Environmental Contaminants’ Effects on Gender

Wk 3: Discuss 1 Discussion Prompt 1: Environmental Contaminants’ Effects on Gender Scientists have started to study the effects of chemicals on the environment and human physiology. The presence of chemicals from medication, household cleaning supplies and those added to food sources are of growing concern. Scientists continue to study the effects of these substances on human development and their effects on gender, sexual characteristics and reproduction. Because of the effect of these chemicals on the endocrine system, they have been termed Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals, or EDCs. Assignment Expectations This discussion assignment will use the information from the self-guided presentation on Sex and Gender that you viewed previously in this unit. Before moving on, make sure you understand sexual differentiation (the biological determination of sex) and the developmental differences between male and female fetus’ and young children. You will also want to take a look at sex hormones and their relationship to both organizing effects and activating effects. (Hint: If you have additional questions about this material, ask your course facilitator!) Next, review the following scientific articles from Environmental Health Perspectives and any other researched information you may find. Journal Articles: EDCs and Gender Issues EDCs in Water and Food Supply Effects of Phytoestrogen EDCs and Disease Susceptibility Endocrine Society Scientific Statement** **This is a lengthier article. You may wish to review the introduction and then choose two categories of EDC disruption to focus on in place of reviewing the entire of the article. After thoroughly reviewing the articles, compose an initial discussion prompt post that explains how Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) disrupt sexual differentiation. Provide an example that illustrates the result of the disruption on sexual differentiation and the long-term effects of this disruption. You should be able to find several examples of EDCs affecting gender issues, the timing of puberty, etc. Your post should include in-text citations and at least 150 words. Be sure to continue this discussion through follow-up posts with your fellow learners, sharing additional insight and observation. Follow-up posts should include at least 100 words. Assignment Instructions Please scroll down to the input box to type your response to the discussion prompt. After keying in your response, click the SAVE button. Once you’ve posted your initial response to the question, you can join your fellow learners in the discussion forum by clicking the “Discussion” tab on the top of the “Course Outline” page. Grading Criteria Click the “Grading Criteria” button below to view the rubric, which will be used to evaluate your contributions for this activity. Grading Criteria Discuss Word count: 0 Files Drop files here The file size should not be more than 3 GB