Beware: The Xenoestrogens Have Arrived

[Guest guest]

Beware: The " Xenoestrogens " Have Arrived

JoAnn Guest

Jan 18, 2005 21:35 PST

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Dr. Dan Harper, MD

 

 

 

Sounds like something from " The Body Snatchers " . A few years back,

anarticle appeared in that scientific magazine called Newsweek.

 

In it, a high school girl in her science fair project told how that

compounds called " xenoestrogens " were being absorbed by the foods

placed in plastic containers or Saran wrap, and then taken up by the

body when ingested, doing major damage.

 

These " xenoestrogens " ('altered-female-hormones')are very similar to

free-radicals, zapping everything they come in contact with, then

enter the liver where they wreak havoc on the " detoxification enzymes " ,

then wander nonchalantly into the various tissues of the body where they

begin " over-feminizing " them. Wonder why the 2nd graders look like

something in the Miss America pageant?

 

They go on to " accelerate " breast cancer in those who have such a

tendency, and would you believe they have the audacity to fool

around with the prostate.

 

In the past, ( old-timers always start our sentences that way— " in

the past " , or " when I was young " ), breast cancer was a disease of 60 or

70 year old women. I never heard of anyone with prostate problems until

20 years ago and now we've all got it (males, that is). I'm sure there's

no connection, right?

 

When I was young, one in fifty developed cancer in their lifetime, now

it's one in two. (I don't think it's due to doctors being any smarter

and finding cancer earlier).

 

The bad news is that " xenoestrogens " are not only in plastics, but its

in the hormones the stockmen and farmers use to " fatten up " the animals

for market—

beef, chicken, turkey, pork…that's why you want to harvest

your own meats or get grass- fed or organic meats to avoid these

products. They fatten us up, too.

 

These little " chemicals " also do a number on the " immune system " in

general, setting up all kinds of cancers, and a number of autoimmune

disorders —

fibromyalgias, chronic fatigue, thyroid problems, multiple sclerosis,

prostate enlargement, and the list goes on.

 

So, what do we do?

Boycott the new KFC? They just got here—it ain't their fault.

 

A letter writing campaign to Congress to shut down Saran Wrap?

Naw, save your ink, the politicians can't read anyway. They only know

how to gab.

 

The first step is to remember you are what you eat.

(Brings back memories of the Twinkie eating cop in Die Hard).

 

It is best to shop for foods around the periphery of the grocery store,

getting the fresh, raw produce.

 

An even better approach is to order organic produce from some of the

local co-op people [editor's note: some of you might not know what a

co-op is, so let me explain. People who are tired of eating food filled

with chemicals or food from factory farms that abuse this planet get

together and form a co-operative store which is run by volunteers.

They order, sell, and deal in organic foods (many in bulk), healthy

supplements, hair and skin care products that are less toxic, and

cleaning supplies that are less toxic.

 

This is the power and magic of people working together for a common

good], or products from

" Timeless Seeds " or " Seeds of Change " .

 

We also have local organic ranchers producing beef and pork without all

the harmful toxins.

 

I hear so many complain, " it costs more " , but how much is your

chemotherapy or heart by-pass or silk-lined coffin going to cost?

 

If your body has already suffered from the effects of these

xenoestrogens, your liver needs to be " detoxified " to begin handling

this and other poisons before it's too late.

 

I know of two oral detoxification processes, as well as an IV method

that is quicker. Once the detoxification has occurred, don't make it

worse by putting the same junk into your body that caused the

poisoning in the first place. (Sounds like Proverbs, where the dog

returns to its vomit.)

 

Now comes one of the strangest parts of the article—progesterone. I

have found that both men and women need progesterone in levels the

average American isn't getting. All you ladies have put up with me

suggesting

Progesterone cream for hot flashes, mood swings, depression,

fibromyalgias, chronic fatigue,…ad nauseum…you name it, I suggested

it.

 

Recently, I read how that progesterone is the precursor of estrogens in

females and testosterone in males, and that low levels of progesterone

may lead to miscarriage in females and infertility in males.

