[Cid_Yama]

The male gender is in danger, with incalculable consequences for both humans and wildlife, startling scientific research from around the world reveals.

The research – to be detailed tomorrow in the most comprehensive report yet published – shows that a host of common chemicals is feminising males of every class of vertebrate animals, from fish to mammals, including people.

Backed by some of the world's leading scientists, who say that it "waves a red flag" for humanity and shows that evolution itself is being disrupted.

"Feminisation of the males of numerous vertebrate species is now a widespread occurrence. All vertebrates have similar sex hormone receptors, which have been conserved in evolution. Therefore, observations in one species may serve to highlight pollution issues of concern for other vertebrates, including humans."

The report – published by the charity CHEMTrust and drawing on more than 250 scientific studies from around the world – concentrates mainly on wildlife, identifying effects in species ranging from the polar bears of the Arctic to the eland of the South African plains, and from whales in the depths of the oceans to high-flying falcons and eagles.

It concludes: "Males of species from each of the main classes of vertebrate animals (including bony fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals) have been affected by chemicals in the environment.

Many have been identified as "endocrine disrupters" – or gender-benders – because they interfere with hormones. These include phthalates, used in food wrapping, cosmetics and baby powders among other applications; flame retardants in furniture and electrical goods; PCBs, a now banned group of substances still widespread in food and the environment; and many pesticides.

Professor Lou Gillette of Florida University, one of the most respected academics in the field, warned that the report waved "a large red flag" at humanity. He said: "If we are seeing problems in wildlife, we can be concerned that something similar is happening to a proportion of human males"

Indeed, new research at the University of Rochester in New York state shows that boys born to mothers with raised levels of phthalates were more likely to have smaller penises and undescended testicles. They also had a shorter distance between their anus and genitalia, a classic sign of feminisation. And a study at Rotterdam's Erasmus University showed that boys whose mothers had been exposed to PCBs grew up wanting to play with dolls and tea sets rather than with traditionally male toys.

Communities heavily polluted with gender-benders in Canada, Russia and Italy have given birth to twice as many girls than boys, which may offer a clue to the reason for a mysterious shift in sex ratios worldwide.

And sperm counts are dropping precipitously. Studies in more than 20 countries have shown that they have dropped from 150 million per millilitre of sperm fluid to 60 million over 50 years.

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[Sixstrings]

I probably think too much. But this is something I've noticed more over the years -- the feminization of men.

Little things. We have new words floating around, like "bromance," and "metrosexuals" (a metrosexual is a straight man who uses things like face exfoliating cream). It occured to me recently that a lot of tv advertisements, espcially for electronics, use males with higher pitched voices.

I dunno what's behind all this. Maybe because so many men work in cubicles, alongside women -- the gender lines are blurring. I seriously doubt factory workers use face cream, or have "bromances."

[Lanthanide]

It's amusing that despite all man's supposed mastery of nature, something like this can come back and kick him (literally) in the balls.

Maybe the theory of Gaia isn't so wrong after all?

[RedStateGreen]

Alcoholism can do it too ... might be why the gender skew in Russia ...

[Waterthrush]

The physiological changes may be real, but the cultural definition of what is male - and female - changes from decade to decade. At one time, males wore the majority of jewelry, played female roles in the theater, and were heavily perfumed. At one time, most boys were dressed in female-type clothes when young. At one time it was considered absolutely appalling if women wore pants.

Definitions did not evolve until the 20th century and then stop - they will continue evolving.

I think our population needs to shrink, and since we are outrunning our capacity to support ourselves, it seems very natural and good to me that sperm counts fall a great deal. But, as I am interested in boosting the population of the natural world again, I would prefer that animal and bird sperm counts stay high!

[Ferretlover]

Thinking out loud: I wonder if the unstable state of the planet is .... inducing?... the change in flora & fauna, preparing them for the changing environment? One of our posters has a DW who is a marine biologist. Maybe he can ask her to tell us more about the oceans and seas.

[kpeavey]

My next day off I will spend it having fun in the woods chopping down a tree. A big one. Just for fun. For lunch I will kill and eat raw whatever game I can find. If there is no game, I'll eat mud. Then it's home to work with power tools and clean my guns.

---

The Club of Rome World3 standard run shows pollution increasing dramatically around the midpoint of resource depletion, and continuing for decades before reaching a peak. I'm not a chemist, and I am not in contact with many, but there is no way a society can pump crap into the air and water, flush everything down the toilet, burn their consumer packaging waste, spray their armpits, drive chemical burning vehicles dripping more chemicals, and generally trash the place without some sort of reaction between the crap and the environment. The last time the planet was this chocked with smog, carbon based life evolved. The worst is yet to come, yet we are already losing frogs, bats, bees and now...our Goods?

What exactly happens when Roundup flows into the river, mixes with dioxins from the paper mill, then blends with drug and hormone residue from a swimmer's urine, combines with airplane wing deicer, then sits in a bay choked with diesel from an old garbage scow for 6 months under a bright sun?

Save your manhood. Eat Organic.

And get some power tools.

And grunt every chance you get.

[misterno]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 4597358451

Unbelievable

[Tuike]

I watched the video in the link. This is what Reverse Engineer talked about some time ago in this thread -> http://peakoil.com/environment/poisonin ... 49491.html

Petrochemicals are poisoning the children and causing infertility!

[mos6507]

Maybe that's a good thing in the end.

[Ludi]

Maybe that's a good thing in the end.

But there won't be enough babies! The human population might begin to shrink!

[Pretorian]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7530701744597358451 Unbelievable

Well, what did you think-- once you flush it, its gone? It is not. Burn your plastic, eat dioxins. Throw it away, eat BPA. Bury it, drink BPA. You Expletive deleted up everything around you and everything around you Expletive deleted you up.

[auscanman]

If this only affected humans I'd be quite pleased to see that our numbers would soon be declining. Unfortunately, this is affecting other creatures as well, so I'd classify it as an ecological catastrophe.

In inland lakes with large populations surrounding them, such as the Great Lakes, women's use of the pill is of even more concern. There are detectable levels of female hormones in the drinking water of Lake Ontario, which is affecting fish adversely and even causing sex changes amongst male fish. This obviously affects the men who drink this water too... Only going to get worse as the concentration of these hormones in the water increases.

[davep]

Crap. Does it affect rainwater or Evian though?

</self-centred bastid>

[Kristen]

Those who adapt will survive.

[mos6507]

Remember, octamom had her kids via test-tube.

[timmac]

Maybe that's a good thing in the end.

But there won't be enough babies! The human population might begin to shrink!

6.8 billion people now and going to double every 40-50 years, this sounds like a good thing to me, there is just to many people on this planet.

[Cabrone]

Does that mean that if the sperm count halves then we get to have twice as much sex?

Think I'll have to show that video to the other half.......

[Ludi]

Does that mean that if the sperm count halves then we get to have twice as much sex?

You could get a vasectomy and have sex all the time!

[Pretorian]

Does that mean that if the sperm count halves then we get to have twice as much sex?

You could get a vasectomy and have sex all the time!

Or perhaps Cabron could sterilize his cabra instead.