Study: Chemicals in plastic can make boys act more like girls

[RamboLiberal]

Source: NY Daily News


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.





Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2009/11/16/2009-11-16_study_chemicals_in_plastic_can_make_boys_act_more_like_girls.html

[marmar]

1. "boys exposed to high levels of two phthalates were less likely than other boys to play with guns"

Good.

[Bobbieo]

3. Plastics in household objects - like what type of objects? drinking cups, phones?

[RamboLiberal]

6. Food Storage containers for one

& probably drinking bottles, etc. From OP article:

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.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2009/11/16/2009-11-16_study_chemicals_in_plastic_can_make_boys_act_more_like_girls.html#ixzz0X49nBZPo

[Chemisse]

10. Baby bottles and sippee cups have BPA

Although I am finally seeing some in the stores that do not have it.

[DLnyc]

12. I think not in general. The big problem, as I understand from trying to read

about it, seems to be soda in cans. The cans can be coated with BPA-containing plastic, and the phosphoric acid in soda (partiularly colas?) leaches it out.

Plastic bottles and food storage containers, or at least the ones I have, seem NOT to be the BPA plastic

-=============

There are seven classes of plastics used in packaging applications. Type 7 is the catch-all "other" class, and some type 7 plastics, such as polycarbonate (sometimes identified with the letters "PC" near the recycling symbol) and epoxy resins, are made from bisphenol A monomer.<4><16>

Type 3 (PVC) can also contain bisphenol A as an antioxidant in plasticizers.<4>

Types 1 (PET), 2 (HDPE), 4 (LDPE), 5 (polypropylene), and 6 (polystyrene) do not use bisphenol A during polymerization or package forming.

===============
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_A

[RamboLiberal]

Only in the last couple of years have many of the reuseable bottles

gone BPA free. I tossed a bunch out & replaced with BPA free back in 2008.

[MilesColtrane]

39. A lot of canned foods have plastic liners inside that contain BPA.

[malakai2]

8. Non-consensual, irreversible behavioral modification

Sounds good to me. Maybe we can add BPA and a couple other endocrine disruptors to their drinking water, and we can have little girls, and pseudogirls. Never mind the undescended testes, lack of sex drive, and low-or no-sperm count when they're grown...it's fine, as long as they don't play with scary, scary guns.

[Dogtown]

11. You're trying too hard, malakai

Take it easy.

[malakai2]

17. Sorry

I work with this stuff all day, it's shocking when you see what wastewater treatment outflows do to the fish downstream. That we expose kids to it when we know it causes hormonal problems pisses me off.

That reminds me, if your municipal water supply doesn't test for endocrine disruptors, you may want to make a special request.

[RKP5637]

16. Bring on more plastic!!! n/t

[JerseygirlCT]

28. My reaction as well - along with

or boys exposed to parents who didn't think guns were suitable toys...

[no_hypocrisy]

2. We may have found the cure for war . . . . .

[Xipe Totec]

5. Extinction? n/t

[edwardian]

34. Extinction by war

or extinction by hormone disruptors...pick your poison.

[Xipe Totec]

36. War then

We have a lot more experience with war than we do with hormone disrruptors, and we're still here.

[Techn0Girl]

4. This explains all the new shoes I've been seeing men wear lately at work

[depakid]

7. Between impotence and fear of teh gay, Republicans might finally be on board regulating plastics

Then again, they probably won't believe it- as it's "sciency" stuff and they have their industry trade associations to please.

[twitomy]

9. Explains the whole "metrosexual" thing I guess...NT

[BR_Parkway]

13. So I'm queer cause my mom heated up my plastic bottle in the microwave?

hmmm, sounds as good as any other explanation - except I'm pretty sure she did the same with both my str8 brothers.

Actually, we could do a class action suit, claim disability (which would finally cover us from discrimination in work/housing and shut the freaking fundies up) and make a little coin to spend being even more fabulous!

[Fearless]

20. Sounds like a plan. I'll bring it up at the yearly gay meeting.

:D

[Ian David]

21. Sue the plastics industry for "turning you gay" and then declare gay to be a disability...

... and subject to protections under The Americans with Disabilities Act.

Hmmm..

Except most gay people probably have too much self-respect for that.

But it is fun to ponder.

[BR_Parkway]

33. The other option is to declare Gay as a religion, then we'd get all the

non discrimination and rights the first class citizens are entitled to

[Demeter]

37. That just might work

god, I hate what has happened to this country lately

[Ian David]

41. I had that same idea years ago, too. n/t

[chollybocker]

14. So playing with plastic Barbies really does cause teh gay.

:eyes:

[bluedigger]

15. So are Glocks and other "plastic" guns still teh evil?

Or are they a good thing now?

