The Lost Boys of Aamjiwnaang Reservation

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Industrial Pollution Health Hazards

 

The Lost Boys of Aamjiwnaang Reservation

 

On an Indian reserve in Canada, girls rule the day-care centers, the

playgrounds, the sports teams. The reason: For the past 15 years, fewer

and fewer boys are being born. It may be the leading edge of a

chemically induced crisis that could make men an endangered species

 

EVEN IF YOU TRIED, you couldn't avoid the chemicals that mimic hormones.

You can find them in the dandelion killer you put on your lawn and the

bug spray under the kitchen sink. They're in many plastic bottles and

they line tin cans. They're lurking in carpets and sofa cushions, in

shampoos, and detergents.

 

One of the most disturbing things we know about endocrine-disrupting

chemicals is that they don't always follow the basic rule of thumb in

toxicology, that the danger is in the dose. Toxicologists as far back as

the 16th century have said that chemicals don't become poisons until the

dose is elevated. In other words, low levels are safe.

 

Except, that is, in the case of hormone-mimicking chemicals. In its

review, the Endocrine Society cites studies showing that even

infinitesimally low levels of these chemicals may upset the body's

hormones. " Surprisingly, " the society's statement points out, " low doses

may exert even more potent effects. " It cites a study in which

scientists from Arkansas and Texas changed the sex of turtles to female

by dosing an egg with minute amounts -- as little as 400 picograms

(trillionths of a gram) -- of estrogen.

 

The finding that even a tiny amount of these chemicals can upset the

body's endocrine system has stunning implications for how chemicals are

regulated in the United States. The founding principle -- that as long

as we minimize the releases into the environment, we're okay -- may be

faulty.

 

The issue is especially important to men. These chemicals may be more

dangerous to men than they are to women, because their effects on men

appear to go far beyond determining the sex of their children. Some

studies suggest, for instance, that certain endocrine disruptors can

lower sperm counts and cause birth defects like hypospadias, where the

penis is malformed. Researchers have theorized that parental exposure to

the chemicals may cause these birth defects by changing the

concentrations of sex hormones that regulate fetal development.

 

Scientists also think estrogen-mimicking chemicals may be linked to the

worldwide increase in testicular cancer, although they are still a long

way from tying them together. The rate of testicular cancer in the

United States has been increasing since the 1950s; it's now 50 percent

higher than it was in 1975. It is now the most commonly diagnosed

malignancy among men ages 15 to 34.

In its statement, the Endocrine Society noted that the steep rise in

cases of testicular cancer suggests that genetic factors alone can't be

blamed. Therefore, it's likely that some type of environmental or

lifestyle factors are involved.

 

In one fascinating study, researchers in Sweden determined that men who

had been diagnosed with testicular cancer did not have elevated levels

of PCBs or other organochlorines in their blood. So they tested the

mothers -- and discovered that the mothers of the men with cancer had

higher levels of these chemicals in their blood than the mothers of men

who did not have cancer. Zoeller says such research, if it continues to

be supported, " means that men who get testicular cancer had those cancer

cells with them since they were born. "

 

Yet such studies continue to be highly controversial. Guillette says

that one reason we know so little about these products is that it's

highly unethical to knowingly douse people with chemicals and then watch

what happens. Instead, scientists must rely on animal studies or trace

what happens when human beings are accidentally exposed in industrial

accidents. Another problem is that we're now being exposed to hundreds

of environmental chemicals, including dozens that are known endocrine

disruptors. That makes it exceedingly difficult to determine which one

is having an effect. Or even which ones might be operating in concert.

 

In a recent article he coauthored, Rogan, the government scientist,

noted contradictions in the research on endocrine disruption. " The

inconsistency seen in the current literature is less evidence of no

effect than a consequence of the broadness of the topic and the

difficulty in studying it, " he wrote. " Of course, by the time

epidemiology can demonstrate effects, people have been exposed and

affected, so it is in some sense too late. "

 

A SPRING-GREEN LEAF, perfectly shaped and lifelike, greets visitors to

the Web site of the Sarnia-Lambton Environmental Association (SLEA). The

group's name is somewhat of a misnomer: Its members are the chemical

manufacturers and oil refineries surrounding the Aamjiwnaang reserve.

The group takes its own measurements of industrial pollution and reports

to the public on the industry's progress in reducing those emissions.

 

Dean Edwardson, SLEA's general manager, says he's far from convinced

that emissions from factories in Sarnia led to more girls being born on

the reserve. He points to a review of the county's birth records that

includes Aamjiwnaang, which did not find a similar decline in newborn

boys. (James Brophy, now at the University of Windsor, has read this

report and dismisses its importance. He points out that it included all

county residents, even those who are subject to far less air, water, and

soil pollution than those living on Aamjiwnaang.)