Contraceptive pill in water causing gender confusion?

[midclegs]

Had dinner with a friend tonight who's fairly uninformed on GC issues (well at least she was before this evening) but has always been anti-woke, a good independent thinker.

She mentioned that she'd read something many many years ago about the effect of the contraceptive pill in our potable water supply impacting not only fertility but 'gender confusion' in the following generation. Sounds a little like codswallop to me. Has anyone else heard this?

Sorry - rubbish title

I thought I read about it years ago, but more in relation to possible causes of male infertility, can't remember if it was debunked or not.

It's a it like how lowering testostone lowers the risk of men who have sexually abused babies and children.

www.google.com/amp/s/metro.co.uk/2020/01/17/pedophile-molested-baby-freed-jail-transitioning-become-woman-12077980/amp/

Codswallop

I'd read about it in the context of female infertility. I did say that the prevalence of the pill in our drinking water perhaps might have some sort of impact on chromosomes, but not psychology. I'm no scientist of that sort though. Question for fondofbeetles maybe.

Looks like there's evidence that estrogenic compounds present in water may have an effect on some aquatic animals - this was for a while assumed to be because of the pill but proper analysis shows otherwise.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20977246

And

www.webmd.com/women/news/20101209/birth-control-pills-not-a-major-source-of-estrogen-in-water-supply#1

Just another way for men to blame women for current environmental problems? Which have actually been caused by rogue capitalism?

Not a particularly noted feature of feminism, rogue capitalism!

Ah - she did mention fish, so this is possibly what she had read.

I have to admit it was a relief to have a discussion with someone who was willing to listen and discuss. (After losing a friendship of 25 years a week or so ago talking about this). Not knowing anything about the gender extremism movement - but she bringing up the "no one calls me cis" was refreshing.

She also said "not many of us know about this - but if trans start taking away medals (any) in the Olympics there's going to be a huge backlash".

I have heard people suggest this before. Specifically with relation to fish, and also the phenomena in some places of lack of male births because male babies are miscarried, or lowered sperm counts in men compared to the past.

It does sound like kind of a science fiction tv show, on the other hand, there are these effects, it seems like a logical thing to ask in a way.

There have been papers published about plastic pollution mimicking the effects of oestrogen, effecting men especially. Sperm counts in Wetern males are declining and it has been suggested that plastic pollution may have something to do with this.
I will try to post links when I can.

Should have thought the pill hormones in the water supply were more than matched by all the flushed wank-tissues.

It isn't just contraception, it's HRT as well. I have had discussions about whether this is contributing to rising rates of breast cancer. Perhaps it is having an effect on men too?
Regarding fish I was listening to a nature/science program on Radio 4 some time ago which stated that antidepressants in the water were affecting behaviour of some species. IIRC fresh water shrimps were becoming less cautious and instead of hiding in the shadows under a rock were carelessly and joyfully playing in full view in the sunshine. (Putting themselves at danger from predators). Something along those lines anyway. I think it was shrimps possibly a different but similar species.
So I won't poopoo these theories but I can't claim to have studied the research or seen anything definitive.

But if it was increased oestrogen in the water supply causing gender confusion, why the huge rise in ROGD in girls?

See the links upthread for the actual culprits, FannyCann

One of the clearest examples of chemical disruption of sex development was the masculinising effects of Tributyltin (TBT), used as a ship anti fouling agent, on marine snails such as dog whelks. It's banned now.

It's pseudo science. As is most so called 'gender critical' gumf.

I've forgotten all that, my probably failing memory said that it was thought to have a negative impact on marine life???

I thought all the stuff about the pill and the water supply was in order to blame women for a range of stuff?

Destroying fish
Rendering men infertile
Making people confused
Ruining society

You know, the usual

Meh. The other day I read an article that suggested that the Pill turns women into some sort of lobotomised Zombies and alters our psychology to the point where women aren't actually 'themselves' whilst on it, and that also applies to women who don't suffer from side effects.

In other words, a load of fucking bollocks.

It's alllll bollocks.

Ah. I grew up in a place (not the UK) where our drinking water supply was pretty much at source (had to be boiled) so all of this pseudo-science passed me by!

I thought BPA plastics were thought to be responsible for something during pregnancy. Can’t remember the source.

Not sure how women taking something which mimics pregnancy hormone levels could change testosterone. Natural fertility would surely result in similar levels of estrogen excretion?

Yes this was a topic discussed whilst I was at school. I can’t remember all that much of it but very interesting that it was being discussed back then, way before being trans was even a thing.

I thought all the stuff about the pill and the water supply was in order to blame women for a range of stuff?

It has seriously never occurred to me, or to anyone I've ever spoken to, that effects of something like contraceptive pills in the water is about blaming women. No more than I'd blame some unexpected effect for a drug used for men on men.

Has someone actually said that is women's fault? It seems easy enough to refute if they did, since plenty of men also benefit from the effects of hormonal contraceptives.

Not sure how women taking something which mimics pregnancy hormone levels could change testosterone. Natural fertility would surely result in similar levels of estrogen excretion?

I don't know if women excrete hormones differently on the pill, or maybe if the synthetic hormones don't break down the same way. But most of the things I have heard about are people disposing of drugs that go unused by their expiry date.

There are lots of other chemicals and drugs in the environment too that mimic estrogens.

There are lots of other chemicals and drugs in the environment too that mimic estrogens.

In the paper linked to upthread, the data indicates these are responsible for ~ 99% of the effects observed on aquatic life - but that's rarely what people seem to have heard, it's always the contraceptive pill which seems to be blamed. I'm not convinced it's woman-blaming as such but I'm not sure why this focus.

It's woman-blaming codswallop.

What's more, I'm sure I've read if you took all the women on the Pill off the Pill and they were getting pregnant instead, the levels of said hormones in their urine would be far higher.

I'm not sure why this focus

I think when this first went into the public eye, it was more up in the air as to the sources of the problem. It probably just seemed like an idea most people could relate to.

I used to have a job that involved disposing of past-date drugs, basically it meant flushing them down the toilet. An there were a lot, even though it was just one doctors office. It's easy for people to imagine this, it's more relatable than some other explanations.