https://misanthrope.today/2019/12/23/are-plastics-destroying-our-testosterone/
December 23, 2019
Are Plastics Destroying Our Testosterone?
The plastics that wrap our sandwiches, contain your shampoo, and surround us are messing with our hormones. Over the last 50 years, testosterone levels in American men have been plunging. Could this be why?
Testosterone and other androgens are groups of hormones we associate with men – and indeed, they are responsible for the physiological changes that come with a boy’s sexual maturity after puberty such as the chest, groin, and armpit hair, as well as deepening of the voice.
But women and pre-pubescent children also have testosterone in their bodies. Male testes produce testosterone and female ovaries produce the androgen.
Women need testosterone as most of it is converted into the estrogen sex hormone estradiol. Female testosterone supports other hormonal levels, fuels the sex drive and fertility, and makes new blood cells.
In men, testosterone is vital for proper development during puberty, including producing sperm, ensuring strong bones and muscles, and a healthy sex drive.
Levels vary with a person’s age, sex, and overall health. Men usually have much higher levels of testosterone in their bodies than women and children and reduced levels are expected as people age.
Testosterone loss is linked to diabetes, abdominal obesity, sexual dysfunction, depression, and other negative medical conditions.
Today, clinically lower testosterone levels are more common than high testosterone levels among patients tested, underscoring a recent trend that has some observers worried about the future of humankind as male fertility rates plummet.
A 2014 study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM) revealed the details of a 15-year prospective study that evaluated changes in the test population’s serum testosterone.
Boston-area men 45-79 years old were sampled for blood and interviewed between 1987 and 1989 with two follow-up periods in 1995-1997 and 2002-2004 for a total of 2,769 observations from 1,532 men. An age-independent decline in testosterone was noted.
Thomas Travison, Ph.D., of the New England Research Institutes in Watertown, Massachusetts, commented on the research findings:
“It is a little troubling. The average differences are not very large, but they are big enough and occurring over a short enough time period to be the cause of some concern.”
Travison continued:
“The interesting thing we discovered was that, on average, when we measured the testosterone in the blood of a 60-year-old in 1989 it was higher than that in a different 60-year-old measured in 1995. We observed the same phenomenon over a wide range of ages.”
The researchers were at a loss to explain why testosterone levels had declined, after discounting the effects of obesity, smoking, and other lifestyle “co-morbid conditions.”
Shalender Bhasin, MD, of the section of endocrinology, diabetes, and nutrition at the Boston University School of Medicine, commented on the long-term study:
“This magnitude of change during such a short period is disquieting.”
Not only men but women and children exposed to high levels of endocrine-disrupting chemicals called phthalates present in plastics had lower testosterone levels than people exposed to lower chemical exposure.
Phthalates are “chemicals added to plastics to make them softer and more flexible (in shower curtains, for example). They also crop up in products from shampoo to laundry detergent to the coating on electrical wires. They’re widespread in the environment and previous testing has shown that 90 percent of adults have detectable levels in their bloodstream.”
A 50-year decline in male testosterone levels has been linked to an increase in related health conditions such as reduced semen quality in men and genital malformations in newborn boys, as noted in a different 2014 study published in the JCEM.
John D. Meeker, MS, ScD, of the University of Michigan School of Public Health in Ann Arbor, found evidence that reduced levels of circulating testosterone were associated with increased phthalate exposure in 6-12-year-old boys and men and women aged 40-60 and said:
“This may have important public health implications, since low testosterone levels in young boys can negatively impact reproductive development, and in middle age can impair sexual function, libido, energy, cognitive function and bone health in men and women.”
Avoid phthalates present in many cosmetics and personal care products:
When in doubt about a skincare product, check it out at the Environmental Working Group’s <https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/> Skin Deep</a> search engine. Toxic levels in commercial items are easily identified so health-conscious consumers can make better choices.
- Non-organic/non-Essential Oil-based scented candles
- Body spray
- Most commercial perfumes
- Air Fresheners
- Scented bathroom sprays
- Aromatic personal care products
- Many fast-food items