A new review of hundreds of studies has pinpointed a ‘canary in a coal mine’ that not only affects men’s health today, but also future generations of humans and our ability to create them. The results of the study are alarming. Sperm counts are declining rapidly, and there is no indication that it will slow down. We’ve already covered how some popular foods contain a chemical ingredient that is linked to infertility in men and how it’s estimated that certain chemicals are linked to a $340 BILLION per year loss in health care expenses and productivity. Here is an additional study that demonstrates how serious endocrine disrupting chemicals potentially are.
Alarmingly, sperm counts have fallen nearly 60 percent among men since the early 1970s. Sperm concentration has fallen almost as much in the same populations. Declining sperm counts were first reported in the early ’90s, when they realized there had been a considerable drop in previous decades. This review is the first conclusive study to track the decline over time.
The Study of Sperm Decline in the Western World
The review, Temporal trends in sperm count: a systematic review and meta-regression analysis, was published in the journal Human Reproduction Update. The review was conducted by Hebrew University-Hadassah Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Researchers conducted a meta-regression analysis of over 7,000 studies. They then pulled together 185 different studies that reported primary data on human sperm count. It took estimates of sperm counts and total sperm counts from 42,935 men that had been involved in those studies. They also took information about all of the subjects. This information included whether they had been selected for their fertility, location, age and abstinence time before collection.
This data was pooled into two separate groups. The first group included those who had been proven fertile through parenthood or fathering a pregnancy. The second group included those who had not been proven fertile by a pregnancy (but were not necessarily infertile). The researchers first looked at men living in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. They found that these men had decreasing sperm counts and sperm concentration throughout the time period covered by the research. Men from non-Western areas such as South America, Africa, and Asia did not show the same decline.
What Chemicals Affect Sperm Count?
The review noted several reasons for sperm count decreases, including being exposed to endocrine disruptors, pesticides, diet, stress, and smoking. For example, endocrine disruptors, specifically phthalates, may affect embryo quality, causing more birth defects and infant loss. Unfortunately, they are prevalent and consistent in plastics, hygiene products, and food. And they have been found in men’s personal care products and even in popular mac n’ cheese products.
Other chemicals are suspected as well. Another toxic endocrine disruptor, PFAS (per- and poly fluoroalkyl substances), can be found in food containers and fast food wrappers, as well as non-stick cooking pans. And pesticides can also affect men’s health, whether they are exposed to them by working with them or through diet, where the majority of Americans’ exposure comes from.
The review also found evidence showing that the sperm count decrease could be passed along genetically. This would mean that babies may be born already affected.
What Does This All Mean for Your Family
The report states that this is an indicator for future health problems unless the trends change. As they say in the report, “Thus, a decline in sperm count might be considered as a ‘canary in the coal mine’ for male health across the lifespan. Our report of a continuing and robust decline should, therefore, trigger research into its causes, aiming for prevention.”
The report findings were discovered to be consistent with reported trends in other male reproductive health indicators. These include testicular germ cell tumors, cryptorchidism, the onset of male puberty and overall testosterone levels.
Male infertility is also a burden to the relationships and finances of couples struggling to create a family. The decline in sperm count without any leveling off means that even more problems with fertility are expected. One in ten couples currently struggles with fertility. Male infertility accounts for almost half the issues of couples struggling to get pregnant.
Project leader Dr. Hagai Levine stated concern about the future if certain changes were not made to current modern aspects. These changes include everything from unhealthy lifestyles to exposure to chemicals. “Eventually, we may have a problem, and with reproduction in general, and it may be the extinction of the human species,” he told the BBC.
Levine is head of the Environmental Health Track at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Jerusalem. He worked with Dr. Shanna H. Swan, Professor in the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York. An international team of researchers from Brazil, Denmark, Israel, Spain and the U.S. participated in the study.
How To Avoid Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals
These are some of our top tips for avoiding the dangers of endocrine disruptors in your home to safeguard the health and fertility of the men in your life. Please note that these suggestions would also be relevant for all women as well to avoid endocrine disrupting chemicals.
- Buy personal care, bath and beauty products that are free of triclosan, parabens and phthalates.
- Buy furniture that is free of flame-retardants.
- Avoid toxic fragrances in your bath and beauty products.
- Eliminate plastic containers and other products from your kitchen.
- Use safe stainless steel water bottles.
- Switch to organic lawn care solutions.
- Purchase seafood with caution.
- Eliminate canned foods from your pantry.
- Use a high-quality water filtration system.
