Fertility crisis: Is modern life making men infertile? - BBC REEL

We all know man-made chemicals are damaging ecosystems across the planet. But could certain chemicals also be negatively affecting human fertility?

Dr Shanna Swan, an environmental and reproductive epidemiologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and the author of Count Down, predicts that current trends could not continue much longer without threatening human survival.

Video by Izabela Cardoso & Fernando Teixeira
Executive Producer: Camelia Sadeghzadeh

#bbcreel #bbc #bbcnews

[jeffmorse]

I'm old enough to remember the late 1960s and 1970s as a kid. Plastic wasn't nearly as ubiquitous in packaging as it is now. Glass and metal were much more used in personal care products and grocery items. Even in the produce section there were small paper bags to put the items in. Meat was wrapped by the butcher in white paper. Things like cereal, snacks, candy, etc... were in waxed paper liners. In the late 70s and 80s all that disappeared for the most part in favor of plastic. Not only is it a major source of damage to the environment its damaging to our health.

[free]

What strikes me is that these chemicals are inescapable. You can’t just move out to the country, go off grid, and live in a more rural community to escape because the pesticide levels in those areas are likely higher than those in urban areas. It’s really depressing, actually.

[erwinschmied]

Stress kills, modern society causes many health problems. Stress and anxiety that are constant can cause many health problems, including cancer.

[blotski]

This is a common problem. My partner and I know of several couples of our age who have had real problems with fertility. So much so that we decided to stop using contraception soon after we got married thinking it might take years to conceive. We had a one month old baby by our first wedding anniversary. 😂 No regrets.

[ZeroOne]

Modern life sucks. There is too much going against us. Stress, Chemicals, Unhealthy food, Unhealthy lifestyle and many more.

[rimasdiaa]

Stress needs to be addressed more.. literal children are more stressed than adults back in the day

[anonymousanimal]

Another thing to remember: avoid polyester clothing if you can, especially underwear. Polyester is an almost 100% effective contraceptive for men and it is another major cause of infertility and other hormonal issues among both genders because of how common the material is among clothing, especially fast fashion. If you are wearing a polyester underwear, you are temporarily chemically castrating yourself on the short run and doing great damage to your testosterone and testicular health in the long run.

[pangushk]

I first heard of this problem was in the 90s after watching a random documentary on TV at mid night on decreasing man sperm count might link to endocrine disruption. Now we are 25 years later, we are still talking about it and not much action were seen. Although BPA is limited in the western world, PFAS is being watched, we are still not responsible enough to limit releasing untested chemicals in the environment, and leaving our offspring and the whole world vulnerable to dangerous contaminants that we had yet to found out. DDT, Arsenic in old pesticides, mercury, lead, ... the list go on and on. We do not know what price our future will be paying for our technological advances and greed today.

[MM-colf]

I think we should consider factors like stress. Today the cost of living FAR exceeds that of the 70's and 80's. It is very true that chemicals play a huge role, but the quality of life is also something that should be mentioned because that plays a large role in this crisis.

[MrsMeowMeowWoof]

I'm glad that were paying attention to men's fertility too. So much focus is always put on a woman's ability to conceive but much of the time it's a two party issue or even just a sperm concern

[HaseebKhan-onzk]

Lack of regular exercise, and people blaming their foods and plastics 🤦‍♂️

[cold_bison]

I'm surprised you're doing such a small text on screen style for this story. This is a big deal and deserves a lot more attention...

[JKRxGhost]

Look at how far we've come as humans, with our technology, science, agriculture, comfortable lifestyles. Yes we are doing great! Only one downside; there will not be future generations that can enjoy it. Either because we will not be able to create new life, or because we will have destroyed all the existing life. But doing great! Let's keep it up

[iainmackenzieUK]

Mess with nature and nature responds.
Actually, this is one of her less traumatising responses to our behaviours.

[rosekris]

The world is already overpopulated, if anything there are so many amazing children that are orphans and in the foster care system without families. Of course it’s very upsetting to not be able to have your own blood child, but if you truly can’t naturally have a child you should consider adopting!

[profoundminds_]

Imagine what these pesticides are doing to the fertility of plants & insects.

[MsSuzyG]

I don't know why more people aren't talking about this; fertility clinics are probably making so much $$$$. I know at least 10 couples who are struggling with fertility; this whole issue is so alarming!!

[debbY]

My son was born with a testicle issue that is specifically caused by exposure to BPA in utero. And I actually made an effort to avoid BPA, pesticides, and chemicals when I was pregnant.

[jlasud]

Biggest blessing for humanity would be to reach a population number under 1 billion.

[falloutglasster]

As a person who doesn't want children, I'm not necessarily concerned with this