Babies In Womb Exposed To 'Gender-Bending' Chemicals

By EMILY COOK
Last updated at 22:58pm on 10th September 2006
Courtesy of the Daily Mail, London

Babies are being exposed to "gender-bending" chemical pesticides
before they are even born, disturbing new evidence has showed.

Tests on blood taken from the placentas of pregnant women revealed up
to fifteen different types of pesticide, the research found.

Worryingly, the chemicals were found in every single one of the 308
women tested.

The findings will fuel concern about the chemicals, known as hormone
disruptors or EDCs - endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

High levels of exposure have been linked to reproductive
abnormalities - so-called gender-bending - because they upset the
hormonal development of the embryo.

The effects are already being seen in nature where some species of
fish and animals with deformed sex organs have been found.

Scientists blame agricultural pesticides and other hazardous
chemicals such as those found in flame retardants which have leaked
into the environment.

Last year a similar report by WWF-UK and Greenpeace found that babies
are being exposed to a whole array of chemicals at the most
vulnerable point in their development.

Tests on the blood of 30 newborn babies found the presence of eight
different groups of chemicals, ranging from cleaning products to
chemicals used to make plastics and non-stick waterproof coatings.

A study led by scientists at the University of Rochester in New York
also found that common chemicals found in thousands of household
products such as soaps and make-up can harm the development of unborn
baby boys.

The results reinforce calls for pregnant women to be especially
careful about their diet and for the reduction of chemicals in food
production.

The latest findings were made by the Department of Radiology and
Physical Medicine at the University of Granada in Spain.

Analysis of the placentas revealed the "presence of seventeen
endocrine disruptive organochlorine pesticides" - the so-called
gender benders.

Some patients' placentas contained 15 of the 17 pesticides tested
for.

Maria Jose Lopez Espinosa, who headed the research, feared that the
chemicals could cause health problems for children who suffered
exposure in the womb.

She said: "The results are alarming: 100 per cent of these pregnant
women had at least one pesticide in their placenta but the average
rate amounts to eight different kinds of chemical substances."

She warned, "We do not really know the consequences of exposure to
pesticides in children but we can predict that they may have serious
effects since this placenta exposure occurs at key moments on the
embryo's development."

The modern, chemical-laden environment can be especially harmful to
pregnant women. During the gestation period, contaminants which
accumulate in fatty tissues, access the unborn child via the blood
supply and the placenta.

The Spanish research was carried out at San Cecilio University
Hospital among 308 women who had given birth between 2000 and 2002.
Tests were performed on 668 samples.

The study also found a higher presence of pesticides in older mothers
and those who had a higher Body Mass Index.

Miss Espinosa believed that a healthy lifestyle with plenty of
exercise, good food and no smoking would help combat the effect
of "inadvertent exposure" to the chemicals.

She added, "It is possible to control pesticide ingestion by means of
a proper diet, which should be healthy and balanced, through
consumption of food whose chemical content is low.

"Moreover, daily exercise and the avoidance of tobacco, which could
also be a source of inadvertent exposure, are very important habits
which help to control the presence of pesticides in our bodies".

Ann Richards 1933-2006

Like many Texans I was saddened to hear that my former governor lost her battle with cancer.

When election time rolls around I usually take politicians promises to inclde my community if we help them get elected to office with a grain of salt.

Well, this silver haired lady with big hair wasn't kidding about that. After she won a bruising Democratic primary versus Mark White and beat multimillionaire Republican nominee Clayton Williams that November to become Texas governor in 1990, she made good on that promise.

Her 'New Texas' administration reflected the diversity of the state by appointing more minorites and women to state agencies than all her previous gubenatorial predecessors combined. The legendary Texas Rangers inducted their first women and African-American officers into their ranks. The Universities of Texas and Texas A&M saw the first African-Americans added to their Boards of Regents during her tenure. She also erased a $6 billion debt piled up by the previous GOP governor Bill Clements and turned it into a $2.5 billion dollar surplus. She got several major companies to relocate their corporate headquarters to Texas cities and did it with her trademark humor and sense of style.

