More than a woman’s issue: Male infertility is a growing crisis

The statistics are staggering, and it feels like no one’s talking about it: While it might seem like most of the attention around infertility is focused on women, men are found to contribute to almost 50% of all cases of infertility.

And exposure to environmental toxins is a major cause.

Recent research has shown that everyday toxins in the environment are greatly impacting male fertility by reducing sperm quantity and quality, sending testosterone levels plummeting and having drastic effects on men’s sex drive. Add to that, another cause for alarm: The same environmental toxins are also disrupting the reproductive development of baby boys in the womb, resulting in smaller penises and testicles.

In a 2017 meta-analysis of 185 studies, Dr. Shanna Swan, a reproductive epidemiologist at Mount Sinai, and a team of researchers discovered a 50% decrease in male fertility rates from 1973-2010. They found that among nearly 43,000 men in North America, Europe, New Zealand, and Australia, sperm counts decreased from 99 million sperm per milliliter of semen in 1973 to 47 million per milliliter in 2011.

This means, on average, a man today is producing half the sperm as did his grandfather nearly 40 years ago.

The link between plastics and male infertility

So what’s changed since the 1970s to account for this drastic decline in sperm production? Global plastics production has increased over 900%, and with it, our exposure to the chemicals used to make them.

Plastics contain chemicals that are toxic to humans. Called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), these toxins are phthalates, BPA (bisphenol A) and other bisphenols. These chemicals are added to plastics during manufacturing to make them harder or softer, transparent, and durable. These toxins are literally everywhere and never fully break down, remaining in the environment and people for decades. Found in an estimated 99% of all Americans, PFAS enter your body through what you eat, drink, touch and breathe.

There are many different toxins in our environment, but PFAS are directly linked to male infertility.

PFAS are endocrine disruptors (EDCs) that can interfere with male reproductive function. When absorbed in the body, EDCs can decrease or increase normal hormone levels, mimic the body’s natural hormones, or alter the natural production of hormones, resulting in lower sperm count and motility, and lower amount and quality of semen.

Unfortunately, the impact of EDCs is cumulative. Generation after generation, PFAS can change the way genes are expressed, which can be inherited. This means that a father can pass along his low sperm count to a son, whose sperm count drops even lower after being exposed to endocrine disruptors.

How to reduce PFAS exposure

Many products marketed to men contain PFAS—and they can exist everywhere from food to water bottles to store receipts. But you can begin to protect your partners and sons right now by reducing their exposure to limit the effect of the toxins in their surroundings. At first, the lists below may seem daunting, but making even one small change can have an impact.

How to reduce PFAS exposure in your home

• Test your water and install a filtration system on the main water supply to your home to remove potential toxins that have entered groundwater.
• Prevent dust buildup in your home that may contain traces of toxins.
• Avoid using adhesives, lubricants, paints, varnishes and paint strippers, car cleaning products, pesticides, spot removers and rug cleaning fluids, which can all emit highly toxic chemicals.
• Skip the air fresheners and heavily perfumed products, and avoid smoke, strong chemicals, plastic smells and fumes when noticed, and air out your home often to reduce the amount of inhalable chemical particles.
• Use ‘green chemicals’ in your garden which are made of non-toxic agents to reduce pests and weeds.
• Go green in your home as well and choose products that use alternative non-toxic agents to do the job. Household products like detergents, hand sanitizers, cleaning agents, and carpet cleaners, or strong chemicals like glues, paints, and varnishes, have numerous toxic chemicals in them.

How to limit PFAS exposure from food

• Grow more of your own produce or aim to buy organic and locally grown fruit, vegetables, dairy products and meats when possible to reduce your intake of pesticides, fungicides and herbicides.
• If you don’t have access to organic produce, always wash it before eating to eliminate residual toxins.
• When possible, reduce your intake of processed, canned, pre-packaged foods to lower your exposure to compounds such as BPA, phthalates and plasticizers that often coat the inside of cans and those absorbed from plastic wrapping.
• Eat less oily fish (salmon, tuna, sardines) and fatty meats to reduce your consumption of pesticides, heavy metals and fat-soluble chemicals that can accumulate in your tissues and organs.

How to reduce PFAS exposure in food storage

• Limit the potential for plastics leaching into your food by avoiding those with the number “3” within the arrows and the letters “V” or “PVC” below the arrows—look for numbers 1,2,4 and 5 instead, as these are generally more stable.
• Drink from glass, stainless steel or hard plastic bottles—not soft plastic bottles—to avoid BPA, phthalates and other plasticizers used to make plastics in bottles clear and flexible.
• Store food in glass containers and heat with a paper towel on top to avoid phthalates, BPAs and dioxins that can easily be absorbed when heating food in plastic, especially in fatty foods.
• Avoid PTFE-based nonstick pans (like Teflon) and kitchen utensils, and opt for stainless steel or cast iron instead.

How to reduce PFAS exposure when shopping

• Always ask for sales receipts to be emailed or texted to reduce skin exposure to receipts’ shiny BPA coating.
• Choose paraben-free shaving cream, shampoos, body washes without “PTFE” or “Fluoro” ingredients.
• Be wary of products advertised as BPA-free—they often have replacement chemicals that can be just as harmful.
• Do your research, especially when buying outdoor gear, and choose clothing that isn’t labeled stain- or water- repellant.

Avoiding PFAS is good for both the papa and the mama

Limiting exposure to toxins before, during and after pregnancy can help mitigate their effects on baby boys before they are born. Mamas who are breastfeeding might worry if their breast milk contains toxins: There’s no avoiding the fact that it does. But researchers from Ohio State and Johns Hopkins University have shown that the toxic load in breast milk is far smaller than that in the air most people breathe inside their homes.

Additionally, the CDC and many other public health experts say that despite breast milk’s vulnerability to chemical contamination, the benefits of breastfeeding—from nutrition, important enzymes and antibodies it supplies, to the mama and baby bonding it provides—far outweigh the risks.

Here’s the good news

Environmental toxins may be everywhere, but there is evidence that once a pollutant is no longer in use, or once its use is heavily restricted, the human body burden of that pollutant declines.

Additionally, studies suggest that PFAS can be eliminated from your body through sweat. And eating antioxidants like foods rich in vitamin E and selenium can reverse reduction in sperm count and improve sperm quality.

It’s easy to find information on helping women decrease their exposure to toxins in their food, makeup, and personal care—especially when trying to conceive or once pregnant. But it is just as important to educate men on their significance as well. Knowing where PFAS lurk is half the battle. Knowing ways to limit your exposure is the other. Once you train your mind, finding and avoiding toxins becomes second nature.

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