The Dangers of Environmental Estrogens

By Joan McGovern Tendler

As most Democrats know, environmental estrogens such as the plastics chemical bisphenol A should be a big concern for all Americans because they have been linked to many serious health problems. As Theo Colborn, co-author of Our Stolen Future, explains, estrogenic chemicals have been linked to reproductive system cancers, “infertility, behavioral abnormalities, memory problems, senility and obesity”.1

As a lifelong Democrat I am glad that Democrats are attuned to the dangers of these estrogens-certainly more than other parties-and work to regulate them. However, there is one widely used estrogenic chemical that should also be a concern, but it is all but completely ignored. This is ethinylestradiol, the estrogen used in hormonal contraceptives (HCs).

Ethinylestradiol is surprisingly similar to bisphenol A (BPA), even more similar than it is to a woman’s natural estradiol.2 In fact, BPA was at one time considered for use as birth control.3 Ethinylestradiol is also very similar to diethylstilbestrol (DES), which was used in early birth control experiments and as an emergency contraceptive.4,5 Frederick vom Saal’s seminal experiments with BPA used ethinylestradiol and DES to assess the estrogenicity of BPA.6 Thus, the well-known problems of BPA and DES are essentially the same for ethinylestradiol.

I researched this issue when my daughter went to college. Despite any health problems she’d heard about, my daughter was eager to take the Pill, which college health centers are just as eager to give out. However, I uncovered many facts for her about hormonal birth control that are very different from what we have been led to believe. 

Environment

Ethinylestradiol which has been excreted has been found in water systems throughout America, discharged from sewage treatment plants, and there is no affordable water purification system able to filter out hormones.7,8 A study using a pristine Canadian lake found that ethinylestradiol at concentrations typical for treatment plant effluent in countries using birth control pills mutated fish sex organs. Within a few years, the large population of minnows there vanished.9 It is thought that environmental estrogens, especially chemicals specifically manufactured as estrogens, may be responsible for the current reduction in sperm count.8 

Ethinylestradiol is one of the most estrogenic of the environmental estrogens. Dr. Samuel Epstein of the University of Illinois-Chicago School of Public Health wrote: “no studies have yet been conducted on the high potency modern pills and none are reportedly in progress. This is in striking contrast to the intensive investigation by Federal regulatory and health agencies on the endocrine-disruptive effects of estrogenic pesticides and other industrial contaminants whose potency is some 1/500,000th that of ethinyl estradiol.”10 Ethinylestradiol is thus a serious environmental problem, with clear indications of health problems for humans as well as wildlife.                                                                                                                                                                                             

Original Pill

Due to higher potency of the current estrogen used, the lower doses of estrogen in pills with 35 mcg ethinylestradiol have a full two thirds of the estrogen of the original Pill of 1961-Enovid 5 (the higher dose Enovid 10 was never marketed for contraception).11,12 As a result, current estrogenic health problems of HCs are similar to those of this Pill. Dr. Ellen Grant tested a large range of doses of birth control hormones in the 1960’s for effectiveness and side effects. In her book Sexual Chemistry (1994), she wrote, “There is no evidence that prescribed hormones have become safer, other than the fact they are given to younger women.”13 

Contraceptive Failure

Throughout Sexual Chemistry, Dr. Grant makes the point that, depending on the dose of hormones used, you can have either effectiveness or safety, but you can’t have both. To her point, a comparison of 50 mcg and 30 mcg Pills found the lower dose was only half as effective in preventing pregnancies.14 60% of all pregnancies are unintended, with over half of those resulting from contraceptive failure.15,16 Thus, over 1.9 million pregnancies annually result from contraceptive failure. This is especially high for teens because they take the pills inconsistently, yet continue to have sex (see ref. 17,18). Yet HCs are readily given to many teenage girls: no age limit, no parent notification (64% of contracepting sexually active teens use HCs, as well as many who are given HCs to regulate their periods or to clear up acne).19 

