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by Sherrill Sellman, N.D.
Illustrated by Jeff Ham
What Women MUST KNOW
It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.
-Eleanor Roosevelt
A lot of change has occurred in the past one hundred years.
we usually think that progress made over a century of
evolving technology, knowledge and invention is a good thing.
 Unfortunately, the industrialization of our 20th and now 21st century
has brought many untended consequences, especially in the
realm of our environment, food and health.
The fact is that no child is now born without hundreds
of man-made chemicals in their bodies and mother’s beast
milk, if regulated by the FDA, it would be declared too toxic
a food to be fed to infants, a testament to the reckless embrace
of toxic chemical solutions. The results of such a
radical veering away from nature are now being witnessed
in the unprecedented explosion of chronic illnesses and
hormonal disruption in the global population. Our children,
most of all, are the guinea pigs of this toxic experiment.
The explosion of cancers, obesity, learning disorders
and hormone disruptions is the sad proof of a gigantic
failure.
This article is the beginning of an ongoing series, which is
a call to arms, so to speak. We must admit there is an unprecedented
problem while at the same time enact viable solutions.
We can no longer bury our heads in the sand believing that our
children’s health crisis is disconnected from the daily choices
we make: what we are eating, what daily chemical exposures we
allow and what environmental policies we condone.
As Eleanor Roosevelt so wisely stated, “It is better to light a
candle than curse the darkness.” My years of research as well
as clinical experience have culminated in writing What Women
MUST Know To Protect Their Daughters From Breast Cancer. My
intention in writing this book is not so much to curse the darkness
but to light many candles. With our combined candlepower,
our illumination can indeed transform the world our children
and grandchildren will inhabit.
Over the next several issues, this series will offer excerpts
from my new book in order to bring awareness of the invisible
dangers challenging the hormonal health of our children as
well as providing the proverbial candles to help safely light
our way—rather than feeling overwhelmed by our present
day situation, action and the willingness to change can bring
results.
Welcome to an Estrogenic World
Throughout the history of humanity, hormonal signals have
always come from inside our bodies or from natural substances,
such as the plants that have evolved along side us.
Since World War II, something unprecedented has occurred.
Millions of man-made chemicals have stealthily infiltrated our
environment. We presently live in a world that is inundated with
tens of thousands of different chemicals that are now known to
have hormonal actions. These diverse chemicals are known as
hormone disruptors. Unfortunately, from an evolutionary point
of view, our bodies have not had enough time to protect us
from these alien messengers.
Pathetically little research has been done on their long-term
safety or the combined morphing effects on living organisms.
Sometimes, the scientists’ warnings have been sacrificed for
more politically expedient rewards. However, the emerging
evidence of hormonal scrambling is undeniable and glaringly
evident.
Drowning in a Sea of Hormone Disruptors
Hormone disruptors are specific chemicals or mixture of chemicals
from outside the body that can disrupt the development
or function of the hormonal systems leading to irreversible adverse
health effects.
These synthetic chemicals find their way into our bodies
through the food we eat, the water we drink and bathe in, and
the air we breathe. Scientists studying wildlife all across the
globe have reported ominous findings of disease, mutations
and death linked to environmental pollution.
Gender bending is happening before our very eyes. No
species is immune. And humans are no exception.
Lake Mead, the main source of drinking water for southern
California and Las Vegas, Nevada, exemplifies nature’s response
to hormone disruptors. Funny things are happening to
the fish in the lake. Male carp are making egg protein, which
is usually produced only by females, making them hermaphrodites,
exhibiting both male and female characteristics.
In September 2006, male smallmouth and largemouth bass
in the Potomac River were also found to be developing eggs.
In fact, female characteristics have been found in more than
80 percent of the male smallmouth bass studied in Potomac
tributaries in Maryland and Virginia. Feminized fish were also
found in Washington, D.C., and as far as the Potomac’s South
Branch—a range of over 200 miles.
This phenomena is not solely restricted to the U.S., it is occurring
worldwide. In England, fish exposed to estrogenic compounds
from liquid sewage waste released into their rivers are
also changing sex. Upon closer scrutiny, a shocking discovery
was made. The feminization of the male fish had been caused
by sewage contaminated from the estrogens in women’s urine
who were taking synthetic hormones. Millions of women using
hormone replacement therapy and oral contraceptives were
unknowingly causing this contamination since the estrogens
found in HRT and the Pill are known carcinogens as well as hormone
contaminants, the long-term consequences to human
health is just beginning to be assessed.
