by Cindy Cooper
June 6, 2011
Dr. Theo Colborn is often compared to Rachel Carson, whose famous book, Silent Spring will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year. Colborn, a dedicated environmental researcher, heartily tosses off the association, even as her own scientific insights gain public attention and acknowledgement.
Carson, of course, kicked off the environmental movement with her 1962 book about harms caused by the chemical DDT. But Carson died from breast cancer two years later, only 47 years old at the time.
Colborn, on the other hand, was 58 years old when she earned a Ph.D. in zoology in 1985 after previous careers as a pharmacist and sheeprancher. A mother of four and grandmother, she went to work for the World Wildlife Fund, where she began to research alterations to the reproductive systems of the offspring of wildlife from small amounts of contaminants — chemicals that included DDT, but also others of the 80,000 synthetic chemicals, including atrazine, dieldrin, heptachlor, dioxin, polychlorinated biphenyls, bisphenol A and phthalates. Some of these chemicals are used widely in plastics and household products. Colborn reasoned that if synthetic chemicals made their way to the womb, they could disrupt proper human development of offspring. She called them “endocrine disrupters” because they interfered with the normal processes of embryonic and infant hormonal growth, causing damage to new generations.
In 1996, she published a book, Our Stolen Future: How We Are Threatening Our Fertility, Intelligence and Survival, co-authored with science writer Dianne Dumanoski and environmental scientist John Peterson Myers. “The possible consequences of widespread hormone disruption are immense and irreversible,” they wrote.
As a pharmacist, Colborn was already aware of the potential for harm from endocrine disruption, an understanding that came from the medication DES, which was given to pregnant women in the 1960s to prevent miscarriages. The synthetic chemical compounds in DES had hormone-disrupting properties that affected the developing fetus. Children born to women who took the drug suffered reproductive harms — daughters were unable to bear children, and sons suffered genital damage, as well. In an interview in 2003, Colborn reflected on the DES connections. “There are a lot of chemicals out there like DES that can get into the womb and change how the cells have to split or move about and interfere with the basic constructions of the body. These are more subtle effects than what are commonly thought of as birth defects,” she said.
In the last 15 years, the truth of Colborn’s analysis has been verified by — literally — tens of thousands of studies, and endocrine disruption has moved to the mainstream. A website, Our Stolen Future, tracks studies, legislation and commentary on endocrine disrupters.
But — back to Rachel Carson. Colborn has won the Rachel Carson Award from the
Center for Science in the Public Interest, and the Chatham College Rachel Carson Award and the Environmental Chemistry Rachel Carson Award. She has other awards, too, including being named an environmental hero by Time Magazine in 2007.
But people can’t stop mentioning Carson. An interviewer on “Frontline” in 1998 asked, “What about the parallels between you and Rachel Carson? She writes a book. She is vilified. You write a book. You are vilified.” Colborn replied: “I don’t compare myself with her at all. She was a beautiful writer â€¦. She certainly was a pioneer. No, I think she stands alone.”
And so does Colborn. Now in her 80s, she serves as executive director of the Colorado-based Endocrine Disruption Exchange, or TEDX, which she founded. Most recently, she has taken to the airwaves to speak out about the health effects from chemicals used in hydraulic fracking for natural gas in Colorado and elsewhere, appearing on Democracy Now! in 2010 and in a DVD and YouTube video version in 2011.
Her message is essentially the same. As Colborn told her “Frontline” interviewer in 1998: “All I have ever done is said it like it is. The important thing is to tell the truth from the evidence that you have.”
Cindy Cooper is a writer in New York City.
Also see “A Tale of Two Nursing Mothers” by Chanda Chevannes in this edition of On The Issues Magazine.