 

Then another article told how the human body begins to convert that

'progesterone' into " cortisol " , needed to make " adrenaline " to deal with

stress.

(Stress? isn't that the theme of the newsletter that sent you here?)

 

The readings went on to reveal how " carbohydrate metabolism " , " thyroid

production " , " serotonin and dopamine " functions in the brain, " lipid

metabolism " , " immune functions " …

all depend on progesterone to function correctly.

 

If the " stress " has 'stolen' all the " progesterone " to make 'cortisol'

to

keep you going in stressful situations, that explains some of the

fatigue, depression, rise in blood sugars and fats, frequent infection,

when

we are near a " burn out " state.

 

One of the things needed to deal with this stressful state is more

progesterone.

 

Fortunately, there are some good progesterone products on

the market that are made from Wild Yams. The best are " micronized "

and

are readily absorbed through the skin when applied on the abdomen,

legs, or arms. The local pharmacies carry a product called " Life-Flo " ,

2- Js has one called " Fem Crème " , and then there's the multi-level

marketing company Matol Botanical Products that you can find on the net;

all have good results in most people. If one doesn't seem to be working,

try another preparation. (That's why we have both Anusol and Preparation

H,

some work better for one than the other.) Anyway, back to the story.

 

It is the imbalance of estrogen to progesterone ratio that sets up

the breast cancer or uterine cancer in the women.

 

It is this imbalance of estrogens to progesterone in the male that

causes prostate problems. This imbalance contributes to heart disease

and autoimmune diseases in

both sexes (doesn't want to show any favoritism —afraid of lawsuits

about discrimination, I reckon.)

 

So, now that I've beat this dead horse enough…let me just caution

you to rethink the foods you buy, as well as their storage and the types

of containers your beverages come in.

 

(Aluminum for Alzheimer's and Plastic for Poison).

 

I'm sure they sneak in other ways (a quick trip to the internet or

library will reveal those),

but if your liver is healthy and

you have enough progesterone, you might just live to see another day.

By the way, may that day be a special one.

 

http://www.mnwelldir.org/docs/cancer1/xeno.htmXenoestrogens and Women's

Health

 

by Sandra Steinbraber and Kathryn Patton

=====================================================================

 

Manufactured from cholesterol by a woman's ovaries each month, the

hormone called estrogen circulates in he blood, passes easily in and out

of all organs and tissues and is eventually metabolised by enzymes in

the liver

 

Certain tissues in a woman's body, however, contain " receptors " that

latch onto estrogen molecules as they float through her body.

 

During the few hours when estrogen molecules are bound to the receptors,

the cells of these " target tissues " are stimulated to proliferate.

The cells of the vagina, the uterus and the breast all contain large

numbers of estrogen receptors. In the presence of estrogen, they grow.

 

A few years ago, cell biologist Dr. Ana Soto was working out the

biochemical details of estrogenm sensitivity -- and its relationship to

breast cancer when something puzzling happened in her Tufts University

laboratory.

Tissues growing in plastic dishes containing no estrogens started

" proliferating " .

 

" This indicated that some type of contamination had occurred, " Soto

remembered.

 

" We made an accidental discovery. " Soto traced the 'contamination' to

the plastic tubes-- she was using to store blood serum.

 

Working with her colleague Carlos Sonnenschein, Soto purified the

contaminant-- and identified it as " nonylphenol " , a chemical added

during the manufacture of plastic to prevent it from cracking.

 

They discovered molecules of nonylphenol were being shed from the tubes

into the serum.

 

Soto and Sonnenscheinwent on to prove that nonylphenol is estrogenic -

that is, -- it mimics the effect of estrogen when added to tissues

containing estrogen receptors.

 

In a series of experiments published in 1991, Soto demonstrated that

human breast tissue " proliferates " in the presence of nonylphenol,

possibly placing it on the path to tumour formation.

