Hormone Disruption because of the pesticide

While some substances cause physical birth defects, others can cause subtle hormonal effects on the developing fetus or affect a child's functional capacities. Hormone disruptors have been linked to many health problems including reproductive cancers. The drug DES, which was given to pregnant women to prevent miscarriage between 1941-1971, worked as an endocrine disrupting chemical on the developing fetus. Decades later, many of these DES exposed daughters developed cervical cancer. Twenty-four pesticides still on the market, including 2,4-D, lindane and atrazine, are known endocrine-disrupters. Aside from increases in reproductive cancers, increasing rates of the following conditions are reported. Animal studies link many of these conditions with prenatal exposure to hormone disrupting substances.

• Endometriosis, a disease in which the uterine tissue grows outside the uterus, and a common cause of infertility was virtually unheard of twenty years ago. It now affects 5.5 million women in the U.S. and Canada, about 10-20% of women of childbearing age. The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development noted that only 20 cases were reported in the medical literature prior to 1921. (Colburn, Dumanoski, & Myers, (1996) Our Stolen Future)
• Hypospadias, a condition in which the urethra is near the base of the penis, not the end as it should be, has doubled in the last 10 years.
• Undescended testicles, which is linked with later risk of testicular cancer, is increasing. Researchers reported a doubling in cases between 1962 and 1982 in England and Wales. (Colburn and others, 1996)
• Precocious puberty in girls is now common. A study of 17,077 girls in the US found that the onset of puberty for white girls was 6-12 months earlier than expected and African-American girls experienced puberty 12-28 months earlier than whites. (Herman-Giddens and others, 1997)
• Reduced sperm counts are documented. Between 1938 and 1990, sperm counts dropped 1.5% each year for American men and 3.1% per year for European men. There was no decrease in men from non-western countries. Low sperm count is a marker for testicular cancer. (Swan and others, 1997)
• Fertility Problems are becoming more common and now affect more than two million couples in the U.S.