Alert: what our sperm tell us about the future of the human race

Something alarming is happening between our legs.

The the number of sperm cells is decreasingChildren develop more genital abnormalitiesHave more girls early pubertyAnd grown women seem like one decrease in the quality of your eggs and more abortions

And this doesn’t just happen to humans. Scientists report that there are genetic abnormalities in different species, like unusually small penises in it crocodiles otters Y visonesIn some areas, significant numbers of fish, frogs, and turtles have both female and male sex organs.

Four years ago, a leading scientist in reproductive health, Shanna H. Swan, calculated that, from 1973 to 2011, the sperm count in the average Western man was down 59 percentIt was inevitable that headlines would appear on the “Spermageddon“And the risk of people disappearing, but then other glowing objects diverted our attention.

Now Swan, a public health researcher at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, has written a book, “Countdown”, Which will be on sale from Tuesday and will sound an alarm. The subtitle is powerful: “How our modern world is affecting sperm count, changing the reproductive development of men and women, and endangering the future of the human race

Swan and other experts say the problem is called a class of chemicals endocrine changers, which mimic the body’s hormones and therefore trick our cells. This is a serious problem for fetuses as sexual differentiation occurs early in the pregnancy period. The endocrine changers they can wreak havoc on reproduction.

These endocrine alterers they are everywhere: plastics, shampoos, cosmetics, pesticides, canned food, and ATMsOften times they are not even mentioned on the labels and can be difficult to avoid.

In a way, the decline in sperm count is similar to the state of global warming 40 years ago“, to write SwanThe climate crisis is – at least by most people – accepted as a real threat. I hope the same will happen to this crisis looming over us

Chemical companies are just as reckless as tobacco companies were a generation ago or opioid companies a decade agoThey put pressure on not even performing safety tests on the endocrine changersSo we don’t really know if the products we use every day are harmful to our body or children. We are all guinea pigs.

In addition to the decrease in sperm count, there are others that appear to be defective – there is an increase in double headed sperm– while others swim in circles instead of quickly looking for an egg. And guys more exposed to a type of endocrine disruptor called phthalates have smaller penises., he found Swan

Many doubts remain, research is sometimes contradictory and biological pathways are not always clear. There are various theories as to whether the drop in sperm count is real and what could be the cause, and why girls seem to enter puberty earlier. and sometimes it is not clear whether the increase in male genital abnormalities reflects an actual increase or, conversely, a greater availability of data

Either way, the Endocrine Society, the Association for Pediatric Endocrinology, the Presidential Cancer Panel, and the World Health Organisation have warned endocrine changers, Y Europe Y Canada they have begun to regulate them. But in U.S, the Congress and the government of Trump they apparently listened to industry lobbyists more than independent scientists.

Patricia Ann Hunt, reproductive geneticist of the Washington State University, has conducted experiments with mice that demonstrate the impact of endocrine changers it is cumulative, from generation to generation. When lactating mice were exposed to endocrine-disrupting chemicals for just a few days, your adult testicles produced less sperm, and this disability was passed on to their descendants. While the results of animal studies do not necessarily apply to humans, after three generations of exposure to these compounds, one fifth of male mice were infertile.

I find this especially concerninghe told me HuntFrom the point of view of human exposures, you could say that we are now more or less in the third generation

What does this mean for the future of humanity?

I don’t see people dying out, but I do see family members ending up in front of a subset of people who are infertile.he told me Andrea Gore, professor of neuroendocrinology at the University of Texas, campus AustinPeople with a reduced sperm count or egg quality cannot exercise their right to decide to have a child. That may not destroy our species, but it sure is devastating to those sterile couples.

More research is needed, and government regulation and corporate social responsibility are critical to managing risk, but Swan offers practical suggestions for the daily practice of those who have the options. Store food in glasses, not plastic containers. In particular, do not put food in the microwave in plastic or cover it with this material.Avoid pesticides. If you can buy organic foodsAvoid the tobacco o la marijuanaUse a cotton or linen shower curtain, not vinyl. Do not use flavorings. Prevent dust from building up in your home. View the consumer products you use with an online guide like the one on Environment Working Group (EWG, for the acronym in English).

Many of the issues that are making headlines today won’t be much more important in a decade, let alone a century. Climate change is an exception, and another could pose risks to our ability to reproduce.

The paradigm of a “low blow” is a kick in the cross. And that, friends, may be what we do to ourselves as a species.

(C) The New York Times. –

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