[Vision2020] Fifty Years Ago Today (May 9, 1960)

[Kenneth Marcy]

On Sunday 09 May 2010 14:15:43 Tom Hansen wrote:
> "May 9, 1960:
> FDA approves the pill
>
> The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves the world's first
> commercially produced birth-control bill--Enovid-10, made by the
> G.D. Searle Company of Chicago, Illinois."

http://planetgreen.discovery.com/food-health/environmental-pros-cons-thepill.html 

Overpopulation and the Planet
As we all know, fewer offspring means fewer people drawing on the 
planet's finite resources. Recent studies have forecast what 
exploding populations will eventually mean for the planet. 
Environmentalists have long been concerned about the resources 
threatened by rapidly growing human populations, which can exacerbate 
phenomenon such as deforestation, desertification, air pollution, and 
global warming. But the most detrimental impact of overpopulation, 
according to Lawrence Smith, president of the Population Institute, 
may be the lack of fresh, clean water available to already 
overpopulated areas.

The Pill Seeping Into the Water Supply?
Although the pill has empowered parents to control family size, 
consumption of the powerful pharmaceutical may be having unintended 
effects on our environment. According to research at Brunel 
University and the University of Exeter, female sex hormones and 
chemicals that mimic those hormones, which are present in the pill, 
can lead to the 'feminization' of male fish. Feminization hinders 
reproduction by reducing the species' ability to breed. In some 
cases, feminization has lead to an actual change in sex amongst the 
male population.

According to the New York Times, an EPA survey of 139 streams around 
the country revealed that 80 percent of samples contained residues of 
drugs like hormones, painkillers, blood pressure medicines, or 
antibiotics. The problem of seepage is especially prevalent in the 
case of the pill because many of the hormones contained in the pill 
remain in your body for an extended period. As a result, these 
hormones can be excreted in urination so that they find their way 
into the water supply. Moreover, the pill is one of the most popular 
pharmaceuticals on the market and many people dispose of unused 
prescriptions by flushing them down the toilet. Hospitals also 
dispose of excess medications in this manner. Once these medications 
enter the water supply we're in real trouble because most wastewater 
treatment facilities are not equipped to filter out pharmaceuticals.

http://planetgreen.discovery.com/food-health/environmental-pros-cons-thepill.html