General Practitioner and Endocrinologist. She’s been the Women’s Health and Life Quality program director since 1988 via CAPS (Center of Analisis and Health Programs), which focuses on research and education regarding health, women, and gender from an integrative, disciplinary perspective since 1990. She’s taught various Masters programs and postgraduate classes on gender. She’s formed a Network of Medical Professionals in Spain, RED CAPS. She’s the author of various publications and books, the most recent ones being Health and the Environment: New Risks for Men and Women (Catedra 2018) and Invisible Women in Medicine (Captan Swing 2020). She’s been awarded numerous awards and recognitions throughout her career. “Women store more fat in their bodies. Women have 15-20﹪ more fat cells than men do.” “Dioxins are emitted from incinerators and alter all hormonal axes.” “I think the female body has been forgotten about in research.” “People have to constantly demand that politicians watch over the quality of the environment.” “Follow-up research of complex cases is rarely done, but it should be done in epidemiology.” “There should be regular monitoring of air quality, water quality, and food quality. The findings should be published with full transparency.”
What’s the relationship between the environment, health, and women?
It’s a very close relationship, because the current environment contains a lot of DDT insecticides in the air, water, leftover food, and other products connected to gas combustion.This has been happening since 1945 when the use of DDT insecticides began. These things go into peoples’ bodies and effect estrogen, above all, which is the predominant hormone in females. So these products that have existed in the environment since 1945 have been labeled by the WHO as endocrine disruptors as of 2012.
Do you think that the female body is more vulnerable to contaminating agents?
In principle, yes. These products I’ve mentioned are stored in fat cells of an organism, and women have 15-20% more fat cells than men do. This is because women have to sustain life if they have children. They have to produce milk and lactation requires a certain percentage more of fat cells than what a man needs. Women have a great accumulation of biological entities that are stored in fat, which are called liposoluble products. Estos productos que te he citado, liposolubles, tanto disolventes como los insecticidas, como los derivados de la combustión de gasolina, como algunos otros productos que están en cosméticos como los parabenos, tienen efectos directamente sobre el cáncer de mama, son efectos estrogénicos. It affects men too, because men naturally have testosterone as a predominant hormone with a bit of estrogen in the adrenals, but mostly they have testosterone. The environment is generally full of feminine disruptors that also affect men. Testicles can atrophy, fewer sperm cells are produced, and the chance of testicular cancer increases.
In women’s lives, these products accumulate in their bodies and present a series of problems. Changes to the menstrual cycle to name one. They’re also related to cases of obesity and diabetes and changes in thyroid functioning. Not all disruptors strictly affect estrogen. Some also alter thyroid function, adrenal function, and some alter everything, such as dioxins. Dioxins are emitted from incinerators and alter all hormonal axes.
Do you think the impact of climate change affects women more than men?
Climate change as well as temperature change and ocean acidification, changes caused by the greenhouse effect, the excess of carbon dioxide in the earth. All of those things are affecting women in a different way. Another influence lies in developed industrial societies, which have urban zones with a high atmospheric pollution index, which has a greater effect on women that live in urban areas. Then there’s climate change in general, in the world, which also affects women morebecause in non-urban areas there’s an increase in desertification of land, water loss, which endangers the survival of women that work in the fields. In Sub-Saharan Africa, they have to go further and further to search for water. Women grow crops and men hunt game, so climate change in various parts of the rural landscape has a greater effect on women who are poorer, who are less fortunate, more vulnerable, independently of the heat itself. Heat, affects water quality and without water infectious diseases increase, which affects both sexes equally. Diseases that are increasing due to overcrowding and climate change effect both sexes, more-so affecting women that live off the land.
“Diseases that are increasing due to overcrowding and climate change effect both sexes, more-so affecting women that live off the land.”
Carme Valls i Llobet
Do you think there’s still much to investigate about the environment and the female body?
Yes, I think the female body has been forgotten in research. Years ago, when they were studying the effects of lead in the human body, they were only studying men. There were women living near welding sites, but they never appeared in those research studies. Regarding the relationship between the environment and health, there’s been an effort to study all sexes and over time there’s been an increase in research about that. For example, there’s an article from Instituto Carlos III about the effects of incineration five kilometers away from an incinerator, where there’s an increase in various types of cancer. That study was done on men and women, which I commend the researchers for. There are alterations that affect life quality and those alterations haven’t been studied. The municipality of Seseña is a good example, where they burn tires in a warehouse. They warn the people to close their windows so they don’t suffer lung damage, but, no one is following what’s happened a month after the fact, or the next month, with respect to womens’ menstrual cycles in Seseña. Not with younger girls either. There are example in scientific literature, such as Seveso, Italy. An herbicide factory exploded, dispersing a lot of dioxins into the air. The following year, no boys were born in the area, only girls, it caused a change in conception. Fourteen years later, there’s been three times the amount of endometriosis in that group of girls than in the rest of the population. In this case, they did do a follow up study by sex. Follow-up research of complex cases is rarely done, but it should be done in epidemiology. We have to study populations and see what happens when they’re exposed to more environmental contaminants. That’s been studied very little. I’ve studied how the menstrual cycle is altered in working women who have been exposed to insecticides in the workplace. It causes short-term and long-term changes to the menstrual cycle as well as breast tumors, etc.
