and now for something completely different

One thing that's concerned me in the past few months is how many issues there are that seriously impact our lives and the world, and how little most of us know about many of them. Even for someone like me, who claims to care about these issues and spends a significant amount of time researching them, a look at the big picture quickly reveals the extent of my ignorance.

Take, for example, the topic of pollutants that act as endocrine disrupters. I had never even heard of this particular type of pollution until my friend Maurice (a colleague at Hollywood Jesus, and an environmental toxicologist working directly with water pollutants) was kind enough to educate me on the subject. Granted, it has little to do with energy, which is the main subject of my research, but it's a perfect example of the kind of problem with a whole host of side effects and impacts, most of which we have little or no understanding of as yet. And the fact that there are few regulations in place that address this specific issue was frightening to me. Enough so that I thought I'd take advantage of the opportunity to interview Maurice about it, since he's working on this problem. So here is a little introduction to an environmental issue that's less talked about (than, say, climate change) but no less important.

What are endocrine disrupters, and what do they do?
Basically, they are what they're called: any chemicals that have the potential to disrupt the endocrine system. There are a lot of environmental contaminants that mimic the biological activities of estrogen - from herbicides and pesticides to even some plasticware. Because estrogen is vital for communication between cells and in embryonic development, you can see why screwing with estrogen levels in the environment could lead to many potential problems. Among other things, they are suspects for cancer, birth defects and immune problems. We are already seeing the impact of these chemicals in various fish and alligator populations.

What chemical pollutants currently found in our water have been shown to be endocrine disrupters, and what are some of the sources of these pollutants?
I've mentioned herbicides, pesticides, and plasticizers already. We're also talking about farmland runoff and surfactants (like many of our cleaning agents, such as detergent).

What are the current regulations regarding these types of chemicals?
The EPA is already assessing the threat, and there are a number of projects aimed at trying to find fast and inexpensive ways to test for and monitor environmental estrogen. I don't believe there is anything firmly in place yet, but a lot of companies, environmental groups, and agencies are being proactive about the problem.

How will the project you're currently working on help indicate the presence of endocrine disrupters in water?
We're using a Yeast Estrogen Screen, where yeast cells have been modified for the human estrogen receptor and we expose it, in medium, to potential endocrine disrupters. We can tell relatively quickly whether there are endocrine disrupters present and at what levels. For us, it's still a work in progress.

What steps still need to be taken to address this problem (political, medical, research, etc.)?
Once the EPA guidelines are in place and mandated, companies dumping into streams will have their effluent's estrogen levels regularly monitored. More funding to allow studies of potentially damaged areas would be helpful. As well as for research in how to best remediate the problem once it has been detected.

As a Christian, what concerns you most about this issue?
There is an aspect to Christianity that has gone long unattended, something that I'll refer to as creation spirituality. Thoreau said that "with a keen awareness of the natural world one could find truth". God has created all things and declared them "good" (even "very good"). We've abandoned the a sense of "creation spirituality" from our spiritual walks, so it's little wonder that people return to older religions in an effort to reclaim it.

One of the lessons from the Genesis account of creation is that we were created to be stewards of creation. Yet, we've lost our connection with creation, continuing to develop new ways to either insulate ourselves from it or encroach our brand of civilization into it. Our souls are starved for God's creation; being an environmentalist could be considered spiritual work (and I'll continue to point out that Environmentalism wasn't made into a moral issue in any recent elections).

All spiritual people should enjoy God's creation, embracing it the way God intended for us. We need to recover the mystical part of spirituality, learning to exist in harmony with God, others, and creation.