I'm so confused...

[paulsby]

18. this is old news fwiw

see: environmental estrogens

[onestepforward]

19. 3 tips for identifying products likely to have phthalates

or another compound that has raised similar concerns and is found in similar products, Bisphenol A:

snip-

1. Read the ingredients. According to the organization Pollution in People, you can identify phthalates in some products by their chemical names, or abbreviations:

•DBP (di-n-butyl phthalate) and DEP (diethyl phthalate) are often found in personal care products, including nail polishes, deodorants, perfumes and cologne, aftershave lotions, shampoos, hair gels and hand lotions. (BzBP, see below, is also in some personal care products.)
•DEHP (di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate or Bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate) is used in PVC plastics, including some medical devices.
•BzBP (benzylbutyl phthalate) is used in some flooring, car products and personal care products.
•DMP (dimethyl phthalate) is used in insect repellent and some plastics (as well as rocket propellant).

2. Be wary of the term "fragrance," which is used to denote a combination of compounds, possibly including phthatates, which are a subject of recent concern because of studies showing they can mimic certain hormones.

3. Choose plastics with the recycling code 1, 2 or 5. Recycling codes 3 and 7 are more likely to contain bisphenol A or phthalates.

http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/phthalates-47020418">The Daily Green

[IDFbunny]

22. Testosterone is the bad hormone, good riddence.

I cringe when I hear something like "too much testosterone here". Maybe there is a feminist plot to turn boys into sissy metros? hmmmm.

[llmart]

23. "Act like girls"......

what the Sam Hill does that mean anyway? How do us "girls" act? Is there something inherently wrong with how girls "act"? Quite frankly, if you want to get stereotypical here, then this may be a good thing since the way boys "act" isn't something to be emulated.

Stupid headline.

[JoeyT]

25. This kind of headline is common.

This is exactly why news orgs need science reporters that understand science. When you let journalists report science, you always end up with headlines like this.

[Psephos]

31. Interesting example of cognitive dissonance.

First, you question whether the phrase "act like girls" has any meaning. Translation: You think it doesn't.

Next, you contradict what you just implied, and then proceed to assume something the article did not say (that there is "something inherently wrong with how girls act"), so you can question that assumption. But the assumption is your creation, not someone else's. That's called begging the question, and is a logical fallacy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begging_the_question

Finally, after denying there's such a thing as girl behavior, then pivoting to say even if there is, there's nothing wrong with it (although no one said there is), you jump to exactly the kind of stereotypical judgment ("the way boys act isn't something to be emulated") you were rising up against twenty words earlier.

So, to summarize, there's no such thing as girl behavior; but if there is, then there's nothing wrong with it; meanwhile, there *is* such a thing as boy behavior, and it is bad.

Okay, I think I got it. ;)

[edwardian]

35. A breath of rational air

on DU? I must be at the wrong website.:sarcasm: Nice job deconstructing the poor logic and emotion-based moral indignation. I might even stay here now Psephos, :party: :party:

[pmorlan1]

24. What about the girls?

So how did the girls who were exposed to phthalates react? I wonder if they even bothered to test the girls?

[Javaman]

38. Ever seen the movie "attack of the 50ft woman"? nt

[JerseygirlCT]

26. Ok, now this one seems a pretty big stretch

As the parent of two boys, I couldn't and wouldn't define what "acting like a boy" means. The stereotypes are totally undependable.

I have no doubt that nasty stuff is leaching into our food chain. But I definitely bristle at something posing as scientific that seems to be relying on nothing more than old stereotypes of male vs. female behavior.

[femrap]

27. So plastics can reduce the

the possibility of war?

I've always liked a man in touch with his Feminine side.

[xchrom]

29. i knew there was areason i kept buying fabulous matching handbags and shoes. nt

[Garam_Masala]

30. I changed from using plastic water bottles to a stainless metal thermos

and my libido is still the same, very high :loveya:

[DU GrovelBot]

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[LeftHander]

40. I drank from a plastic water bottle and grew breasts....

What should I do?

[AlphaCentauri]

46. Get a bra n/t

[One_Life_To_Give]

42. But can it make me grow a pair of Girls?

I get bored sometimes and need somethings to keep me entertained. :evilgrin:

[AlphaCentauri]

43. That explain why so many kids join gangs

they feel insecure and scare

[mitchum]

44. And they will really be compensating for their undersized genitalia

[mitchum]

45. Misandry is great!

Especially when it is delivered with sanctimonious anti-war sentiments.
DUers take a bow!