Dr. Frederick Vom Saal found that, “DES and ethinylestradiol have virtually identical effects…” 25 Mayo Clinic cautions that contraceptive failure can result in reproductive birth defects similar to those of DES.6,20 These include genital defects, enlarged prostate later in life, cancers, autoimmune arthritis, asthma, and diabetes, as well as Down syndrome and heart defects.21-26 Prenatal exposure to a dose of ethinylestradiol 1/4 to 1/8 of that used in HCs “caused malformations of the urethra and altered differentiation and growth of the prostate” in mice.27  

Another major difference is that over half of pregnancies from contraceptive failure are aborted, especially after prenatal diagnosis, and emergency contraception is widely used.28 Thus, visible birth defects, which are rare, are less apparent. The birth mother of a foster child I know was on birth control pills when she conceived. She refused to have an abortion and the child has a micropenis, but also many problems not visible at birth: ADHD, ODD, and obesity: a tragedy for this child, but one that is preventable for others. This is not an isolated case: a 2000 study found that children of mothers on birth control pills were more violent, disrespectful and restless.29 

1970 Hearings

Before I researched this issue, I suspected there were problems because of the blood clots, cancer and birth defects, like spina bifida, that came out during the 1970 Hearings on the Pill, conducted by our own Democratic Senator Gaylord Nelson.30,31 I have been in communication with Tia Nelson, the Executive Secretary of the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands-she told me that her father would lecture her about the dangers of taking the Pill! 

Feminists Alice Wolfson and Barbara Seaman, who “crashed” the hearings in protest against the Pill’s health risks, founded the National Women’s Health Network, and continued to publicize the dangers of HCs. In a definitive statement, Ms. Wolfson, a lawyer, said in 1995: “ It is criminal today to suggest anything other than condoms.”32 Blood clot risk is now even higher with the Patch, certain pills, and possibly the NuvaRing.33-37 The consumer watchdog group founded by Ralph Nader, Public Citizen, has called for a ban on the Patch and on these Pills.33,34

Health Problems

Ethinylestradiol is some 40-fold more potent than a woman’s natural estradiol, and more dangerous than the Pill’s original estrogen, mestranol, because it binds to estrogen receptors in the breast.10 Natural estradiol is quickly changed into a non-carcinogenic form, but ethinylestradiol remains in its carcinogenic form for nearly 8 hours.38 As a result, the National Cancer Institute, the National Institutes of Health, and the Mayo Clinic have all confirmed that oral contraceptives are linked to breast cancer, especially for younger women.39-43 Most recently, a study published in 2009 reported a 4.2-fold higher risk for a very aggressive breast cancer for women under age 41 after one or more years of use.41 A large study by the World Health Organization has also found that the Pill increases risk for breast, cervical and liver cancers.44 Furthermore, a 2009 study showed an increased risk for skin cancer with both oral contraceptives and Hormone Replacement Therapy.45                                                                                                                                                                          

Besides cancers, blood clots and stroke, HCs are associated with depression and anxiety,46 gum disease,47 headaches, insulin resistance, weight gain, hair loss, acne and autoimmune diseases like lupus, colitis (over 3 times more likely for users), and diabetes 48-50 (some of these problems occur when going off hormones, because the body is no longer producing enough on its own).51 Estrogen also causes “drug-induced hypothyroidism”, which may be sub-clinical (BPA does this as well).52,53 In addition, HCs are a major drain on vitamins and minerals, like folic acid, B12, and zinc.54 These are already marginal for many teens, as well as adults. This leads to many health problems, including increased heavy metal absorption.55 

Teenage girls, and even pre-teens, are given female hormones without parental notification. Yet, they are unlikely to research the health effects, so there is little chance for an informed choice. Also, 40% of teens using HCs smoke, a serious risk for heart problems.56 In stark contrast, there are federal programs protecting teen boys from the effects of sex hormones.57

