Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought • Hacker News Board

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#721

Post by moffkalast » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 8:46 PM UTC

Teknoman117 wrote: post #633

Knufen wrote: post #478

I did my Master Degree in Organic Chemistry where we tried to develop a male contraceptive pill. I spend a lot of time studying sperm so here is a short list of thing to avoid regarding sperm quality (not ranked): 1. Eating and drinking from plastics (This includes aluminum cans which are plastic lined) [a] 2. Heating food in ANY type of plastic [a] 3. Caffein intake [b] 4. Sugar intake [c] 5. NOT exercising regularl…

9. You just can't win can you? Eat meat, increase risk of heart disease. Eat soy, decrease fertility. Life is weird to me. Humans have one of the longest lifespans among mammals, yet we seem to start breaking down not all that far into it. We don't tend to consider 35 "old", as we regularly live 80+ years, and even if you consider the "generally well functioning" span of your life to be your years up to 60 or so, 35…

Life is a known cause of death.

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#722

Post by ljf » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 8:50 PM UTC

ipdashc wrote: post #505

Knufen wrote: post #478

I did my Master Degree in Organic Chemistry where we tried to develop a male contraceptive pill. I spend a lot of time studying sperm so here is a short list of thing to avoid regarding sperm quality (not ranked): 1. Eating and drinking from plastics (This includes aluminum cans which are plastic lined) [a] 2. Heating food in ANY type of plastic [a] 3. Caffein intake [b] 4. Sugar intake [c] 5. NOT exercising regularl…

I think I'm missing something. On the Results in study [b], they say > Semen parameters did not seem affected by caffeine intake, at least caffeine from coffee, tea and cocoa drinks, in most studies. Conversely, other contributions suggested a negative effect of cola-containing beverages and caffeine-containing soft drinks on semen volume, count and concentration. If tea and coffee don't cause an effect, but cola and…

Or drinks stored in plastic bottles or plastic lined cans? Vs tea/coffee brewed and served in metal/ceramic vessels?

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#723

Post by 10g1k » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 8:51 PM UTC

You don't need all the chemicals they sell you.

I don't use synthetic dishwashing liquid, because it's completely unnecessary. Anything that separates water from everything else is not going to do good things in your digestive tract. Other effects... who knows?

I don't drink tap water, which in my country has about twenty disinfectants in it. What do disinfectants do? They are poisons which kill micro-organisms. The idea is that they're strong enough to harm them but weak enough for us to handle. But are they? What about our gut microflora and such?

I don't use synthetic chemical surface cleaners or anything else like that. There are natural options, DIY options, and it generally works out cheaper than purchasing the mass produced synthetic garbage.

And yes, I've been tested, and have super-sperm. Kid is on the way too.

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#724

Post by XorNot » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 8:51 PM UTC

There is argument that the way sperm count data is collected is not accurate[1].

In short, historical data has good reasons to assume it is not reliable, and there are inexplicable geographic divergences which seem correlated now strongly with the number of studies then any other factor: i.e we simply aren't using large enough or comparable sample sizes, and what looks like decline is regression towards the true mean.

Of note: the decline still does not show an average below the levels required to be regarded as fertile, and it also does not show a reduction in observably fertile men (those who have fathered children).

[1] https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/05/fears-over-fa...

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#725

Post by moffkalast » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 8:51 PM UTC

morelisp wrote: post #643

DevX101 wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What consumers think of as normal "paper" tea bags release 11.6 billion “microplastics” and 3.1 billion “nanoplastics” into each cup. It's not paper.

That's 11603.1 whole plastics!

Waiter, there's a plastic in my tea!

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#726

Post by moffkalast » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 8:51 PM UTC

akiselev wrote: post #569

DevX101 wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What consumers think of as normal "paper" tea bags release 11.6 billion “microplastics” and 3.1 billion “nanoplastics” into each cup. It's not paper.

Since when did micro- and nanoplastics become an SI unit? Where do I put my feet?

On the table.

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#727

Post by moffkalast » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 8:53 PM UTC

SoftTalker wrote: post #683

formerly_proven wrote: post #506

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PEX is fine. Water that sat in a PEX pipe is chemically indistinguishable from water held in a test tube, unlike what happens with water in PVC piping. Another indicator of fine-ness is that PE and PP tubing is used extensively in chemical process plants where high purity is required.

But the water delivered to your house probably ran through miles of PVC pipe. What's a few feet more? I just run the water for 10 seconds or so (feel for it to get colder) before I drink.

> miles of PVC pipe

Ah god, this is gonna be a "those dumb Romans used lead pipes" moment for our civilization isn't it?

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#728

Post by lm28469 » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 8:53 PM UTC

lr4444lr wrote: post #547

Knufen wrote: post #478

I did my Master Degree in Organic Chemistry where we tried to develop a male contraceptive pill. I spend a lot of time studying sperm so here is a short list of thing to avoid regarding sperm quality (not ranked): 1. Eating and drinking from plastics (This includes aluminum cans which are plastic lined) [a] 2. Heating food in ANY type of plastic [a] 3. Caffein intake [b] 4. Sugar intake [c] 5. NOT exercising regularl…

Comments like this from commenters like this are why I love HN. Does BPA-free plastic improve anything? What about containers of non-prepared food? I can see not eating directly from any, but I think it's pretty hard in the developed world to rid ourselves of plastics entirely in the storage of foodstuffs. Also, do we know whether the changes in sperm quality you mention affect congenital childhood maladies? (I reali…

> What about containers of non-prepared food?

Wait until you learn about ink contamination from food nets and cardboard boxes.

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#729

Post by gadflyinyoureye » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 8:53 PM UTC

thefz wrote: post #542

After hitting the 8 billion mark, yeah, I can see why this is good news.

The estimate is that we’ve peaked. Africa is not having as many children as expected. Asia is slowing down. The West would be collapsing if not for immigration. There is a really good chance of social collapse within the next 10-25 years for various large countries due to population inversion (too few young people relative to old people like China). Not enough tax base to pay for those who are now economically unproductive.

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#730

Post by 10g1k » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 8:54 PM UTC

Knufen wrote: post #478

I did my Master Degree in Organic Chemistry where we tried to develop a male contraceptive pill. I spend a lot of time studying sperm so here is a short list of thing to avoid regarding sperm quality (not ranked): 1. Eating and drinking from plastics (This includes aluminum cans which are plastic lined) [a] 2. Heating food in ANY type of plastic [a] 3. Caffein intake [b] 4. Sugar intake [c] 5. NOT exercising regularl…

Agree 100%. I don't eat foods with added processed sugars. I treat sugar like a spice, just throw a pinch in with a few recipes. Sugar is in just about everything in the supermarkets, and is screwing up the entire population.