 

Soto and Sonnenschein's research is now focused on quantifying the

estrogenicity of nonylphenol and other substances.

 

These chemicals are being termed xenoestrogens: substances foreign to

the human body that, directly or indirectly,

act like estrogens.

 

Xenoestrogens are a hot area of research right now among

biochemists,epidemiologists, cancer researchers and

endocrinologists because of their ability to interfere with the normal

process of

hormonal " regulation " in women's bodies. Xenoestrogens are being

implicated in many reproductive disorders,

ranging from infertility and endometriosis to breast and

ovarian cancer. And, as increasing numbers of chemicals are demonstrated

to function as xenoestrogens,

scientists are beginning to learn just how amazingly estrogenic the

industrialised world is.

 

Nonylphenol,for example, is not only found in plastic but is also an

additive in detergents and pesticides.

 

According to Soto, over 450 million pound on nonylphenols are produced

each year.

 

Nonylphenol is also an ingredient in spermicides.

 

The banned pesticide DDT is a xenoestrogen. So is the unbanned pesticide

endosulphan. So is atrazine, the most commonly used weed killer in US

cornfields.

So is DES, the drug given to millions of women from 1948 to 1972 to

prevent miscarriages (which it didn't). And so are dozens of different

combustion products emitted from coal-burning power plants and

automobile exhaust pipes.

 

To understand the impact of xenoestrogens on women's health -

we have discovered through our investigation - one has to become a bit

of an endocrinologist, chemist, and historian.

 

Like all steroid hormones (primarily reproductive related hormones),

estrogen has a " backbone " made up of 17 carbon atoms arranged

as three hexagons interlocked with a pentagon.

Estrogen can exist in one of several modified forms, and each form has

its own chemical name. The most potent form produced by the ovaries is

called " estradiol " . Blood levels of estradiol rise steadily during the

first half of a woman's menstrual cycle.

 

All cells of the body are permeable to estradiol.

However, most estradiol is carried in the blood on special sex-hormone

binding proteins. These carrier protins regulate and slow down the entry

of estradiol molecules into surrounding tissues.

 

This feature turns out

to be important because many xenoestrogens are

not carried on these molecules and can therefore enter

cells more quickly and at low concentration.

 

When

estradiol enters the cell of a target tissue such as the breast or the

lining of the uterus and is bound by an estorgen receptor, the story

becomes more mysterious.

 

Just 10 years ago, scientists learned that these receptors are

themselves attached to the coiling strands of DNA where our genes lie

like beads on a string.

 

When attached to estradiol, the receptor triggers a change in " gene

expression "

Depending on the type of

tissue, some genes may be turned on; different

proteins may be manufactured; the rate of

" cell division " may accelerate (cancer)

 

The exact mechanisms of acion is still an ongoing subject of

research. What is known for sure is that at some point,

the receptor

is " processed " and the estrogen molecule released.

 

 

Meanwhile, in the liver, estradiol molecules carried in by the

bloodstream are broken down. There

are two different chemical routes that estradiol molecules can take

here. The first one alters carbonatom number 2 and converts estradiol

into a compound

called 2-hydroxyestrone.

 

The second pathway alters carbon atom number 16, producing a metabolite

called 16-beta-estriol. The proportion of 2 to 16 turns out to be

critical.

The " 16-metabolite " is still estrogenic: it can recirculate through a

woman's body and bind to estrogen receptors just like its parent,

estradiol. Moreover, it is capable of directly damaging the DNA strand.

 

In contrast, the 2-metabolite is minimally estrogenic and is non-toxic

to DNA.

Clearly, a low 16 to 2 ratio is desirable.

Some xenoestrogens act to " skew " this balance away from 2 and towards the

16 pathway, as we shall see.

 

Now enter xenoestrogens.

And to explain their entry, we need a bit of chemical history

 

During World War II, legions of organic chemists were put to work by

their governments to solve wartime problems.

The pesticide DDT, for example, was perfected and developed as a means

to control body lice and, therefore, typhus.

