Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Theo Colborn's Suggestions


This is a few months late (I blame my laziness on hormone disruptors!), but here are some suggestions Theo gave us when my class teleconferenced with her in November.

For women who are wanting to get pregnant, are pregnant, or just gave birth:
-Avoid packaged food as much as you can, eat whole foods instead.
-Do not use microwaves (especially, do not heat up plastic containers)
-Don't get pregnant while on the birth control pill (as there are obviously high levels of synthetic hormones in them)
-Go off of the pill for 6-9 months before getting pregnant, to allow the body's hormones to return to normal levels.
-Eat organic meats, wild fish.
-Don't renovate anything yourself (paint, refinish furniture), or be around renovations.
-A couple of months after the first child is born, pump breast milk and throw it away. This will greatly lessen the total amount of chemicals in the woman's body that the second child will be exposed to.
-Avoid soy products, since soy is a natural endocrine disruptor (babies exposed to soy in the womb have higher rates of thyroid problems than those not exposed).
-Be aware of any new products, since endocrine disruptors are present in paper, clothing, glass, etc.
-Don't use sunscreen; cover up instead.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Toxic Sperm

Some members of my Global Science and Tech class (Amy, Eve, and Eric) found this awesome Greenpeace commercial that spoofs on Woody Allen's classic film Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* *but were afraid to ask.

Go to: http://www.green.tv/toxic_sperm

It's a hilarious, and sadly accurate, depiction of the effects of endocrine disruptors on the human reproductive system. As mentioned in previous posts, EDs have been linked to decreasing sperm count in men all over the world, as well as the fact that the sperm men do produce have more incidents of mutations and are not as healthy as sperm studied 50 years ago.

Safer Cars

I found a great website that rates cars by their toxicity. Given that the entire interior of a car is all plastics and fabrics, it is no shock that this raises the level of human exposure to endocrine disruptors. Go to www.healthycar.org to find out the rating for your car, especially if you are thinking about buying a new one. This is a safety concern right up there with air bags and crash star ratings.