Silent Takeover by Jacquelyn Sheppard

Author:Jacquelyn Sheppard [Sheppard, Jacquelyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Destiny Image, Inc.

CHAPTER 9

Tough Questions: How Chemicals Change Your Life

When I was a little girl, I quickly learned the primary colors. I had a small box of crayons, a real treasure to me. When I started first grade, however, I discovered that my little box of red, blue, yellow, green, orange, purple, brown, and black did not compare to the choices I had in the big school box of chunky crayons. By third grade, we had the smaller crayons and almost fifty choices of colors! There were many different shades of red and blue, orange and green. My coloring book began to show all sorts of combinations of colors—magenta, violet, azure, hunter, and sienna. Now, over sixty years later, I live in Kansas City where we have a Crayola Café and a Crayola Store that can fascinate a child (or adult) for hours. The basic eight colors have expanded into 120 colors that include two shades of black.

Life is a lot like a box of crayons and a coloring book. Content with our little box of information, we think we have all we need to know until someone comes along with another box of information and we are forced to decide what to do about it. When it comes to endocrine disruptors, often called “gender benders,” it’s all too easy to begin talking about right and wrong, morality, and personal opinions. Most of us would prefer sticking our heads in the sand and minding our own business. However, there’s too much science and information available to ignore what chemicals are doing to our environment, to fish, sea life, animals, and to humans. The changes are profound. Almost every family is facing critical decisions concerning children and relatives. In the midst of it all, there are people who may not identify with their own body parts. The brain and the body seem to be on different tracks.

Just as there are physical reasons why neurotransmitters in the brain can accept mimics into cell receptors for dopamine, serotonin, etc., our hormone receptors can accept “disruptors” and “mimics.” While these are not the hormones designed by our bodies, the body cannot recognize the difference. For example, DDT, an insecticide, can fit right into an estrogen receptor and set the body on a path to breast cancer. You may recall that in Chapter Four there was information about how the thyroid gland is affected by perchlorate—rocket fuel that is present in the Colorado River, which irrigates the produce farms in California.

Over thirty-five years ago, English fishermen began reporting they were catching fish with unusual sexual anatomy in both males and females. As the numbers of these reports increased and involved increasingly large areas, scientists began to investigate the causes behind the effects. Fresh water fish and shrimp were becoming feminized. The first place to look, of course, was in the water. Scientists began to examine runoff water and what was being emptied into the water as many industrial companies use rivers and streams for their waste products. In addition, many of these changes were noted downstream of water treatment plants.

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