 

Herbicides 2,4-D and2,4,5-F were developed as chemical defoliants for

fighting jungle warfare.These new chemicals were synthetic, meaning they

are derived from petroleum and manufactured in a laboratory.

Whole new classes of chemicals not found in nature were thus created.

 

 

Organochlorines, of which DDT and PCB's are two, are made by attaching

chlorine atoms to carbon chains, for example. While chlorine and carbon

are common elements of the natural world, they are almost never found

bonded together.

 

At the end of the war, the US government helped the petrochemical

industry to find private markets for their products. DDT was used for

mosquito and agricultural pest control.

 

Chemical defoliants were used in national forests to control shrubs.

Lawn, garden and household insecticides were developed. Detergents

replaced soaps. Plastics replaced celluloid.

 

And 50 Years Later

 

Because they are derived from oil, most of these synthetic products are,

like " steroid hormones " -fat-soluble.

 

This means that, rather than leaving the body (as they would if they

were water-soluble),

these synthetic products " accumulate " in areas of the body

where fat content is high - for example, breasts.

Moreover, any of them, like steroid hormones, consist of interlocking

hexagonal rings of carbon atoms.

 

Given that these new chemicals share these properties with steroid

hormones, one might reasonably wonder why their potential to wreak havoc

with our reproductive systems was not considered sooner.

 

There are doubtless

many reasons. Sexism would be one starting point. The prevailing

ideology of the Cold War would be another.

Rachel Carson was one of the first scientists to raise questions about

DDT. Her 1962 book, Silent Spring, was accused by industry chemists of

threatening the Free World's food supply.

 

But yet another answer resides in the nature of estrogenicity itself: it

is a far sneakier concept than even many scientists concerned with the

issue had imagined.

 

First, the estrogen receptor is turning out to be far less " specific " than

anyone imagined.

Carbon

compounds quite different-looking from estradiol are able to " attach " to

it. Soto points out that scientists cannot predict whether a chemical

can attach to estrogen receptors purely from the shape of the molecule.

 

Estrogen receptors are like locks that accept many different keys.

DDT for example, has only two hexagonal rings and yet is able to bind

directly to the receptor.

 

Second, xenoestrogens have many modes of operation.

Not all of them latch on to estrogen receptors. Some simply stimulate

the manufacture of more estrogen receptor molecules.

 

More receptors mean an amplified response to the estradiol naturally

floating through a woman's body, which may place her at a higher risk

for breast cancer.

 

Still other xenoestrogens act in the liver to accelerate the metabolism

of estradiol toward the 16-metabolite and away from the 2 pathway. More

16-beta-estriol means more bio-available estrogen and more damage to

DNA. The weed killer atrazine seems to have this

effect.

 

The first clue that estrogens might play a role in breast cancer came in

1896 when a British surgeon reported that removal of the ovaries

sometimes caused breast tumours to shrink.

 

Since then, many different studies indicate that a woman's risk of

breast cancer is related to her lifetime exposure to estrogen.

 

Early first menstruation, late menopause, and late or no

childbirth are all considered risk factors. However,these factors

explain only a portion of the increasing

rates of breast cancer, which in North America has nearly tripled since

1950.

The first

well-documented study that established a preliminary link

between pesticide exposure and breast cancer came only recently.

In

April 1993, 31 years after the publication of Carson's Silent Spring,

biochemist Dr. Mary Wolff at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York

reported that women diagnosed with breast cancer had significantly

higher concentrations of DDT in their blood than women

without breast cancer.

 

At the same time, other researchers began reporting their results on how

DDT and estrogen affect the growth of breast cells in laboratory

cultures.

 

Dr. Leon Bradlow at Cornell University reported at a breast cancer

conference in October 1995 that pesticide residues induce " anchorage

independence " in breast tumour cultures.

 

This means that tumour cells can continue dividing even when

detached from other cells, a feature that allows breast cancer to spread

in the body.

