What's Affecting the Male Reproductive System?

According to a report published by the British Medical Journal sperm production in the average man has dropped by 53 % since the 1940's, while defects in the male reproductive system and testicular cancer has increased four-fold. Testicular cancer is now considered to be the most common cancer among young men. What's happening?

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin revealed that the sexual development of male rats became altered with "sexual aberrations" and reduced levels of male hormones when exposed to very low doses of dioxin. Studies done on humans by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) showed that workers exposed to dioxin had significantly diminished levels of testosterone. NIOSH also found that if the exposure to dioxin was for at least a year, there was a 46 % increase in cancer among the male employees. Dioxin passes through the placenta to accumulate in the fetus, as well as be released through breast milk affecting the reproductive organs of the infant. Of all the organ systems studied, dioxin adversely affected the developing male reproductive system the most.

Studies showed not only slower sexual maturation, smaller testicles, reduced testosterone levels and decreased sperm count, but also changes in sexual behavior. Young male rats exposed to dioxin during the pregnancy were more willing to assume a receptive-female posture with other male rats.

Dioxin (an organochlorine) is a catch-all term for a group of chemicals that are by-products of many industrial processes such as waste incineration (especially around hospitals), pesticide and chemical manufacturing and the bleaching of paper. Bleached items rich in dioxin include, diapers, tampons and sanitary napkins, coffee filters, toilet paper, tea bags, and food packaging such as milk cartons, to name a few.

Dioxin is often discharged into rivers by many paper mills contaminating downstream fish. Consequently, many types of fish are saturated with dioxin. Dioxin was also the main component of Agent Orange used during the Vietnam War.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, diet has become the major source of dioxin to humans. As dioxin becomes released into the environment it accumulates up the food chain. Up to 97.5 % is found in the commercial animal products that we consume on a regular basis, i.e., beef, dairy, chicken, pork, fish, and eggs.

However, men should not be the only ones to worry about hormonal disruption caused by dioxin. It also has the ability to mimic the estrogen hormones.