- Use natural cleaning solutions for cleaning and laundry, such as apple cider vinegar, baking soda and lemon juice.
- Trim the fat off your cuts of meat and eat low or nonfat dairy because toxins are stored in animal fat
How does this study make you feel? Are you concerned about what is happening to the human race? Do you think endocrine disrupting chemicals are to blame? Share with us your thoughts.
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Indeed, for more health-related factors, you find that most factors affecting the volume of sperm produced by a man will also be linked to the available levels of testosterone. Testosterone is a very important hormone in men. It determines how much a man will be driven to want sex, how much muscle mass they have and how energetic they will grow to be. Here is a list of foods that boosts testosterone: http://potencyup.com/foods-that-boost-and-kill-testosterone-natural-diets-to-promote-sexual-health/. This is one of the factors that you can definitely influence.
So, man up!
Thanks for a really helpful article!
That’s scary news. Infertility till now has been attributed to smoking, alcohol and stress..but guess men now have more things to worry about 🙁
You state low or non-fat milk. Don’t we the’ get into higher sugar content? I guess one is better of of the two evils? This really is upsetting. I know of so many struggling with infertility issues.
Not this DUDE! I’m good!
Don’t kill me but in the bigger scope of things- isn’t this a good thing? Our world is overpopulated and it’d be great if everyone decreased the number of people we have in the world.
Deborah – why would western men and their lowering sperm counts be a GOOD thing? The article states that South America, Asia, and Africa do not experience this trend amongst their men…so this means that western males are walking towards the cliff of de-populizing themselves and the remaining world factions continue to multiply. Do you want to live in a world run like how Africa or the South American countries are governed? Do you want to live in a world full of the savagery that tradtionally is experienced in sub-equator cultures? Do you want to be completely outnumbered by people whom do not share the values of mutual respect and freedom that our western cultures hold? How can you be so single-minded to assume that a lower sperm count is a “good thing”…how do you plan to reinstate a regular sperm count when we are UNDERPOPULATED? Have you ever thought beyond the end of your nose? Good golly.
I am sorry if I sound rude or dismissive or whatever, but I am certain that other readers would agree with me in saying that your response was uncalled for. You made wild presumptuous claims of what amounted to extremely unlikely outcomes if western men’s sperm counts continue to decline, and you added in some insulting language as well.
Your response to Deborah’s comment reeks of western white male elitism. And this is coming from a white male from America, so my perspective is in no biased due to my race, gender, country of origin, etc.
I don’t necessarily agree with all of what Deborah said in her comment, but I am sure not going to spout off some rude insulting comment that made claims that are flat out not true.
To be specific you make a reference to “a world full of the savagery that traditionally is experienced in sub-equator cultures” and go on to refer to “people whom do not share the values of mutual respect and freedom that our western cultures hold”. What countries specifically were you referring to? Were you referring to all nations of the world that are “sub-equator”, as you put it? So I assume you are including the likes of Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, Peru, South Africa, Indonesia, and Brazil since those countries are south of the equator? What are you basing your assumptions on regarding them not sharing our western values of mutual respect and freedom on?
I am no expert in geopolitics and I am not claiming any expert knowledge of the economic situations of those countries, but from what I understand to be true all of those countries are doing rather well and have made steady a solid gains towards a high standard of living for their populations. Australia and New Zealand are obviously doing well, as is Brazil and Indonesia. And the other countries I mentioned
are also experiencing a relatively high overall standard of living. In fact most, if not all of them do in fact share most western value sets and are just as free as we are here in America, if not more so.
This is readily apparent and understandable when you view these nations for what they are (and also what America/Canada are): relics of colonialism with strong ties to European nations and European religious practices (Catholicism for the South American countries and other Christian faiths for South Africa, Australia, New Zealand). So when viewed as such, those nations that you spoke so harshly about are really not that different than North American culture or European cultures. So your argument holds no weight and is therefore unfounded in anything but your own bigotry and prejudice.
I feel bad for you man, and I only hope that you can experience a sub equator country firsthand to see just how much “savagery” really does take place. I can assure you that you will see that there we are much more similar than we are different. All humans around the world are vastly similar and want similar things, so next time you want to comment, please check your prejudice and privilege at the door. Thanks and take care!
**BTW I want to say sorry to both Deborah and the author of this article for getting into stuff that is not relevant to the article or the comment thread overall. I just can’t help myself when people say things that are so full of bigotry and hatred and divisiveness…. Anyways, it was an interesting article and is making me question chemical exposures and wonder just how safe many things are that I formerly used without second thought.