What was once considered animal anomalies have now coalesced
into a discernible pattern. Our worldwide environment
and all living things are permeated by this overkill of hormone
disrupting chemicals. For example, wildlife researchers have
found birds that were exposed to hormone disrupting chemicals
showed reproductive failure, growth retardation, life-threatening
deformities and alterations in their brains and liver function.
Animal sexuality is also changing. Female seagulls are now
nesting with other female seagulls. Female polar bears have
been found with penis-like stumps, panthers have atrophied
testicles, and there are intersex turtles with both male and female
reproductive organs. Fertility is on the wane. One alligator
species from a contaminated Florida lake had 75 percent of
their eggs dead or infertile.
Are these creatures the canaries in our coal mine?
A Chemical Legacy
Organochlorines are chlorine-based chemicals that are extremely
toxic and lethal. They include herbicides, pesticides,
chlorine beach, most disinfectants, various plastics found in
products such as baby bottles and baby’s soft toys.
Over 90 percent of the population comes in contact with 300
million pounds of these poisons annually, often indoors. Surprisingly
city dwellers use more chemicals per acre than farmers. In a
lifetime, 50 pounds of toxic waste can enter a body from drinking
water and at least 450 pounds can enter through our skin.
Although pesticides are designed to kill insects, that’s not all
they do. In fact, only 2 percent of the 1.2 billion pounds of pesticides
sprayed on crops annually accomplish this purpose. The
other 98 percent are absorbed into the water, soil or food supply
and ultimately, arrive at their final destination—our bodies!
The majority of organochlorines are stored in fat cells and
breast tissues. The tendency for organochlorines to stay in
the body is evidenced by recent samples of fat and breast milk
samples collected from women in the U.S. and Canada, which
contained DDT, chlordane and dieldrin. These chemicals have
been banned from use for over three decades.
Women with high levels of agricultural
organochlorines in their blood are 4–10
times more likely to develop breast cancer
than women with low levels.
Because every hormonal system is
potentially vulnerable to disruption or
alteration, the list of hormonal systems
investigated has broadened beyond sex
hormones. While the last two decades
of research focused largely on manmade
chemicals capable of mimicking
estrogen, within the past several years,
research has expanded to include estrogen
blockers, male hormone blockers,
progesterone blockers and compounds
that interfere with the thyroid (which is
so important for normal brain development
in children).
This means that the sea of hormonally
active chemicals in which the fetus
develops may forever change the health
and function of adults, and in some
cases, may alter the course of the entire
species of Homo sapiens. Worldwide
reports continually pour in with statistics
showing declining sperm counts,
increased infertility in women, and reduced
number in birth of male babies.
The Challenges Before Us
We wake each morning to a chemically
laced world, which threatens inextricably to
alter the body’s ability to function. Our children
are the most vulnerable inhabitants of
such a toxic, hormonally disrupted world.
Dianne Dumanoski, one of the authors
of Our Stolen Future sums up the challenges
before us. “This century stretches
before us like an urgent question. The
problem isn’t simply we don’t have the
answer. Our actions suggest the leaders
of our now global civilization don’t fully
grasp the dilemma confronting us. We
might get a better fix on our dilemma
and target our efforts more effectively if
we understood this as a ‘humanity crisis’
rather than an environmental crisis.
Whatever else is in jeopardy, this is first
and foremost a crisis for humans and our
current civilization. By now it should be
clear that we must stop chasing brush
fires and take on the pyromaniac.”
The contamination is now all pervasive
and it comes from many sources,
some quite conspicuous and others
seeming completely innocuous. Since we
can’t escape it, we must learn to take the
precautions necessary to minimize our
exposure. We can create our own safe
havens while we actively demand greater
environmental changes.
The daily choices we make to reduce
exposure, i.e. eating organic foods, drinking
chemical-free water, choosing nontoxic
lawn care products, and using only
safe cleaning products in our home, are
all examples of the steps we can take in
making a difference to the healthy development
of our children. Creating healthy
bodies, healthy homes and healthy environments
is our most compelling imperative.
The greatest challenge of all, however,
is to quit the cursing and get into
action.
Dr. Sherrill Sellman is a naturopathic
doctor, best selling author, international
lecturer, psychotherapist and women’s
health advocate. Her newest book, What
Women MUST Know To Protect Their
Daughters from Breast Cancer can be
ordered from http://www.whatwomenmustknow.com.
Dr. Sellman offers phone
consultations and can be contacted at
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