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I watched a French/German documentary last night, Mâles en péril on Arte.
It made a number of scientific statements, with a small amount of journalistic exaggeration.
Quoting scientists from Denmark, the UK and USA, it would seem that, over the past 50 years, the sperm motility and count in humans and other species have diminished considerably. This seems incontestable. The cause has been hotly contested, but it now seems reasonably certain that the cause is related to endocrine changes in the mother in the early stages of pregnancy, due to pollutants. One such pollutant is a range of phthalates, present as a plasticiser in PE and in many cosmetics including hand/body creams etc. Other substances examined were various organics, such as bisphenol A, herbicides, pesticides etc., all of them being endocrine modifiers capable of feminising male foetuses to some extent.
One study that was conducted in the US was to compare the sperm motility and count from men in large (NYC and LA) cities and small ones, on the basis that exposure to phthalates by pregnant women would be higher in the large cities than in the small ones. Statistically valid epidemiological studies showed exactly the opposite. Blood analyses did not explain it as the phthalate and bisphenol A levels in small city women were lower. This posed a big problem.
Now for the crunch. It was found that inner small city women had very small (harmless levels) of various agrochemicals in their blood that the large city counterparts did not have, with the implication that crop spraying mist may have reached there in minute quantities. Researchers therefore fed about-to-be-pregnant lab animals on a cocktail of phtalates, herbicides and insecticides at various doses and found that the male progeniture presented various genital anomalies. Most important was that deemed harmless amounts of each chemical, checked by controls, when mixed in a cocktail, had a very marked increased effect. As they said in the programme 0+0+0=7!
Obviously, this is a very brief condensed summary of a 55 minute documentary, with extracts available at http://www.arte.tv/fr/accueil/Males-...l/2283996.html (French) and http://www.arte.tv/de/accueil/Males-...l/2283996.html (German). The conclusion was that there is a distinct and increasing problem of male infertility and nothing can be done about it, in the short term, because of the generation gap between cause and effect.
It made a number of scientific statements, with a small amount of journalistic exaggeration.
Quoting scientists from Denmark, the UK and USA, it would seem that, over the past 50 years, the sperm motility and count in humans and other species have diminished considerably. This seems incontestable. The cause has been hotly contested, but it now seems reasonably certain that the cause is related to endocrine changes in the mother in the early stages of pregnancy, due to pollutants. One such pollutant is a range of phthalates, present as a plasticiser in PE and in many cosmetics including hand/body creams etc. Other substances examined were various organics, such as bisphenol A, herbicides, pesticides etc., all of them being endocrine modifiers capable of feminising male foetuses to some extent.
One study that was conducted in the US was to compare the sperm motility and count from men in large (NYC and LA) cities and small ones, on the basis that exposure to phthalates by pregnant women would be higher in the large cities than in the small ones. Statistically valid epidemiological studies showed exactly the opposite. Blood analyses did not explain it as the phthalate and bisphenol A levels in small city women were lower. This posed a big problem.
Now for the crunch. It was found that inner small city women had very small (harmless levels) of various agrochemicals in their blood that the large city counterparts did not have, with the implication that crop spraying mist may have reached there in minute quantities. Researchers therefore fed about-to-be-pregnant lab animals on a cocktail of phtalates, herbicides and insecticides at various doses and found that the male progeniture presented various genital anomalies. Most important was that deemed harmless amounts of each chemical, checked by controls, when mixed in a cocktail, had a very marked increased effect. As they said in the programme 0+0+0=7!
Obviously, this is a very brief condensed summary of a 55 minute documentary, with extracts available at http://www.arte.tv/fr/accueil/Males-...l/2283996.html (French) and http://www.arte.tv/de/accueil/Males-...l/2283996.html (German). The conclusion was that there is a distinct and increasing problem of male infertility and nothing can be done about it, in the short term, because of the generation gap between cause and effect.
C'mon, it's a cult SciFi comedy! 
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