RFK wants to remove chemicals in water because it's impacting the sexuality of children

Question

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a history of repeatedly sharing unfounded conspiracies that man-made chemicals in the environment could be making children gay or transgender and causing the feminization of boys and masculinization of girls.

Answer 1

The claim that RFK Jr. wants to remove man-made chemicals in water is true, and the article does support that claim. However, the more important topic is the sub-claim, which is whether or not chemicals in water affects children's sexuality.

While there is proof that EDCs, or endocrine disrupting chemicals, do have an affect on children's hormone levels, and can slightly alter them, there are so many factors to consider. There needs to be more information on concentrations of EDCs in water sources, and to what extent alterations even occur. Lastly, this study also says that parental behaviors influence the effect, so does a low concentration of inevitable EDCs actually do anything?

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0149763420306527

Comments

I would love to see more evidence into how the claim that RFK Jr. wants to remove man-made chemicals in water is true. This fact is somewhat glossed over in the answer, as it is the title of the article. However upon further research, this claim does appear to be true as multiple other news articles published a similar article, one with a direct quote from RFK Jr. of “And so the capacity for these chemicals that we are just raining down on our children right now to induce these very profound sexual changes in them is something we need to be thinking about as a society,”(https://kesq.com/news/national-politics/cnn-us-politics/2023/07/13/robert-f-kennedy-jr-repeatedly-suggested-that-chemicals-in-water-are-impacting-sexuality-of-children/)

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I believe your answer is correct in assuming the real topic is the actuality of chemicals in the water. However, I believe that it would be stronger as an answer to state your sources by backing them up through more extensive research and instituting how you can incorporate that further instead of namedropping a website. Overall,  a good answer but could improve through a few small changes.

Answer 2

According to the article provided by CNN, this is a statement that RFK Jr. does confidently stand with. However, there has been research done that debunks his theory. It is important to know just because it is coming from someone of higher power, does not make it true. The research that been been done shows when male frogs intake Atrazine they turn into females, this is the research that RFK Jr. has to back up his claim. He suggests if it happens to frogs, it can also happen to humans. Dr. Andrea Core of UT Austin said that it is not possible to have the sex of a human changed after they are conceived (2023). Per the CDC, "One of the primary ways that atrazine can affect your health is by altering the way that the reproductive system works" (CDC, 2024). This same article also states that this is as it is seen in animals, not humans. Due to biological differences between humans and animals, there is a high possibility it may not be the same case for us. Overall, it is true that this is what RFK Jr. himself has said, but that does not make it true. Research has been done to deny this and show the public they are not at risk in such a way.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/13/politics/robert-kennedy-jr-chemicals-water-children-frogs/index.html

https://wwwn.cdc.gov/TSP/PHS/PHS.aspx?phsid=336&toxid=59

Comments

Thank you for this answer, this is very well researched and I am glad that your comment does talk about how RFK's claim of water impacting the sexuality of kids, as that was an important part of the claim to identify and prove wrong. Also, this claim orginated by preacher Ron Peri who claimed that the water was full of estrogen that made children gay: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/desantis-disney-appointee-tap-water-turning-people-gay-1234690629/, while RFK has had support for this claim it seems he is more focused on the flouride rather than estrogen;https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fluoride-in-water-health/

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This is a solid fact check because not only do you source RFK Jr.'s statement as true but also break down the sub claim of "man-made chemicals in the environment could be making children gay or transgender and causing the feminization of boys and masculinization of girls" as false as sourced by the CDC.