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British men are less fertile than hamsters
independent UK news ^ | 3/17/02 | Geoffrey Lean and Richard Sadler

Posted on 03/16/2002 3:12:34 PM PST by anniegetyourgun

Sperm counts are falling dramatically across Britain and the rest of industrialised world, and scientists are increasingly convinced that pollution is to blame.

Studies around the world have shown that average sperm counts in men have dropped by more than half over the past 50 years – from about 160 million per millilitre of semen to 66 million.

The Medical Research Council reports that the fertility of Scottish men born since 1970 was 25 per cent less than those born in the 1950s, with sperm counts continuing to drop by two per cent a year.

Other research by the US Government's Environmental Protection Agency shows that, proportionately, a man now produce only about a third as much sperm as a hamster.

Scientists increasingly blame a whole class of hormone-disrupting chemicals. Evidence suggests that they cause cancer and damage the immune system, as well as impairing fertility. And they are ever more ubiquitous.

DDT and other pesticides disrupt hormones, as do PCBs, used in countless products worldwide, from plastics and paint to electrical equipment.

Other components of plastics have been found to leach hormone-disrupters including phthalates, which have been found in a wide range of foods including baby milk.

Furthermore, an investigation by the BBC's Countryfile and The Independent on Sunday has revealed research, to be published this month, that shows that artificial oestrogens, used in contraceptive pills and emitted through sewage works, appear to be changing the sex of half the fish in Britain's lowland rivers.

Scientists and environmentalists fear that the powerful chemicals are getting into drinking water and affecting human fertility. One third of Britain's drinking water comes from rivers; most of it is taken from below sewage works.

The Environment Agency denies that there is any danger. Water UK, which represents the water companies, says that no hormone-disrupting chemical has ever been detected in British drinking water, and that fish placed in the water to test it did not become feminised.

But some scientists say that the chemicals may not have been detected, because there is no routine testing for them in drinking water, and because the equipment used in Britain is not sensitive enough.

Research at the University of Ulm, in West Germany, using more sophisticated techniques, found small amounts in four out of every 10 samples tested. And environmentalists fear that effects in people may occur over much longer periods than those used to test the fish.

Dr Susan Jobling of Brunel University, who led the research, says: "Unlike in fish, it is going to take 20 years to see if my children have been affected by developmental exposure to this same cocktail of chemicals."


TOPICS: News/Current Events; United Kingdom
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To: uncbob
I thought these bozos were worried about overpopulation

That's what all the pollution is for!

21 posted on 03/16/2002 4:26:19 PM PST by Pistias
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To: Orion
ROTFLMAO.
22 posted on 03/16/2002 4:28:37 PM PST by weikel
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To: anniegetyourgun
...fish placed in the water to test it did not become feminised.

We've got our own Ireland - and she's had results converting both males and females...

23 posted on 03/16/2002 4:35:53 PM PST by Libloather
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To: anniegetyourgun
I can't believe no one had said it yet! "Your mother was a hamster and your father smells of elderberries!"
24 posted on 03/16/2002 4:38:45 PM PST by buccaneer81
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To: Libloather
We've got our own Ireland - and she's had results converting both males and females...

Is that Patricia Ireland or Kathy Ireland?

25 posted on 03/16/2002 4:49:02 PM PST by jimtorr
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To: pikachu
Hey, this guy can help. She might also be able to lend a hand:


26 posted on 03/16/2002 4:51:19 PM PST by Dick Bachert
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To: weikel
Seconded
27 posted on 03/16/2002 4:55:07 PM PST by pa_dweller
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To: anniegetyourgun
160 million per millilitre of semen to 66 million.

And the royal navy is decreasing too.

28 posted on 03/16/2002 5:02:26 PM PST by DainBramage
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To: pikachu
And you must remember the best of the British male gene lines were decimated during 1914-1918 and 1939-1945.

Don't forget that the settlement of the United States from the 1500s to 1800s drained GB of the adventuresome and self motivated bloodlines. They've been left with (unfortunately for the world) a bunch of Chamberlins.

29 posted on 03/16/2002 5:02:51 PM PST by Balding_Eagle
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To: DainBramage
ROFL!
30 posted on 03/16/2002 5:03:28 PM PST by anniegetyourgun
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To: Orion
Results Of Latest Study

A) The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans;

B) On the other hand, the French eat a lot of fat and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans;

C) The Japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans;

D) The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine, and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans

E) The Slovaks eat more high cholesterol and fatty foods and drink more wine and still experience fewer heat attacks than the Brits or Americans

F) Conclusion: Eat & drink whatever you like. It's speaking English that kills you.

31 posted on 03/16/2002 5:05:48 PM PST by anniegetyourgun
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To: boris
The environmentalists tried this "sperm count dropping" ploy a few years ago.

It's a completely silly theory because there's almost no country as polluted as Mexico and they have very high birth rates.

32 posted on 03/16/2002 5:24:23 PM PST by FITZ
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To: anniegetyourgun
from about 160 million per millilitre of semen to 66 million

Obviously, they're going to have to work at it harder to make up for it

33 posted on 03/16/2002 5:41:20 PM PST by SauronOfMordor
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To: anniegetyourgun
And this Freeper article goes with it, too....
'Europe has the lowest fertility rates in the world'
I was thinking, oh no, not THAT~ that just maybe God is decreasing fertility rates so the world doesn't get overpopulated? Just like HE got rid of the dinoasaurs and HE just may be getting rid of some species of animals? Maybe the "endangered species" are species God wants to get rid of on earth for HIS own reasons.... To avoid overcrowding and overpopulation? And MAYBE HE is creating Global Warming for a reason? (IF there is any such thing as Global Warming? I think it is a hoax) Just maybe GOD is in control of HIS universe and HE has Plan? I know, governments and scientists HATE it when THAT happens...
34 posted on 03/16/2002 5:49:42 PM PST by buffyt
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To: Joe Boucher
GOOD ONE! French men have all been neutered? he he Know why the French streets were always lined with trees? So the Nazi Army could march in the shade.
35 posted on 03/16/2002 5:52:16 PM PST by buffyt
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To: anniegetyourgun
Maybe, rather than pollution, it's the easier life (less physically hard work) in developed countries that reduces the count. Our higher standard of living is great, but far fewer people have to do physical work, which could be statistically significant...
36 posted on 03/16/2002 6:56:46 PM PST by Kay Ludlow
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To: anniegetyourgun
Other research by the US Government's Environmental Protection Agency shows that, proportionately, a man now produce only about a third as much sperm as a hamster.

Why aren't hamsters affected by the pollution. There was more pollution in 1950 than 1970.

37 posted on 03/16/2002 7:04:04 PM PST by Kermit
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To: buffyt
That's good, I like that one.
38 posted on 03/16/2002 7:09:31 PM PST by Joe Boucher
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To: Joe Boucher
MANHOOD.........Use it or lose it
39 posted on 03/16/2002 7:58:10 PM PST by SouthernFreebird
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To: anniegetyourgun
Typical. They find something they can't explain and blame it on pollution. With no proof. I bet they can get a better correlation with size of governments.
40 posted on 03/17/2002 1:28:28 AM PST by The Raven
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