By Matthew Schofield, Kansas City Star editorial board
A new study from The University of Rochester is raising concerns about some pretty common chemicals that are making boys less boy-ish.
Boys exposed to higher levels of the chemicals in the womb are less likely to want to play with toy guns or cars and are less likely to want to "play-fight."
The chemicals, phthalates, are commonly found in vinyl flooring, plastic furniture, packaging and shower curtains. Specifically, the study warns against DEHP and DBP.
In an interview with the BBC, Elizabeth Salter-Green, director of the chemicals campaign group CHEM Trust, said:
"We now know that phthalates, to which we are all constantly exposed, are extremely worrying from a health perspective, leading to disruption of male reproduction health and, it appears, male behaviour too.
"This feminising capacity of phthalates makes them true 'gender benders.'"
You know, as often as we're subjected to the latest "this will kill you" news, it's easy to get jaded to such reports.
In this case, however, I'm not in favor of this, not at all. Nature intends for boys to want to smack each other around.
Not exactly sure what can be done to keep pregnant woman away from plastics, but it sounds like it would be a good idea to refrain from sending gifts of packaged plastic furniture.
Delicious
Digg
You’re wrong, Schofield.
I bet you thought you had come up with the silliest scientific study of the day. However, I think I have you beat. “Romantic Rivalries Stir Religious Feelings”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20091116/sc_livescience/romanticrivalriesstirreligiousfeelings
>>Social psychologists had volunteers view dating profiles of either attractive men or women and told them these were fellow students participating at an online dating site. They were then asked to rate, on a 10-point scale, the extent to which they agreed with statements like, "I believe in God," "We'd be better off if religion played a bigger role in people's lives," and "Religious beliefs are important to me in my everyday decisions."
The volunteers appeared more religious when exposed to attractive members of their own sex.
[T]he researchers conjecture that people might become more religious when rivals are present since religion often involves rules that police sex. Alternatively, people might say they are more religious to be more attractive, maybe exploiting a different niche to find mates.
"We are proposing a new way to look at religion - as a strategy to advance evolutionary goals," Li said.<<
Biology rules
This is just one of many studies pointing to estrogenic and androgenic properties of plastics and their by-products. It also raises the interesting question: If a chemical can alter the sexuality and gender identity of a child (and presumably the resulting adult) then how much of a "choice" or "agenda" is homosexuality??
Answer? No choice" at all! Homosexuality is biology based, not a choice.