The established American habit of drinking water or soda from plastic bottles is also one of the causes of a tendency of many boys and young men to lose their drive and fail to grow up. Leonard Sax, MD, PhD, says the synthetic estrogens found in plastics additives has been emasculating our boys and pushing our girls into precocious puberty.
Five factors contribute to the increasing numbers of underachieving boys and men, according to Sax. One of these is the fact that boys and men are receiving synthetic estrogens as contaminants provided by plastic water and soda bottles, baby bottles, baby toys, and pacifiers. Sax identifies water and soda bottles with a recycling number of 1 as the most prevalent culprits. These items contain BPA and phthalates, synthetic estrogens for softening the plastic.
Scientists are aware that the chemicals are environmental estrogens, and have focused on their tendency to cause cancer. Animal studies pinpointed the amount that would cause cancer in animals, and acceptable dose limits were created from those studies.
He poses the question: does taking estrogen affect boys and men? In recent years many Americans have been getting their water out of plastic bottles. And soda has been sold in plastic bottles rather than aluminum cans. As a result, Americans find themselves in a big experiment on this question, does taking estrogen affect boys and men. Aside from whether the plastic additives cause cancer, Sax says he believes they are causing delayed puberty and lost motivation.
Four other factors and the plastics additives are combining to foster a group of men and boys who are not growing up, Sax says. He cites a study that found that, 25 years ago, only 8 percent of men between the ages of 35 and 40 had not ever married. In 2006, in contrast, 22 percent were in that category, and the number was still rising. (NYT, 8/6/06, "Facing Middle Age with No Degree and No Wife" by O'Donnell and Porter)
Other studies showed the proportion of men under 35 who never left home has doubled in the past 30 years. Also, 36 percent of babies born in 2004 in the U.S. were born to single women. That's single women of all demographic categories.
Congress last year passed a law directing the Consumer Product Safety Commission to ban one of the estrogen additives, phthalates, from products sold for children as of August, 2009, including pacifiers and baby bottles.
The agency in charge of food and drink, and its containers, is the FDA, the Food and Drug Administration. In the controversy over BPA, the FDA chooses to believe the 11 industry-funded studies that show BPA is safe. But there are 104 independently funded studies showing it is hazardous, according Catherine Zandonella, MPH, writing in The Green Guide, an online magazine.
To be a savvy and safe consumer, look for a recycling number of 1, 3, or 7 on the bottoms of plastic bottles. If you see it, don't use it. Especially, avoid beverages that were allowed to get warm in the plastic bottle, making it easier for the chemicals to seep out. (Acid in soda does this too.) Avoid warming food in plastic containers.
Sax identifies four other factors contributing to the epidemic of men who aren't growing up:
* Changes in the way kindergarten is taught. Once a time for exploration, now it's a sit-down, paper-and-pencil subject. That's too early for boys. They wind up hating school.
* Video games
* ADHD medications
* A scarcity in our culture of traditions for transition to manhood
Interested? You should take a look at Sax's book. You'll find it quite an eye-opener. I did.
Five factors contribute to the increasing numbers of underachieving boys and men, according to Sax. One of these is the fact that boys and men are receiving synthetic estrogens as contaminants provided by plastic water and soda bottles, baby bottles, baby toys, and pacifiers. Sax identifies water and soda bottles with a recycling number of 1 as the most prevalent culprits. These items contain BPA and phthalates, synthetic estrogens for softening the plastic.
Scientists are aware that the chemicals are environmental estrogens, and have focused on their tendency to cause cancer. Animal studies pinpointed the amount that would cause cancer in animals, and acceptable dose limits were created from those studies.
He poses the question: does taking estrogen affect boys and men? In recent years many Americans have been getting their water out of plastic bottles. And soda has been sold in plastic bottles rather than aluminum cans. As a result, Americans find themselves in a big experiment on this question, does taking estrogen affect boys and men. Aside from whether the plastic additives cause cancer, Sax says he believes they are causing delayed puberty and lost motivation.
Four other factors and the plastics additives are combining to foster a group of men and boys who are not growing up, Sax says. He cites a study that found that, 25 years ago, only 8 percent of men between the ages of 35 and 40 had not ever married. In 2006, in contrast, 22 percent were in that category, and the number was still rising. (NYT, 8/6/06, "Facing Middle Age with No Degree and No Wife" by O'Donnell and Porter)
Other studies showed the proportion of men under 35 who never left home has doubled in the past 30 years. Also, 36 percent of babies born in 2004 in the U.S. were born to single women. That's single women of all demographic categories.
Congress last year passed a law directing the Consumer Product Safety Commission to ban one of the estrogen additives, phthalates, from products sold for children as of August, 2009, including pacifiers and baby bottles.
The agency in charge of food and drink, and its containers, is the FDA, the Food and Drug Administration. In the controversy over BPA, the FDA chooses to believe the 11 industry-funded studies that show BPA is safe. But there are 104 independently funded studies showing it is hazardous, according Catherine Zandonella, MPH, writing in The Green Guide, an online magazine.
To be a savvy and safe consumer, look for a recycling number of 1, 3, or 7 on the bottoms of plastic bottles. If you see it, don't use it. Especially, avoid beverages that were allowed to get warm in the plastic bottle, making it easier for the chemicals to seep out. (Acid in soda does this too.) Avoid warming food in plastic containers.
Sax identifies four other factors contributing to the epidemic of men who aren't growing up:
* Changes in the way kindergarten is taught. Once a time for exploration, now it's a sit-down, paper-and-pencil subject. That's too early for boys. They wind up hating school.
* Video games
* ADHD medications
* A scarcity in our culture of traditions for transition to manhood
Interested? You should take a look at Sax's book. You'll find it quite an eye-opener. I did.
About the Author:
Are you concerned about the trace chemicals in city water and the safety of plastic water bottles? Learn more about my quest for the best pure water solution, which turned out to be a home water filtration system, costing only 8 cents per gallon. Learn about filter alternatives, including shower-head filters, at www.home-water-filter.info .
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