"Mwanamke mmoja wa Marekani, Theo Colborn, ambaye amekuwa akimkumbuka kwa miaka mingi, amemshirikisha Rachel Carson katika kitabu chake cha ""Silent Spring"" ambacho kinasherehekea miaka 50 tangu kuchapishwa." Colborn, mtafiti wa mazingira mwenye kujitolea, kwa moyo wote anakataa ushirika huo, hata wakati ufahamu wake mwenyewe wa kisayansi unapopata uangalifu na utambuzi wa umma. Carson alianzisha harakati za kuhifadhi mazingira kwa kitabu chake cha 1962 kuhusu madhara yanayotokana na kemikali ya DDT. Carson alikufa mwaka mmoja baadaye kutokana na kansa ya kifua akiwa na umri wa miaka 47. Colborne alikuwa na umri wa miaka 58 alipopata shahada ya PhD katika zoolojia mwaka 1985 baada ya kufanya kazi ya kutengeneza dawa na kuwa mchungaji. "Mwanamke huyo, ambaye ni mama wa watoto wanne na nyanya, alijiunga na shirika la World Wildlife Fund, ambapo alianza kuchunguza mabadiliko katika mfumo wa uzazi wa watoto wa wanyama wa porini kutokana na kiasi kidogo cha kemikali za uchafuzi, ambazo zilijumuisha DDT, lakini pia kemikali nyingine 80,000 za synthetic, ikiwa ni pamoja na atrazine, dieldrin, heptychlor, dioxin, polychlorinated biphenyls, bisphenol A na phthalates.""" Baadhi ya kemikali hizo hutumiwa sana katika plastiki na bidhaa za nyumbani. "Colborn alisababu kwamba ikiwa kemikali za synthetic zingepita kwenye tumbo la uzazi, zingeweza kuharibu ukuzi sahihi wa binadamu wa watoto.""" Aliwaita "wasababishi wa endocrine" kwa sababu waliingilia michakato ya kawaida ya ukuaji wa homoni za kiinitete na mtoto, na kusababisha uharibifu kwa vizazi vipya. "Mwaka 1996 aliandika kitabu ""The Stolen Future: How We Are Threatening Our Fertility, Intelligence and Survival"" pamoja na mwanasayansi John Peterson na mwandishi wa vitabu vya sayansi Diane Dumanowski." "Madhara yanayowezekana ya kuvurugika kwa homoni kwa wingi ni makubwa na hayawezi kubadilishwa", waliandika. "Kama mtaalamu wa dawa, Colborn tayari alikuwa na ufahamu wa uwezekano wa madhara kutoka kwa usumbufu wa endocrine, uelewa ambao ulikuja kutoka kwa dawa ya ""DES,"" ambayo ilitolewa kwa wanawake wajawazito katika miaka ya 1960 kuzuia mimba." Vifaa vya kemikali vilivyotumiwa katika dawa hiyo vilikuwa na uwezo wa kuharibu homoni na hivyo kuathiri mimba. Watoto waliozaliwa na wanawake waliotumia dawa hiyo walipatwa na madhara ya uzazi - binti hawakuweza kuzaa watoto, na wana walipatwa na madhara ya viungo vya uzazi, pia. Katika mahojiano ya mwaka 2003, Colborn alionyesha uhusiano wa DES. "Kuna kemikali nyingi huko nje kama vile ""DES"" ambazo zinaweza kuingia ndani ya tumbo la uzazi na kubadilisha jinsi seli zinapaswa kugawanyika au kusonga na kuingilia miundo ya msingi ya mwili." Hizi ni athari za hali ya chini kuliko zile ambazo kwa kawaida hufikiriwa kuwa kasoro za kuzaliwa, <unk> alisema. Katika miaka ya 15 iliyopita, ukweli wa uchambuzi wa Colborn umethibitishwa na <unk> kihalisi <unk> makumi ya maelfu ya masomo, na usumbufu wa endocrine umehamia kwa kawaida. Tovuti, Our Stolen Future, inafuatilia masomo, sheria na maoni juu ya vichochezi vya endocrine. Lakini <unk> kurudi kwa Rachel Carson. "Kama tuzo ya ""Rachel Carson"" kutoka kwa Kituo cha Sayansi katika Maslahi ya Umma, Chatham College inatoa tuzo ya ""Rachel Carson"" kwa ajili ya utafiti wa sayansi ya mazingira." Pia ameshinda tuzo nyingi za kimataifa, na mwaka 2007 alipewa jina la 'Mwanamke Mtakatifu' na jarida la Time. Lakini watu hawawezi kuacha kumtaja Carson. "Mwanahabari mmoja wa Frontline aliuliza: ""Je, kuna ulinganifu kati yako na Rachel Carson?""" Anaandika kitabu. Yeye amedharauliwa. Wewe andika kitabu. Wewe ni vilified. <unk> Colborn akajibu: <unk>Mimi si kulinganisha mwenyewe na yake wakati wote. Alikuwa mwandishi mzuri sana. Bila shaka alikuwa painia. Hapana, nadhani yeye anasimama peke yake. <unk> Na hivyo hufanya Colborn. Sasa akiwa na umri wa miaka 80, anafanya kazi kama mkurugenzi mtendaji wa Endocrine Disruption Exchange (TEDX), ambayo alianzisha. Hivi karibuni, amechukua mawimbi ya hewa kuongea juu ya athari za afya kutoka kwa kemikali zinazotumiwa katika fracking ya hidroliki kwa gesi asilia huko Colorado na mahali pengine, akionekana kwenye Demokrasia Sasa! Mwaka 2010 ilitolewa kwenye DVD na YouTube. Ujumbe wake ni uleule. "Kama Colborne alivyosema kwa mwandishi wa ""Frontline"" mnamo 1998, ""Nimewahi kufanya tu kusema ni jinsi ilivyo.""" "Kitu muhimu ni kusema ukweli kutoka kwa ushahidi unao."" - Cindy Cooper, mwandishi wa New York City." Pia angalia <unk>A Tale of Two Nursing Mothers<unk> na Chanda Chevannes katika toleo hili la On The Issues Magazine.