Usually that kind of success gets you a second term. Unfortunately her 1994 reelection bid was against a revenge-minded George W. Bush, the son of the man that Ann had lampooned at the 1988 Democratic Convention with her famous 'silver foot in his mouth' remark. With Karl Rove running the campaign it was negative and nasty and she lost despite having an approval rating in the 70's.

Goodbye, Ann. We'll definitely miss you. Texas hasn't had that kind of leadership since you left office. We were also better people for having you there at a difficult time in our state's history.

September 2006 TransGriot Column

New Greeks On The Block
Copyright 2006, THE LETTER


One hundred years ago on December 4, 1906, Alpha Phi Alpha, the first African-American intercollegiate fraternity was born on the Ithaca, NY campus of Cornell University. In 1908 the Howard University campus witnessed the birth of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first African-American sorority. Omega Psi Phi Fraternity in 1911, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority in 1913 and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity in 1914 would soon join AKA on the Howard U campus in addition to Phi Beta Sigma’s sister organization, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority in 1920.

The state of Indiana can claim two orgs that were founded within its borders. Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity on the IU campus in 1911 and Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority at Butler University in 1922. Several decades later came the 1963 founding of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity on the Morgan State University campus.

These organizations have been responsible for much of the progress that our people have made over the last century. If there’s an African-American making history or breaking new ground in society you can bet that nine times out of ten they are members of one of those organizations. Their membership ranks include people such as current Liberian president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Martin Luther King, Michael Jordan, Dr. Mae Jemison, Aretha Franklin, Spencer Christian, George Washington Carver, Nelson Mandela and former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

The Divine Nine have always had members past and present who are GLBT such as Harlem Renaissance poet and Alpha Phi Alpha member Countee Cullen and Zeta Phi Beta’s Zora Neale Hurston. Unfortunately the historical significance, cultural importance and power of these organizations has created a climate in which these organizations have yet to openly embrace their past and present GLBT members despite their intimate
involvement with the Civil Rights Movement and other social justice issues. They are also grappling with homophobia within their ranks.

Possibly in reaction to this reticence and the homophobia, the late 20th and early 21st century has witnessed the formation of a cluster of Greek organizations that are openly GLBT. Like the Divine Nine orgs, they seek brotherhood and sisterhood with each other and wish to continue the historic Black Greek mission of uplifting our race. There is even a governing body similar to the National Pan Hellenic Council called the International Alternative Greek Council.

The formation of Delta Phi Upsilon on the Florida State University campus was the beginning of the GLBT Greek movement. Trevor Charles, Ronald D. Powell, Kenneth LeGrone, Victor M. Cohen and Hamilton Barnes had a vision for gay men of color to have their own bond of brotherhood on college campuses everywhere.

They fittingly got together on Dr. King’s birthday (January 15, 1985) and started the Alpha Chapter of Delta Phi Epsilon. Black gay men, tired of being rejected in their attempts to join the Divine Nine fraternities eagerly embraced the new organization. It rapidly grew to include chapters in other Florida cities, New York, Boston and Houston. The Delts celebrated their 20th anniversary last year.

Fifteen years later Lakisha Goss, Janiece Smith, Michelle McCallum and Stefany Richards decided to form a sorority for lesbian women of color. On February 7, 2000 Iota Lambda Pi Sorority was born. During the planning process they realized that an organization that catered to dominant lesbian women was desperately needed. They renamed Iota Lambda Pi as a fraternity and gave it the mission to change the negative stereotypes placed upon butch/stud women and establish a safe haven for them. Lakisha and Janiece subsequently formed Omicron Epsilon Pi Sorority for feminine lesbians.

Other organizations such as Sigma Kappa Tau, Kappa Xi Omega, and Alpha Psi Kappa Fraternity have followed the trail blazed by these pioneering organizations.

These new Greeks on the block may be small in number now, but their founders have big plans for them. They are taking a page out of our history books and are following the road map that the Divine Nine organizations used in the early 20th century to build themselves up to become the African-American icons they are today.

Here’s hoping that these GLBT Greek organizations exceed their wildest dreams in terms of not only uplifting the African-American GLBT community, but all Africn-Americans and the GLBT community as well.