Sperm counts continue to plummet, say researchers

Sperm counts continue to plummet, say researchers

Environmental pollution, plastic chemicals, pharmaceutical drugs, pesticides, unhealthy diets, radiation-emitting technologies -- these and many other factors are contributing to an epidemic decline in sperm counts among modern men, say researchers. According to reports, an estimated eight million US couples now have fertility problems, and about half of these cases involve men with poor sperm quality.

Today's men have much lower sperm counts than men did just 50 years ago. Before the days of agricultural chemicals, fluoride in water, and mobile phones, exposure to sperm-damaging elements and conditions was limited, hence the reason why men of old had better sperm quality than men today do. A steady increase in hormone-disrupting chemicals and other damaging factors continues to wreak havoc on male fertility, and the epidemic is only worsening.

Last year, a five-year study found that bisphenol-A (BPA), a chemical widely used in many plastic products, is responsible for destroying sperm. Another study presented at the 2006 conference of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine found that common selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant drugs can literally bring a man's sperm count to zero.

Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio found that regular cell phone use leads to a significant decline in sperm count. And a recent study out of the University Hospital San Cecilio, Granda, Spain, found that common pesticides used on food crops lead to poor quality and lowered sperm counts.

Obesity, eating junk food and drinking sodas, using a laptop on your lap, and even taking too many hot baths can also destroy sperm. Read more