Male fertility is weakening
Researcher blames chemicals, pollutants for disrupting hormones in animals and humans.
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Bill Scanlon / Scripps Howard News Service
Herbicides, other chemicals and pollution over half a century have weakened the reproductive capacity of males -- be they frogs, horses or humans, a Colorado State University researcher says.
Sperm counts are dropping about 1 percent a year, testicular cancer in young men has tripled in 50 years, and male frogs aren't developing the voice boxes they need to attract mates.
Exposure to chemicals in products from pesticides to nail polish "can do permanent damage," particularly if the male is exposed in the womb, as a newborn or as an adolescent, said Rao Veeramachaneni, a biomedical sciences professor at CSU's College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
He points to the post-World War II boom in the use of chemicals and fertilizers as the beginning of the troubles for males in the Western world and across the planet.
Some of the chemicals can survive for 30-40 years, polluting rivers, lakes and groundwater, he noted.
When swallowed, the chemicals can attach to receptors in the body that help hormones do their jobs. The chemicals can block actual hormones from attaching, they can mimic real hormones -- causing confusion in the male body -- or they can block the production of natural hormones.
Chemicals known as phthalates, used in cosmetics, upholstery, drugs and other products, are found in human urine, blood and breast milk, especially in the developed world, Veeramachaneni said.
The use of DDT to help combat a resurgence of malaria in Africa has been associated with testicular cancer and infertility in wildlife there, he said.
Veeramachaneni and associate Carol Moeller used electron microscopic studies to show that when human sperm is exposed to seemingly innocuous chemicals it can become malformed or dysfunctional.
Noting that a third of the U.S. male population reports erectile dysfunction, Veeramachaneni is exploring a possible link with a fungicide commonly used in farming, vinclozolin.
In lab tests, he and researcher Jennifer Palmer found that some male offspring of animals exposed to the chemical during pregnancy displayed a complete lack of interest in females of the species.
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