Great content—very useful. I like how you identify exactly the plastic materials that are affecting us. First step to regulating them away is identifying them
This might be responsible for a small amount of the drop but it doesn't seem like a plausible explanation for most of it. If this were the mechanism, then we should see a lot of people trying to have children and not being able to. But instead we see a lot of people deliberately not having children until their thirties if ever.
It also doesn't explain why some countries still have high fertility rates (Israel for example).
Increased access to birth control + increased education causing delayed child rearing, still seem like more plausible reasons.
I think you are right. It’s mostly choices. However, I think there is also a valid concern regarding hormonal changes in humans and animals, and it is something to regulate before it gets worse.
This is fascinating to read as an American woman, reading this in New Zealand, pregnant with my first child, a boy (who is kicking my ribs and bladder mercilessly as I type). While my husband and I struggled to get pregnant over the last three years, I found myself totally surprised that my husband's sperm count and testosterone as a 38 year old man was exemplary and had nothing to do with our struggles. I was familiar with some of the research mentioned in this article, so I assumed he was the contributing factor. Maybe there was more at play. We moved to New Zealand ten years ago, around the same time he quit smoking. He has a twin brother who is still in the states, I am curious to know what my brother-in-law's sperm count and testosterone might be...did moving to New Zealand (for the cleaner environment, less chemicals in wastewater, parental leave and less stress) save my husband's ability to continue his family legacy?
Interesting. It is surprising how little we know about this stuff when it is critical to human health. Few of us monitor our health stats closely.
Regarding New Zealand: in USA there is a correlation between living farther down the Mississippi River and poor health outcomes (such as obesity). Americans who live at high elevations, such as in Utah or Colorado, have better health. Could it be that one reason for poor health in Southern states is drinking from the Mississippi, which has accumulated pollution as it traverses the country? Maybe in New Zealand, they have less exposure to these chemicals if water comes from mountains.
Thanks for sharing this important information. In the US, we are in an election year with many pressing political topics -- I wish the news, politicians, and candidates would discuss this issue. We are harming our men and boys, and we know a lot of this harm happens in utero. We need decisive global action to rid our environment of this stuff. I'm less worried about population than the harm this causes to people, especially boys' development. Scary stuff!
It's such a strange issue because it looks likely that a range of pollutants are negatively affecting human and animal hormones (pesticides, hormones in water, and many chemicals in plastics), but it is basically not discussed.
I find it conspicuous that we are noticing this during a nearly ubiquitous global fertility crash. It should alarm us that there are hormonal changes of this magnitude occurring at the same time that fertility is falling rapidly--what if this trend continues and we actually render ourselves infertile?
It's daunting. Modern industrial life requires so many chemicals that make their way into our bodies. It makes global warming look like a cakewalk. We at least theoretically know how to address greenhouse gasses, but there are so many endocrine disruptors where do we even begin?
It’s the plastics. Follow link. https://medium.com/read-or-die/were-facing-a-collapse-in-global-fertility-c211bc05f373?sk=84e815295034c91301aef8914400d3d1
Great content—very useful. I like how you identify exactly the plastic materials that are affecting us. First step to regulating them away is identifying them
Interesting read. This is worth further study.
This might be responsible for a small amount of the drop but it doesn't seem like a plausible explanation for most of it. If this were the mechanism, then we should see a lot of people trying to have children and not being able to. But instead we see a lot of people deliberately not having children until their thirties if ever.
It also doesn't explain why some countries still have high fertility rates (Israel for example).
Increased access to birth control + increased education causing delayed child rearing, still seem like more plausible reasons.
I think you are right. It’s mostly choices. However, I think there is also a valid concern regarding hormonal changes in humans and animals, and it is something to regulate before it gets worse.
This is fascinating to read as an American woman, reading this in New Zealand, pregnant with my first child, a boy (who is kicking my ribs and bladder mercilessly as I type). While my husband and I struggled to get pregnant over the last three years, I found myself totally surprised that my husband's sperm count and testosterone as a 38 year old man was exemplary and had nothing to do with our struggles. I was familiar with some of the research mentioned in this article, so I assumed he was the contributing factor. Maybe there was more at play. We moved to New Zealand ten years ago, around the same time he quit smoking. He has a twin brother who is still in the states, I am curious to know what my brother-in-law's sperm count and testosterone might be...did moving to New Zealand (for the cleaner environment, less chemicals in wastewater, parental leave and less stress) save my husband's ability to continue his family legacy?
Interesting. It is surprising how little we know about this stuff when it is critical to human health. Few of us monitor our health stats closely.
Regarding New Zealand: in USA there is a correlation between living farther down the Mississippi River and poor health outcomes (such as obesity). Americans who live at high elevations, such as in Utah or Colorado, have better health. Could it be that one reason for poor health in Southern states is drinking from the Mississippi, which has accumulated pollution as it traverses the country? Maybe in New Zealand, they have less exposure to these chemicals if water comes from mountains.
Thanks for sharing this important information. In the US, we are in an election year with many pressing political topics -- I wish the news, politicians, and candidates would discuss this issue. We are harming our men and boys, and we know a lot of this harm happens in utero. We need decisive global action to rid our environment of this stuff. I'm less worried about population than the harm this causes to people, especially boys' development. Scary stuff!
Thank you Mark!
It's such a strange issue because it looks likely that a range of pollutants are negatively affecting human and animal hormones (pesticides, hormones in water, and many chemicals in plastics), but it is basically not discussed.
I find it conspicuous that we are noticing this during a nearly ubiquitous global fertility crash. It should alarm us that there are hormonal changes of this magnitude occurring at the same time that fertility is falling rapidly--what if this trend continues and we actually render ourselves infertile?
It's daunting. Modern industrial life requires so many chemicals that make their way into our bodies. It makes global warming look like a cakewalk. We at least theoretically know how to address greenhouse gasses, but there are so many endocrine disruptors where do we even begin?