The penis is shrinking and the genitals are malformed because of pollution, warned an environmental scientist in a new book that details the challenges that human reproduction faces.
Dr. Shanna Swan writes that humanity is facing an “existential crisis” in fertility rates as a result of phthalates, a chemical used in the manufacture of plastics that impacts the hormone-producing endocrine system.
As a result of this pollution, an increasing number of babies are being born with small penises, writes Dr. Swan.
Humanity is facing a fertility crisis, says Dr. Swan
His book, entitled Count Down, examines “how our modern world is threatening sperm count, altering male and female reproductive development and endangering the future of the human race”.
Dr. Swan’s research began by examining the phthalate syndrome, something seen in mice that found that when fetuses were exposed to the chemical, they were likely to be born with shrunken genitals.
She found that human male babies who were exposed to phthalates in the womb had a shorter anogenital distance – something that correlated with the volume of the penis.
The chemical has industrial use in the manufacture of more flexible plastics, but Dr. Swan says it is being transmitted to toys and food and, consequently, harms human development.
Phathalates mimic the hormone estrogen and therefore disrupt the natural production of hormones in the human body, which the researchers have linked to interference with sexual development in babies and behaviors in adults.
Most men may be infertile by 2045, warns Dr. Swan
Dr. Swan, who is a professor of environmental medicine and public health at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, based her work on a series of peer-reviewed research studies.
A study published in 2017 found that sperm levels among men in Western countries have dropped by more than 50% in the past four decades, after examining 185 studies involving about 45,000 healthy men.
Dr. Swan believes that the rapidly decreasing fertility rate means that most men will be unable to produce viable sperm in 2045.