Estrogen is Estrogen

Widespread use of ethinylestradiol is a serious issue, both for the environment and for women’s health, particularly for younger women and teens. In short, synthetic estrogen is synthetic estrogen, whether coming out of a plastic baby bottle or a Planned Parenthood clinic. Yet this issue is ignored by almost everyone in every political party. Even the conservative right, which is opposed to any birth control, is not particularly interested in the health aspects of the problem. The result is, even as we attempt to regulate many estrogenic chemicals such as bisphenol A, most heavy metals, many pesticides, PBDE’s, food dyes and preservatives, and perchlorate (rocket fuel), we fuel a huge handout of ethinylestradiol for birth control. Clearly, we have too much exposure to estrogens already, and we need to protect ourselves from even more.

The quest for both women and our burgeoning population is for safe birth control. Study after study indicates that it is now time to give the pregnancy protection and health risks/benefits of hormonal birth control a thorough rethinking, especially given its part in polluting our water. 

 

1.http://www.eh.uc.edu/growingupfemale/pdfs/2005-1222%20in%20press%20in%20San%20Francisco%20Medicine.pdf

2. Private e-mail from Nicolas Sajot Ph.D. Chemistry, internationally renowned chemist. June 28, 2006.                                                                                                                                 

3. http://www.theplasticsexchange.com/Public/News_Template.aspx?Buffer=&Id=1274 

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birth_control_pill 

5.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diethylstilbestrol 

6. http://www.pnas.org/content/102/19/7014.full

7. http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/october2005/171005drugtraces.htm

8. http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/newscience/EE2-changes-trout-chromosome-number/    

9. http://lists.dep.state.fl.us/pipermail/pharmwaste/2007-May/001151.html 

10. http://www.preventcancer.com/press/releases/jan26_99.htm  

11. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enovid 

12. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2766722 

13. Grant, Ellen MD. Sexual Chemistry. Mandarin Paperbacks, Reed Consumer Books, Ltd. London, 1994, P. 71.  

14. Meade TW, Greenberg G, Thompson SG. Progestogens and cardiovascular reactions associated with oral contraceptives and a comparison of the safety of 50- and 30-mcg oestrogen preparations. BMJ 1980;1157-1161.      

15. http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3124699.html -over half unintended pregnancies are contraceptive failures.

16. http://www.michigan.gov/documents/REDUCING_UNINTENDED_PREGNANCIES_132688_7.pdf -No. of pregnancies in the U.S., 60 % unintended.

17. 15% of contracepting teens not living with a boyfriend get pregnant within a year, and nearly half of poor teens using oral contraceptives who live with a boyfriend will get pregnant within one year. H Fu, JE Darroch, T Haas, N Ranjit, Contraceptive Failure Rates: New Estimates. From the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth, Family Planning Perspectives, 1999, 31(2):56-63.                                                                                        

18.  According to a 1995 study, among sexually active teens aged 12 to 18 using oral contraceptives, 20% became pregnant over a mere six months. LM Dinerman et al, Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Med, 149(9):967-72, Sept 1995.

19. http://www.sexuality-encyclopedia.com/dr-ruth/Teenagers_and_Sex

20. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/birth-control-pill/WO00098 

21. www.birthdefects.org/factsheets/fact des.doc 

22.   Brooks et al. “Are oral contraceptive use and pregnancy complications risk factors for atopic disorders among offspring?” Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2004 Dec;15(6):487-96. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=15610361&query_hl=2&itool=pubmed_docsum)  

23. Noller KL, Blair PB, O’Brien PC, Melton LJ, Offord JR, Kaufman RH, Colton T. “Increased occurrence of autoimmune disease among women exposed in utero to diethylstilbestrol.” Fertil Steril 49:1080-1087 (1988).                                                               

 24. Martinez-Frias ML, Bermejo E, Rodriguez-Pinilla E, Prieto L. Periconceptional exposure to contraceptive pills and risk for Down syndrome. J Perinatol. 2001;21:288-292.

