What's Goin' On: The Disappearing Male

There's a documentary coming out in Canada [waves], The Disappearing Male, that highlights a growing and scary trend: growing rates of infertility and birth defects, as well as health problems, with males.

I'll give you one guess what some suggest it is linked to.

Yup. Seems the issues run higher in 'industrialized' nations, and for instance in "Chemical Alley," a place in Canada right next to a petrochemicals plant. Go figure.

They have been studying the decline in the birth of male children in the Aamjiwnaang First Nation community located next to the infamous Chemical Valley, Canada's largest concentration of petrochemical plants, near Sarnia.

A paper co-authored by Keith and published three years ago in the U.S. journal Environmental Health Perspectives suggests that exposure to various chemicals produced by industrial plants surrounding the Aamjiwnaang reserve land may be skewing the community's sex ratio.

Read all about it here. This gave me serious pause this morning.

What's Goin' On: BPA has it comin' (see end of rant for some info on where to get BPA free items)

"This is a human study that really calls into question FDA's assertion that BPA is safe," said Dr. Anila Jacob of the activist Environmental Working Group.

New information from studies reveal that not only do those poor rats in laboratories have horrible side-effects from exposure to BPA, but - get ready, here it comes: Surprise! - so do human beings. In an excerpt from the article, they note that the FDA was reliant on studies that pointed towards 'no serious adverse side effects' in rats.

Note the use of the terminology, because the FDA is famous for their parsing of words (how do I know? I watched my mother go through a Class-Action lawsuit against Dow over breast implants in the 80's.). It begs the need to request some kind of reference book we can refer to that makes clear what exactly they mean when they say "serious" and "adverse" in the same sentence. Like, say, um, cancer-causing?, or just systemic inflammation? (I'm hoping that some will note here that there is rising belief that inflammation can be cancer-causing.)

Even more disconcerting, note at the end of this quote that they have not done studies on humans because it was deemed inappropriate. Are you kidding me?! So we don't directly test a chemical out on those who will actually be using them, and therefore the most exposed. Especially our newborns, who have bodies that are still developing in crucial ways. I'm over the soft-handed approach towards not testing chemicals on our own kind - yes, I understand that this is an ethically challenged position to take. But what this really means is that WE TEST THEM OUT ON OUR CHILDREN. That is so much more ethically sound, yes? The logic of my own species leaves me in awe:

"BPA was first synthesized in 1891 and came into wide use in the 1940s and 1950s because of the durability and light weight of polycarbonates.

Some BPA remains intact in the plastic and leaches out over time, particularly when it comes in contact with hot liquids or acidic foods.

The chemical industry and the FDA have long relied on two large animal studies showing that high concentrations of the chemical fed to rodents produced no serious adverse effects.

There had been no previous large studies of the chemical in humans because researchers considered such testing inappropriate."

Read the full article and watch the video: Here


Looking for BPA free items?

Even better - don't use plastic at all! This is my choice for bottles: glass. I have found them at Target as well. So far I've only found Evenflo with glass.

And for stainless steel sippy cups, all the rage: Klean Kanteen uses Avent sippy tops.

Or you find that you need plastic (say, you've got a Slugger in your house who likes to chuck things against the wall? I do), here you can get BPA free baby bottles: Born Free

We used these for roadtrips, though I still prefer the stainless steel. I've found that the nipples don't last as long, and their sippies tend to leak - but, yes, I still feel it's worth it. I also see on their website that they have all kinds of new products out, so now there's no excuse. They also have glass bottles.

And here, Avent has now offering BPA free as well (they have some great sippy cups):
Avent

Press on!

What's Goin' On: Screwy, indeed...

This was shared on the HP* list. Very interesting:


Here

*worth checking out! Go here to Lauren's blog, info, and yahoo list

What's Goin' On: Science finds a link between Mercury and Autism

This debate has been raging for awhile now -- some of you won't be surprised at all by this 'discovery'. I sure wasn't. Moms have been saying this for years.

Read about the landmark information here.

