A local environmental group is inviting residents to hear from a doctor studying the impacts of chemicals released into the environment. Peoria Families Against Toxic Waste is sponsoring the free presentation by Dr. Paul Winchester.
Dr. Winchester is a professor of pediatrics and neonatology at the Indiana University School of Medicine. His research on animals has found chemicals like pesticides can imprint on the DNA of a fetus that can cause diseases like cancer and heart disease later in life. The research suggests the imprint can also be inherited and passed on to other generations. Dr. Winchester says this could be more detrimental to the human race than global warming.
“If we discover in humans what is implied in animals, we are already on an extinction trajectory. That’s pretty big important news. And that would happen in this very subtle, silent, nefarious, gradual reduction in sperm counts, gradual reduction in the number of eggs you ovulate and fewer numbers of women for fertility. And so while we’re arguing about whether to start another coal-fired power plant in your county, there won’t be anyone to see it.”
Dr. Winchester says substantiating the animal based research in humans could redefine the way medical professionals look at diseases. He’s speaking at 6:30 Thursday night at the Universalist Unitarian Church in Peoria.