To the editor:

I am writing with important news that appears to be relatively unknown and the more I hear comments about why and how people are the way they are I have finally decided to share it.

Dr. Shanna Swan’s book is Count Down, How Our Modern World Is threatening Sperm Counts, Altering Male and Female Reproductive Development, and Imperiling the Future of the Human Race. In it she explains how chemicals may be affecting gender identity and specifically names Tylenol/acetaminophen for altering brain chemistry of the fetus (p. 59). She also adds that exposure to hormone-mimicking chemicals during pregnancy can blunt some of the brain-related sex differences seen between boys and girls. This may be affecting gender identity and sexual preference.

I understand people blame the messages saturating the media as to why children opt for an alternative lifestyle, however, if parents’ knew it was their behaviors causing it, they may be less critical, or better yet, change the products they use to allow fetuses to develop as nature intended. Plastics and other chemicals continue to poison children throughout their lives and into adulthood.

These are not new findings. Deidre Imus wrote Green This! In 2007 spelling out the chemical influences impacting children’s mental and physical health. Dr. Swan has been doing research in reproductive health since the 1980s.

I contacted three universities to see if they would be willing to bring her here to share her findings with our community/region. In addition, I suggested they expand or create a Green Chemistry department to change the way products are made, eliminating the endocrine-disrupting chemicals prevalent in many of our daily products.

Carnegie Mellon University has an exceptional program in Green Science and is using their Green Chemistry to “reverse the adverse impact of toxic chemicals on living beings.”

You can get Count Down at North Winds in Hancock (906-487-7217). If you plan to have children, you may want to read it beforehand in order to make changes in your lives; both parents’ contribute to the emotional and physical development of children with the chemicals in their system.

You can “repent” all you want but if your brain chemistry has been altered it won’t matter. We need to educate ourselves on the products we use and make better choices for the sake of future generations.

Thank you,