My concern with Mercury and Autism isn't cut and dry in terms of whether Mercury is the causative factor -- obviously there are some children that get vaccines, for instance, and are just fine. But as with many health issues in modern life (and by that I mean since the industrial era), some of us are more sensitive and some of us aren't. Some of us will smoke and never get cancer, some will. Some will eat wheat and feel ill, many won't. Some of us will get vaccines, and react to either the mercury, the high levels of additives, or just the overwhelm to our immune systems. And some won't.

The issue at hand, in my mind, is more so one of EDUCATION and AWARENESS. This means honest dealings from our corporations and government who make or support the use of the products and vaccines, food and what-not that we all consume. So that we know and decide for ourselves what is best for our family, for one another. As always, the bottom line?

Trust your instincts, mama's!

What's Goin' On: the heart of consumerism?

At first blush this article may seem like another reason to get happy.

But I'm not one who buys into (pardon the pun) the idea that we should all 'get happy.' I think the current obsession with constantly being joyful is misguided and irresponsible, in fact. We are not designed that way, nothing in nature is. Emotions ebb and flow just like the tides, and we grow our character and value our joys from the learning how to ride the opposite (Goethe said something similar, this is not a new idea: “Only by joy and sorrow does a person know anything about themselves and their destiny. They learn what to do and what to avoid.”). Taking a pill to mask emotions doesn't deal with them, it merely masks them. They stick around, lingering like unwanted guests at a party. So you never fully really do experience joy or happiness anyway. That doesn't seem fair, does it? Or right. We need to address our emotions, to answer when something brings sadness to our door. Once the emotion is satiated, it will get up and leave. The party can continue.

That's all a philosophical discussion in itself, but what I'm wandering towards here is a vicious cycle that we may be caught in. A web of our own making:

here

This article suggests that we are more susceptible to over-purchasing when we are depressed. No surprise, but very telling. I don't know about you, but I don't recall there ever being a time like there is now: we consume ourselves to death every day, our children are now obsessed with status symbols and 'stuff', and there is talk that we are the more depressed than ever. (A great book argues that we are overwhelmed by choice and lack of hope: (link soon). So if this depression feeds the consumerism that feeds the depression -- how do we get off the rollercoaster?

Great discussion, worth having.

Kindling for the fire: Anima Center

There is a wonderful place I have read about; and I have hopes of someday going there on retreat -- the Anima Center.

They have lots of events, workshops, etc coming up, you can check it out

here

One of the partners that sustains herself on the land, and assists in nurturing Anima, is Kiva Rose. You can find her blog down to the right under our "Health and Healing" blogroll, and in articles that she writes for SageWoman magazine. I find her to be wise, inspiring, inquisitive and kind...and surefooted, as she walks the land and learns from the green growing things. This woman lives off the land, and stokes the fires for living a life of passion and grace. She has a way of making you feel as if you sit right beside her, sipping a cup of delicious tea as she shares with you her understanding of herbs, her respect for the land she walks.

Blessings, Kiva Rose, thank you for sharing!

What's Goin' On: exposure to environmental toxins lately?

My friend Lauren has a great site, blog and yahoo list -- healthyparenting.com that I love (!). This blog entry of hers has a link to check your 'body burden' in terms of what you are being exposed to. Fascinating and educational. Worth checking out:

http://healthyparenting.net/blog/2007/11/10/whats-your-body-burden/

Why does it matter to know, you may ask? For one thing, we are being exposed to far more chemicals and overall environmental toxins than any previous generation. Let me say that again, it bears repeating: we are being exposed to far more chemicals and overall environmental toxins than any previous generation. Many believe this may be a link to the rise in breast cancer over the years, for one thing. To our children reaching puberty at earlier and earlier ages. And my own pet theory: the unbelievable rise in allergies and asthma in both adults and children (how? Because in a nutshell this exposure creates waste in our bodies that cannot be processed and therefore causes a rise in inflammatory response, which in turn equals auto-immune issues, allergies, etc). I know that this kind of information is scary at best, and therefore easy to ignore. But if we don't educate ourselves-- if we don't know-- we can't change it.

Are you worth it? Is your child worth it? Is your world worth it?

Blessings,
MsThistle
(who is now thinking about how I can actually be more active in what I want to do about what I know. Y'know, walk the talk and all...I'd love ideas...)