“We have to study populations and see what happens when they’re exposed to more environmental contaminants. That’s been studied very little.”
Carme Valls i Llobet
How many contaminating agents are we exposed to daily?
I can’t give you a number because it’s very high. I don’t know. Many, because although the water we drink is potable in terms of bacteria, that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have endocrine disruptors, because that’s not being filtered out. The air we breathe isn’t being filtered for carbon dioxide, lead derivatives from cars, etc. We’re surrounded by water, air, and food that have remnants of insecticides. With respect to that, there’s a notice from Ecologists in Action that was released a week ago, showing that 38% of food contains insecticide products, and that only 1% could be dangerous, according to the Ministry of Health. For example, they’ve found 20 different insecticides in strawberries. All together, they add up. So, studying them one by one, which is how they’re studied, we know that many insecticides have effects on our health. Quantifying contaminants is a job concerning public health and health vigilence. Now everyone is monitoring COVID, but not other things, you have to monitor chemicals in a population. It’s the responsibility of political authorities to monitor public health, how many insecticides there are, and how many contaminants.
“It’s the responsibility of political authorities to monitor public health, how many insecticides there are, and how many contaminants.” “We’re surrounded by water, air, and food that have remnants of insecticides.”
Carme Valls i Llobet
What would you propose as an objective to slow the environmental consequences on our health?
There should be regular monitoring of air quality, water quality, and food quality. The findings should be published with full transparency. I think that would wake everyone else up as well. For example, polluting the water less, the mentality that we have to all make sure that the quality of water, air, and basic food doesn’t worsen. Using fewer electric cars, not consuming fossil fuels in order to improve atmosphere emissions and improving water quality. In my book “Health and the Environment: New Risks for Men and Women” I’ve given concrete measures so that people remember to reduce water pollution, air pollution, and food pollution, and the other effects that political authorities have to take into account. Continued vigilence is a job for the Public Agency of Health, sometimes it’s thought that the average citizen doesn’t care about this and we have to raise awareness. People have to constantly demand that politicians watch over the quality of the environment and share the results. Now in some newspapers they’re publishing the corresponding contamination for CO2 and nitrogen. These numbers should be read using the Ibex 35 index. Citizens have to demand this monitorization, and if that’s not a value then things need to be changed. Changes in circulation, schedules, changes in filtering. Wake the people up, explain what’s happening. I really believe in the sharing of results with the people regarding the work we do in research, etc.
Do you think adverse contamination-related effects on health are a silent pandemic around the world?
Yes, the effect these products can have has gone unnoticed. First of all, in infant health, in child development from the moment of conception, like the case I mentioned in Seveso, Italy. An estrogenic environment greatly affected public health, no males were born. The health of infants is affected because brain development is lessened, the testicles are atrophied from the moment they’re conceived. The females have a greater occurence of polycystic ovary syndrome if their parents were exposed. There’s a lower birth weight in places where there’s greater water and air contamination. This has been confirmed in Vancouver and Holland. Vancouver has cleaner air and you see the difference. This is all a pandemic of premature babies with birth alterations and no one is placing importance on it. These children start their lives on the wrong foot because these things effect them for their entire lives. Second of all, these products have an effect on breast cancer, which grows in industrial socieities, pancreatic cancer which is linked to the environment and people who have altered menstrual cycles. We didn’t understand why there was poor ovulation. Now we know that there’s an amount of estrogen in the environment which enters into womens’ bodies, foreign estrogen, which alters the cycle and causes menorrhagia (heavy periods). Menstruation and menopause start earlier, which increases the risk of post-menopausal breast cancer. So we find ourselves with a series of problems that are true pandemics and are rarely linked to climate change and health, the effect and cause. And they’re very closely related.
In the near future, will you be surprising us with any new projects?
I have two clear objectives. I want to create a school to learn about topics regarding women and health for health professionals, doctors, psychologists, and nurses who have been following me and have been asking to learn more. I think it’s time to pass this compiled information on to other professionals. It’s been worked on for years. I also think it’s necessary to create a school of health and resources for everyday living for everyday citizens. Those are my two objectives, I’ve been working on them via the Center of Analysis and CAPS Health Programs. At CAPS, we’re revamping the web page and we want to have a lot of contact with everyday people. We want there to be a connection of networks that are working with these topics. This information helps with professional development. The more truthful information there is, the more prepared we’ll be. There’s more and more information every day, there’s been a very interesting change in science and many researchers have incorporated this need to study the relationship between the environment and health. However, there is a void in how this science is being incorporated regarding the difference between men and women and the environment and how this affects our health. This doesn’t lie in the scientific heart of universities. It’s not being taught well. In terms of these projects, I’m not working alone. We have a network of professionals throughout Spain and together we can make a difference with this school of morbidity. The school of morbidity is more for professionals, but the school of women and health would be better for womens’ associations, etc.
“There’s a void in how science is being incorporated regarding the difference between men and women and the environment.” This doesn’t lie in the scientific heart of universities.”
Carme Valls i Llobet
Translator: Zach Beacher