 

Wolff and Bradlow are currently collaborating on a project that

investigates exactly how xenoestrogens like DDT place breast tissue on

the pathway to tumour formation. Soto

is presently working on developing an assay that would

allow a woman's total body burden on xenoestrogens to

be measured.

 

This may provide the most comprehensive indicator to date of the

relationship between environmental estrogens and breast cancer.

Recent studies also link xenoestrogens to ovarian cancer.

 

Because the raw material for estrogen production is cholesterol,

the ovary, like the breast, is a " repository " of fat-soluble

'contaminants'.

Dioxin, for example, has been found in the fluid surrounding human eggs

extracted for test-tube fertilisation.

 

Studies done in 1989 showed that estrogen increases the rate of growth

of ovarian tumour cells by 50% compared to those not treated with

estrogen.

 

In the same year, Italian researchers studying the health and habits of

women farmers in northern Italy discovered that women farmers exposed

to triazine herbicides, such as atrazine, had a three to four

times higher risk for ovarian cancer.

 

Both these lines of research suggests that triazine herbicides may be

acting as xenoestrogens in the ovaries, a hypothesis that has been

supported by more recent research.

 

However, many of the existing reports suffer from small sample sizes,

difficulty determining actual exposures, and lack of control groups.

 

Further research on the precise actions of herbicides in the ovaries is

also needed.In the meantime, what should the fate of triazine herbicides

by?

 

Germany banned the agricultural use of atrazine in 1991.

In the Midwestern United States, atrazine continues to run off farm

fields and into ground and surface water.

 

Much of what is known about xenoestrogens' impact on fertility and

reproduction comes from animal studies. Wildlife biologist Dr. Theo.

Colburn had conducted long-term and intensive studies of animals living

in the Great lakes Basin. This is

highly contaminated with organochlorines from chemical

industries and pulp and paper mills, which use great amounts of chlorine

bleach.

 

He research documents that many animal species living near water -

eagles, mink, fish and various shore birds - are unable to reproduce

successfully due to high body burdens of various xenoestrogens.

 

Colburn is currently at work on elucidating what she calls " the

human/wildlife connection " . She is particularly interested in

considering a possible link between estrogenic pollutants and falling

sperm counts in men.

 

She also suspects xenoestrogens could be contributing to the

400% increase in ectopic (outside the uterus)

pregnancies between 1970 and 1987

 

A separate line of research is focused on xenoestrogens and

endometriosis. This disease causes pieces of the uterine lining to

attach and grow outside the uterus, causing pain and often

infertility.

 

Exposure to PCB's has been shown to cause endometriosis in female

monkeys.In November 1995, researchers reported that monkeys exposed to

dioxin also develop significantly higher levels of

endometriosis.

 

Dioxin is a contaminant in many pesticides and is also formed during

many industrial processes that use chlorine.

 

Strangely enough, unlike other xenoestrogens, dioxin seems to counteract

rather than magnify the effects of estradiol. Some

researchers believe that dioxin may blockade the estrogen receptors,

preventing estrogen molecules from attaching.

 

The US Environmental Protection Agency is planning further research on

the possible link between dioxin and endometriosis in women.

 

 

The flurry of research interest now surrounding xenoestrogens did not

just develop on its own. Indeed, most scientific investigations do not

just happen. Which questions are deemed important,

which projects receive funding, which studies are followed up - these

are all political issues.

 

In

the case of xenoestrogens, many environmental and

women's health activists have been at work behind the

scenes - and sometimes in the streets - to insist that

particular questions be asked and answered.

For example, the Endometriosis Association, a women's

advocacy group, sponsored the study on dioxin mentioned above.

 

In October 1995, Long Island activists convened their own scientific

conference on breast cancer and the environment.

In the same month, the American Public Health Association called for the

 

elimination of chlorine in manufacturing, citing its'

role in the creation of xenoestrogens and the threat

to women's health.

 

There are other signs of change.

 

Breast cancer activists in San Francisco succeeded in

adding a panel on breast cancer and the environment to

the program at the annual meeting of the American Association for the

Advancement of Science in February 1994.

