS


Very young children are being exposed to dangerous levels of hormone-disrupting chemicals in innocuous seeming domestic products such as rubber clogs and sun creams.

A 327-page EU investigation suggests that while the risks from "anti-androgen" and "oestrogen-like" substances in individual items has already been flagged up,  the serious cumulative effect of these chemicals, especially on young boys, is being overlooked.

Phthalates - used as softeners in soap, lightweight rubber clogs, bath mats, soft toys, sun creams and some oil-based moisturisers - have been blamed for blocking the operation of testosterone in the womb.  This can result in low sperm count, increased rates of testicular cancer and malformations of the sexual organs.

In addition, research suggests male foetuses in the first two-three months after conception can be effectively demasculinised by exposure to phtlalates.

Other oestrogen-like substances (including chemicals known as parabens which can occur in cosmetics, sun creams and moisturising lotions) and some pesticides, such as DDT, dioxins and PCBs, are also known hormone-disruptors.


More Information

Article: Two Year Olds at Risk from ‘Gender Bending’ Chemicals (The Guardian)