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Endocrine Disrupters and the Pill
- Introduction
- How EDs Work
- Our Stolen Future
- Drugs in the Environment
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Examples of EDs
- Government Testing
- Laws
- The Pill as an ED
- History of the Pill
- Case Study: Coastal Waters
- Case Study: Fish
- Case Study: Men in Italy
- Solutions
- What you can do!
- Further Information
Comments & questions to:
khornbach@macalester.edu
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Case Study: Men in Italy
Very few studies have actually been done to explore
the effects of synthetic estrogens on human beings. However, a recent
study in Italy was done to explore the effects of pollution on the
gender of children born. The study attempted to explain the recent
decline in the proportion of male births. The study was actually
largely inconclusive in its findings. According to their report, there
was no difference in sex ratio in Italian areas of "higher pesticide
consumption of intense industrial pollution"
(Figà-Talamanca). The study did show that the sex ratio was
affected slightly by living in major urban areas. The verdict was that
"No significant association was found between environmental pollution
and the proportion of male birth in Italy during the study period"
(Figà-Talamanca). However, even without conclusive
evidence, the study only looked at one possible problem with that could
be associated with these problems. Recently, dropping sperm count has
been largely associated with endocrine disrupters, and while the effects on humans are
not being seen yet, this does not mean they will not appear. As humans
are not directly in the aquatic environments that are being affected,
they will likely feel the effects as concentration in waters rise.
Information on this page from Irene Figà-Talamanca et. al study on male births in Italy
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Last updated: 5/2/2006
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