 

Green peace and the Women's Environment and Development Organisation

(WEDO) headed by Bella Abzug, recently met with women's health activist

in Austin, Texas, to launch a joint initiative called " Women, Cancer and

the Environment " .

 

Ana Soto's accidental discovery and her subsequent research shed light

on possible environmental intervention to prevent breast cancer.

 

Soto said she hoped that her work will help develop a more

ecological view of human health, understanding that

pollutants in water, soil, air - and even plastic

tubes - eventually find their way into our bodies.

 

" Molecular biology is not enough. We can't understand

the additive effects of xenoestrogens by only looking

at genes... Banned pesticides are still found in the

foods that we eat. "

 

Sandra Steingrabe is a visiting scholar at North-eastern University with

a PhD in biology. She is the author of " Post Diagnosis " , a book of

poetry on

women's cancers, and is currently writing a book on

cancer and the environment to be published by Addison

Wesley in 1996.

 

Kathryn Patton has participated in cancer research projects at the

University of Washington Medical

Centre and is considering a career in oncology.

 

Reprinted from Sojourner:

The Women's Forum.

Subscription is $21 per year for 12 issues. 42

Seaverns Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts USA

02130.

 

--- End forwarded message ---

 

---

ReducingYour Risk of Exposure to Chemicals from Plastics

---

These simple steps will help you reduce the use of plastics for food

packaging and storage. Since plastics are more or less unavoidable in

certain instances, you may wish to use only these less toxic plastics:

#1 PETE, #2 HDPE, #4 LDPE and #5 PP

<http://www.checnet.org/healthehouse/education/quicklist-detail.asp?Main_ID=353>\

..

 

 

These plastics leak chemicals into foods:

 

Packaging

· Choose refillable containers! Glass, for example, can be re-used for

food storage.

 

· Choose packaging that’s made from truly recyclable materials: paper,

glass, metal cans. (Purchasing recycled paper products completes the

recycling loop!)

 

· Bring your own container to salad bars, yogurt shops, etc. - any place

you’ll be served in plastic!

 

· Buy in bulk, whenever possible. It’s the least-packaged option.

 

· For wrapped foods, choose butcher paper, waxed paper or cellulose

bags.

 

· Bring cloth bags to your supermarket to carry groceries home.

 

· Choose #1 (PETE) or #2 (HDPE) whenever plastic cannot be avoided!

These are the most commonly recycled plastics.

 

· Avoid plastics that aren’t readily recyclable: #3 (PVC), #4 (LDPE), #5

(PP), #6 (PS), #7 (often polycarbonate).

· Avoid single-use, disposable packaging.

 

Storage

· Avoid plastics that leach questionable chemicals: #3 (PVC), #6 (PS),

#7 (often polycarbonate).

 

· Avoid plastic cutlery and dinnerware. Use stainless steel utensils and

look for recycled paper products.

 

 

 

· When purchasing cling-wrapped foods from the supermarket or deli,

slice off a thin layer where the food came into contact with the plastic

and store the rest in a glass or ceramic container, or non-PVC cling

wrap.

 

· See the Plastics Product Chart (PDF)

<http://www.checnet.org/healthehouse/pdf/plasticchart.pdf>

 

to help you identify which brands of plastic containers and wraps are

safer.

 

In addition to shopping with these things in mind, you can also write a

letter to manufacturers of food and drink packaged in plastics,

indicating your concern about plastics and how they negatively impact

our health, our children’s health, and the health of our environment -

especially if their packaging is #3, #6, #7.

 

Tell them you are actively seeking products packaged in safe, reusable

glass, metal, recycled paper, as well as bulk-packaged items that use

resources most efficiently. Contact manufacturers through their

toll-free question/comment, usually listed on the back of the product,

and ask for a mailing address.

 

_______________

 

JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

DietaryTi-

http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Genes

 

 

 

 

AIM Barleygreen

" Wisdom of the Past, Food of the Future "

 

http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets.html