Silent Spring

Study of the Effects of Phthalates on the Behaviour of Young Boys

The study was published in the International Journal of Andrology was led by Dr. Shanna Swan at the University of Rochester in New York. The basis of the study was quite simple. Samples of urine were taken from a group of women that were in their 28th week of pregnancy and was tested for phthalates. The ...

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The Phthalates Problem

The chemical that was focused on in the study was phthalates. Phthalates are a group of chemicals that can mimic the action of the female sex hormone oestrogen. Other studies have connected phthalates and a number of other endocrine-disrupting chemicals with the worrying increase of genital defects in boys and the lowering of sperm counts ...

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Chemicals in Plastics are Feminising Boys

A disturbing study has shown that chemicals used in some types of plastic are feminising the brains of baby boys. It has been shown that boys exposed to high doses of certain chemicals commonly found in everyday plastics are less likely to play with traditionally ‘male’ toys such as cars. The boys are also less willing ...

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A Different way is Needed to Test Toxic Chemicals

But how should new testing methods go? How can you test for chemicals that could affect foetal development at concentrations at one part per trillion? The current approach is the complete opposite of that required to deal with endocrine disruption. Industry is allowed to use a new synthetic chemical unless a danger has been proved with ...

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What Dose of Toxic Chemicals Causes Harm?

Endocrine disruptors have turned classical toxicology on its head. For decades toxicologists have focused on acute toxicity; the more chemical added the more marked the effect. The thinking been that at low enough doses there is a point you reach where there is no observable adverse effect of the contaminant in question. It has always ...

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Effects of Bisphenol A

More than 700 studies have linked bisphenol A with diseases ranging from obesity and diabetes to cancer. Animal studies have connected it to a number of serious illnesses that have become a concern in recent years due to their increased incidence in the population. The studies have shown that the chemical pollutant causes abnormal development of ...

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International Expert Groups warns of the dangers of Bisphenol A

Research groups world-wide studying BPA issued a ‘consensus statement’ in the Journal of Reproductive Toxicology in August 2007 agreeing on the dangers of the chemical bisphenol A. Rachel in Silent Spring warned of the dangers of everyday chemical pollutants, but even though her ideas were seen as revolutionary, we have yet to learn from her message. ...

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Release of Bisphenol A by Polycarbonate Bottles

The study taken on by the Harvard School of Public Health involved 77 students who were first put through a seven day ‘cleansing process’ in which they were given cold drinks that were stored in stainless steel bottles. This limited the amount of BPA they were exposed to. They were then simply given polycarbonate bottles and ...

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Polycarbonate Containers releases Bisphenol A (BPA) into Surrounding Liquid

There has been some controversy over the issue of whether polycarbonate containers releases the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) into the liquids stored in them. But a new 2009 study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health discovered that volunteers who participated in their experiment showed a two-third increase of bisphenol A in their urine after ...

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Endocrine Disruptors: Phthalates

Realizing that some chemicals present within certain commonly used plastics acted as weak oestrogen mimics, a group of scientists decided to investigate the situation further. After some in depth research into possible candidates, the team finally settled on one family of chemicals; the phthalates. The Ubiquity of Phthalates Two members of the phthalate family were found to ...

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