Gender Benders, Sperm Discount and Chemical Toxicity

I have heard a number of women mention that the younger men of today seem more feminine.  Is this perception, culture or environment?  The variables are too numerous to quantify. There is documentation that chemical toxicity mimics estrogen causing hormone havoc with gender bending effects. 

 The book, "Hormone Deception" by Lindsey Berskson, outlines an array of hormone disruptors that include wildlife/environmental gender problems.  Birds that bring pesticide contaminated food to their chicks created masculinized females that sing male mating songs.  Weird. 

In 1980 the Tower Chemical Company had a spill of DDT in Lake Apopka, Florida.  DDT is an insecticide in the biphenyl compound group that mimics estrogen.  Bisphenyls also include BPA and PCBs.  The result in alligator egg hatch was a change from 90 percent survival to 18 percent.  Male alligators were demasculinized with problems in reproduction including the absence of a phallus.  Remember most cities fogged the streets with DDT in the fifties and sixties. 

Another infamous biphenyl is Dethylstilbesterol (DES) that was given to pregnant women in the 1950's and 1960's.   The drug "designed" to increase the health of a baby caused miscarriages.  The result was devastating for some daughters that developed cancer.  There was also a study that found that forty two percent of DES exposed women had bisexual orientation verses 18 percent of their untreated DES sisters.

DES also caused men to experience low sperm count and problems with reproduction.  Other problems may include problems with the urinary tract, prostate, testicles, and enlargement of the breast.  There have also been some psychological effects including depression.   

It is interesting that during development, men require testosterone to develop their masculinity.  This testosterone converts to estrogen in the brain as an important part of their development.  So while men need testosterone, they also have a small amount of estrogen.

Biphenyl compounds are stored in fat cells and mimic estrogen creating a gender bending effect.  This is especially true if exposure takes place in the first trimester of pregnancy.  There is the possibility of hormone changes that happen during development.  Since these types of toxins are stored in fat, there is speculation that this problem has been passed down to subsequent generations.  This means that the baby boomers exposure to DDT and DES could produce gender problems for future generations.