25.   Barry G. Timms, Kembra L. Howdeshell, Lesley Barton, Sarahann Bradley, Catherine A. Richter, and Frederick S. vom Saal. “Estrogenic chemicals in plastic and oral contraceptives disrupt development of the fetal mouse prostate and urethra.”PNAS | May 10, 2005 | vol. 102 | no. 19 | 7014-7019 http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/102/19/7014                                                                               

26.  http://www.guttmacher.org/in-the-know/prevention.html 

27. Keshaw, Kumar. “Effect of Female Oral Contraceptives On Human Chromosomes And Its Role In Behavioural Changes In Offsprings.” J Anat. Soc. India 49(1) 40-42 (2000) http://www.indmedica.com/anatomy/pindex1.cfm?anid=22&aiid=3   

28. Christofferson, Bill. The Man From Clear Lake: Earth Day Founder Senator Gaylord Nelson. Madison, The University of Wisconsin Press. 2004. Page 261.                                                                                           

29. http://www.nwhn.org/about/index.cfm?content_id=76&section=About

30. http://www.webmd.com/content/article/25/3053_652.htm  

31. http://www.ndmnutrition.com/hormones  

32. http://www.mayoclinic.org/news2006-rst/3722.html?rss-feedid=9 ,                                                                            

33.  http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/oral-contraceptives/print?page=&keyword= 

34. Dolle, et al, “Risk factors for triple-negative breast cancer in women under the age of 45 years.” Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2009 Apr;18(4):1157-66. http://www.fhcrc.org/about/pubs/center_news/online/2009/05/Oral_contraceptives_and_breast_cancer.html,                   

35. Brinton LA, Daling JR, Liff JM, Schoenberg JB, Malone KE. Stanford JL, Coates RJ, Gammon MD, Hanson L, Hoover RN. “Oral contraceptives and breast cancer risk among younger women.” J Natl Cancer Inst. 1995 Jun 7;87(11):827-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7791232&dopt=Abstract,                         

36.Althuis MD, Brogan DR, Coates RJ, Daling JR, Gammon MD, Malone KE, Schoenberg JB, Brinton LA, “Hormonal content and potency of oral contraceptives and breast cancer risk among young women.” British Journal of Cancer, 2003, Jan. 13;88(1):50-7.

37. http://www.emaxhealth.com/51/2727.html 

38. Koomen ER, Joosse A, Herings RM, Casparie MK, Guchelaar HJ, Nijsten T. Estrogens, oral contraceptives and hormonal replacement therapy increase the incidence of cutaneous melanoma: a population-based case-control study. Ann Oncol. 2009 Feb;20(2):358-64. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18725391?dopt=AbstractPlus 

                                                                                                                                                                                          16.

39. http://www.aphroditewomenshealth.com/news/hormones_depression.shtml                                                                             

40. Klinger et al. “Influence of hormonal contraceptives on microbial flora o gingival sulcus.” Contraception. 1998 Jun;57(6):381-4.

41. http://www.chiroweb.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=31596   

42. Boyko EJ, Theis MK, Vaughan TL, Nicol-Blades B, Increased risk of inflammatory bowel disease associated with oral contraceptive use. Am J Epidemiol 1994 Aug 1;140(3):268-78. http://www.highbeam.com/library/docfree.asp?DOCID=1G1:84211158&ctrlInfo=Round20%3AMode20c%3ADocG%3AResult&ao

43. http://www.medpagetoday.com/Rheumatology/Lupus/13621 

44. http://contracept.org/hormonal.php 

45.http://www.chiroweb.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=31596 

46.http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/newscience/bpa-suppresses-thyroid-hormone-delays-frog-development/

47. Nutrient Depletions caused by the Pill | Lloyd J DuPlantis, Jr, PD
(Excerpted from an article appearing in Retail Pharmacy News, July 2000 by James B. Lavalle, RPh) http://www.katesenisi.com/stuff/

48. http://www.casacolumbia.org/absolutenm/templates/Publications.aspx?articleid=417&zoneid=52 

49.  http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/kouri/071217

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