Ch-ch-changes

For all 17 years I’ve been writing about PCBs and dioxins, I’ve been reading about the subtle and not-so-subtle sexual effects of these chemicals and many others related to them. We all have.

Whereas once science worried about skin pustules and cancer, today the main concerns about pollution are its effects on sex hormones, and the way they blur the distinctions between the genders. During this same time we’ve been watching the transgender movement develop around the world – that is, people whose gender identity is consciously shifting, and many who are opting for gender reassignment surgery. Could there be a connection between the chemical and sexual environments?

Since the advent of the Kinsey scale, we have become more accepting of how gender and sexuality exist on a continuum, rather than as an either/or function. Studies on how environmental factors are influencing human gender identity are extremely rare. The topic seems shrouded in the general taboo on sexuality, and the more sensitive issues that surround homosexuality and transgender. Gay and transgender movements, for their part, seem unwilling to ascribe an environmental cause because of...

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