Week 13 (Blog)

Wow. I wonder what the American reaction to such a story would be (say, if this were posted all over American newsfeeds such as CBS, NBC, and ABC...). I don't think that it is far fetched or unbelievable (but I buy all the global warming and "hey-we're-destroying-the-earth" shit) and I can see how there could be a correlation. I also admit that there could be a correlation between humans being less superficial about mates and breeding. Now that we all cover ourselves tightly and care about "the person inside" there probably is less of a chance to laugh at the guy with the smaller package and move on. Basically, the evolutionary tactics that bred out the small penis are no longer in place. On the other hand, I definately believe that pollution and environmental degredation is making us sick (cancers, asthma, allergies), so why should the fact that environmental degredation affects our developing physiology seem such a shock? It doesn't. Truly, if you look at it from a certain angle, our susceptibility to cancers, asthma and allergies in itself represents an affect in our developing physiology. Or maybe this goes back to my earlier correlation and people who have cancers, asthma, and allergies are now less likely to be seen as undesirable mates and therefore are not weeded out of the gene pool. Now that everyone thinks I'm a cold and heartless bitch, I'm signing off while the night is still young!

May 01, 2006

That's One Way to Focus Mens' Attention on Environmental Issues

Warning...the following contains adult themes. We'll give it a PG-13 rating.

After last weeks intense gas price monomania, I thought I would lighten things up a bit. From the London Free Press: Pesticides may affect penis size

A renowned U.S. scientist who has documented fertility and sex changes -- including decreasing penis size -- due to environmental contamination says he wouldn't apply pesticides on his own lawn.

Alright...you have our attention.

A zoologist, Guillette has spent the last decade studying the influence of environmental contaminants on fetal development and reproductive systems of wildlife and humans, including the differences between alligators living in contaminated Florida lakes and those in cleaner ones.

He found abnormalities in sex organs, dramatic differences in egg-hatching rates and hormone levels.

Penis size of the animals from the polluted lake was smaller than animals from the less-polluted lake.

"This is important because it is not just an alligator story. It is not just a lake story. We know there has been a dramatic increase in penile and genital abnormalities in baby boys," Guillette said.

A followup study by another scientist involving healthy couples with 5,000 healthy babies also found reduced penis size with higher contamination levels.

"Are (their penises) so small they are actually having problems? We don't know. These are baby boys," he said.

But rodent studies have indicated more difficulty with fertility and other aspects later on, he said.

The researchers also found the alligators from contaminated water had abnormal ovaries. Some of the abnormalities were traced to chemical compounds with estrogen, a sex hormone. Estrogenic-type compounds are found in some pesticides, including atrazine, mostly widely used in North America for weed control.

Guillette said he doesn't support a total pesticide ban, saying their use is proper for public health and probably in agriculture. But when people can reduce their exposure they should, he said.

Anybody want to volunteer for the cost/benefit analysis on this one?

Posted by Tim Haab at 08:34 AM