Herbicide linked to Sexual Dysphoria: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

In a recent interview with Jordan B. Peterson, presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he believes that many cases of sexual dysphoria, especially in boys, are caused by chemical exposure. He specifically mentioned the widely used herbicide atrazine.

During the June 5 interview, Peterson and Kennedy covered a wide range of topics, including Kennedy’s presidential campaign. When they discussed environmental issues, Kennedy pointed out that the high levels of depression seen in today’s children, as well as the prevalence of sexual dysphoria, may be linked to toxic chemicals.

“These kids are swimming through a soup of toxic chemicals today, and many of those are endocrine disruptors,” Kennedy emphasized.

Kennedy highlighted atrazine as a major concern, stating that it can be found “throughout our water supply.” He referred to a study in which male frogs exposed to atrazine in a tank experienced chemical castration and forced feminization.

What’s even more alarming is that the study found that 10 percent of the male frogs transformed into “fully viable females, able to produce viable eggs.”

“If it’s doing that to frogs, there’s a lot of other evidence that it’s doing it to human beings as well,” Kennedy stressed.

The Science

The study Kennedy referred to was led by Tyrone B. Hayes, professor of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley. It was published in March 2010 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The study highlighted atrazine as one of the most commonly used and detected pesticides in the world. It contaminates ground, surface, and drinking water and can travel long distances through rainfall.

The authors emphasized that atrazine is a potent endocrine disruptor, even at low levels. Previous studies have shown adverse effects such as hermaphroditism, reduced testicular volume, and decreased testosterone. The herbicide is also associated with the demasculinization and feminization of male amphibians.

The study examined the long-term effects of atrazine on reproductive function in genetically male African clawed frogs.

The male frogs were exposed to 2.5 parts per billion (ppb) of atrazine starting from their tadpole stage and continuing for up to three years after they transformed into adults.

Ninety percent of the atrazine-exposed males appeared male but experienced depressed testosterone, decreased breeding gland size, decreased sperm production, feminized vocal development, suppressed mating behavior, reduced spermatogenesis, and decreased fertility.

Functionally Female Frogs

Significantly, after exposure to atrazine, ten percent of the genetically male frogs developed into fully functional females with ovaries, producing viable eggs.

Two of the male-turned-female frogs were mated with control males and produced offspring. Further testing confirmed that these atrazine-exposed male frogs, although now functionally female, were still chromosomal males.

In a 2018 keynote presentation, Hayes explained that exposure to atrazine activates an enzyme called aromatase. Aromatase converts androgens, which are involved in male sexual development, into different forms of the female hormone estrogen. In atrazine-exposed frogs, aromatase converts testosterone into estrogen, leading to the feminization of male frogs.

Hayes noted that mammals, including humans, will not experience the same extreme egg-producing reaction as reptiles and amphibians when exposed to atrazine. However, he pointed out that atrazine-induced aromatase promotes breast cancer and prostate cancer.

Big Pharma, Big Herbicides

In fact, aromatase is so significant in causing breast cancer that one of the leading treatments for the disease is a non-steroidal aromatase inhibitor called Letrozole, according to Hayes.

The developer of Letrozole is the pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG.

Interestingly, a 2003 toxicological profile by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) listed Novartis Crop Protection, Inc. as one of the companies registered to produce products containing atrazine.

Novartis Crop Protection was later merged with AstraZeneca Agrochemicals to form Syngenta, which is now the chief manufacturer of atrazine, according to the Center for Food Safety. Syngenta was acquired by ChemChina in 2017.

Hayes also mentioned another study published in Environmental Health Perspectives in 1997. It found that Kentucky women exposed to well water with medium to high levels of atrazine had a statistically significant increase in breast cancer risk compared to women who did not consume the contaminated well water.

According to the EPA website, atrazine is chemically related to two other herbicides, simazine and propazine, which together are called triazines.

Hayes emphasized that his study was not an isolated case but rather part of a comprehensive body of research.

In fact, 22 independent research studies conducted in 12 different countries have examined the effects of atrazine exposure on various species, including fish, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and birds.

These studies consistently reported similar findings, including the absence of sperm production, demasculinization, and feminization as a result of atrazine exposure.

In 2003, seven years before Hayes’ study, the ATSDR issued a detailed toxicological profile of atrazine (pdf). The report cited studies indicating that atrazine affects health by altering the reproductive system.

“Atrazine has been shown to cause changes in blood hormone levels in animals that affected the ability to reproduce,” the report stated.

While some specific effects observed in animals may not occur in humans due to biological differences, atrazine may still impact human reproductive health.