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

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#911

Post by tenpies » Fri, Dec 02, 2022, 5:46 AM UTC

themagician wrote: post #566

Whenever I read about things like decreasing sperm counts or increases in cancer I always think of the same phrase, "Everything is chemicals." It just really doesn't surprise me knowing how little evaluation is done on chemicals and materials throughout the supply chain. I believe the period from 1900 to around 2100 will be looked at as this horrible era where we filled our own ecosystem with an almost unimaginable a…

> So you create a product, put it out and have it do unimaginable damage, then pay for the health and environmental damage you did, and then create legislation around what others should do going forward.

The very scary part is how many of these chemicals cannot be "put back in the bottle" so to speak. This generation will be long gone, but these chemicals will not just exist on the planet, but exist virtually everywhere in some measurable amount. And we're not even using these chemicals carefully or wisely, we're just carpet absolutely bombing everyday objects with them because they make life fractionally more convenient.

Nat Geo had a good write up last year: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/pfas-cont...

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#912

Post by lonelyasacloud » Fri, Dec 02, 2022, 6:00 AM UTC

Dig1t wrote: post #787

jamiegreen wrote: post #438

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who is too lazy to do their own research on this topic....did you happen to find which products generally contain the most endocrine disruptors?

My partner and I recently embarked on a journey to replace as many products in our lives that contain endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC's) as we could. It's _really_ hard. You have to carefully read product labels, 99.9% of products don't contain any info about EDC's, you have to specially seek out ones that are labeled as phthalate-free, BPA-free, etc. Biggest offenders are in the kitchen and bathroom. Shampoo, co…

Unfortunately it’s impossible to avoid exposure because of ubiquitous micro plastic pollution in our food, water and air.

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#913

Post by DoreenMichele » Fri, Dec 02, 2022, 6:01 AM UTC

TexanFeller wrote: post #855

One thing that I'm genuinely curious about that I've never heard addressed is whether the large increase of people identifying as trans(trans women in particular) could be related to the same factors that are causing lowered sperm counts and testosterone in men. There are massive amounts of compounds in our environment that are endocrine disrupters or mimic sex hormones like estrogen. Like maybe many persons assumed…

This is not the first time I have seen a question like this asked on HN. It's generally really controversial to ask it because trans individuals are fighting for recognition, rights and humane treatment at the most basic level, so it generally gets taken as a means to be dismissive and attack their cause rather than helpful and suggesting a possible alternative path for at least some trans individuals.

The world has changed quite a lot in recent decades in ways that have substantial impact on how much info is available, how much an individual can explore their own internal identity and myriad other things and it's unfortunately mostly not talked about in those terms.

We also pass out medicalized labels for all kinds of things that used to be handled differently. A child who might have been labeled shy at one time might get diagnosed with selective mutism these days and receive an IEP at school for it.

It's a really complicated topic. This is a big forum. It's not really a question that's likely to get meaningfully hashed out here in some good faith fashion that has some hope of moving things forward, either scientifically or in terms of human rights.

If you are seriously curious about this, I suggest you explore it more quietly than tossing out questions on a front page post on HN. It's not that such questions cannot be asked and explored, it's just this is a really tough way to do it and have it go good places.

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#914

Post by jesterson » Fri, Dec 02, 2022, 6:02 AM UTC

ipaddr wrote: post #821

badRNG wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My bet is within 20 years we'll see it as the more immediate problem than global warming. I don't want to diminish the importance of a paradigm shift in how regulators treat various chemicals, but I don't think this will be anywhere near as severe and immediate threat as climate change. Ultimately, if there is a substantial pool of people who's fertility is not adversely impacted by some yet to be identified chemic…

Global warming importance as an issue is slowly fading as the world is changing. Make room for new issues.

Spot on. There is substantial amount of companies/people profiteering from climate change fearmongering, so we may expect the trend not to go down very fast

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#915

Post by zerocrates » Fri, Dec 02, 2022, 6:06 AM UTC

ChrisPebble wrote: post #879

DoingIsLearning wrote: post #674

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> acetaminophen That's paracetamol for the rest of the world in case you were confused like I was.

I was curious about this and looked it up on google trends. It looks like acetaminophen is the more commonly searched term. https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=paracetamol,%2Fm%...

I get the results I'd expect: acetaminophen is the vast leader in the US and Canada only, while paracetamol totally dominates essentially everywhere else and is by far the more searched term globally.

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#916

Post by jesterson » Fri, Dec 02, 2022, 6:08 AM UTC

DoreenMichele wrote: post #913

TexanFeller wrote: post #855

One thing that I'm genuinely curious about that I've never heard addressed is whether the large increase of people identifying as trans(trans women in particular) could be related to the same factors that are causing lowered sperm counts and testosterone in men. There are massive amounts of compounds in our environment that are endocrine disrupters or mimic sex hormones like estrogen. Like maybe many persons assumed…

This is not the first time I have seen a question like this asked on HN. It's generally really controversial to ask it because trans individuals are fighting for recognition, rights and humane treatment at the most basic level, so it generally gets taken as a means to be dismissive and attack their cause rather than helpful and suggesting a possible alternative path for at least some trans individuals. The world has…

I tend to respectfully disagree.

Same question is of my interest as well and I find local community to be well openminded compared to other online communities where raising this kind of question will be widely perceived as offence to vocal trans community.

That's one of many spaces where we can openly bring it up and respectfully discuss.

It's quite difficult to explore the topic on your own without hearing other people.

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#917

Post by exitb » Fri, Dec 02, 2022, 6:08 AM UTC

firstfewshells wrote: post #751

SoftTalker wrote: post #701

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is also a lot of pressure on women to "have a career" which contributes to them waiting to marry and have kids. It's not really possible to optimize both being a mother and having a career, it's all tradeoffs and those who choose motherhood and a more domestic life are made to feel like they have sacrificed or lost out on something.

And who exactly is putting this pressure on women? Most men would choose a healthy, fertile woman over a career oriented one. I do think it's women that are taking on the pressure themselves in their quest to have it all.

Many families couldn’t reach their financial goals with only one spouse working.

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#918

Post by adgjlsfhk1 » Fri, Dec 02, 2022, 6:10 AM UTC

horsawlarway wrote: post #637

jamiegreen wrote: post #438

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who is too lazy to do their own research on this topic....did you happen to find which products generally contain the most endocrine disruptors?

They'll be in basically all of the plastic around you - since the chemicals do a good job at plasticizing (making plastic less brittle). If you want a more thorough list, the NIH compiled this --- What are some common endocrine disruptors? Bisphenol A (BPA) — used to make polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins, which are found in many plastic products including food storage containers Dioxins — produced as a byprodu…

note that the evidence for phytoestrogens being endocrine disruptors is exceptionally weak. it's essentially 1 study from the 1940s on sheep that has since been contradicted by a number of human studies.

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#919

Post by DoreenMichele » Fri, Dec 02, 2022, 6:11 AM UTC

jesterson wrote: post #916

DoreenMichele wrote: post #913

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not the first time I have seen a question like this asked on HN. It's generally really controversial to ask it because trans individuals are fighting for recognition, rights and humane treatment at the most basic level, so it generally gets taken as a means to be dismissive and attack their cause rather than helpful and suggesting a possible alternative path for at least some trans individuals. The world has…

I tend to respectfully disagree. Same question is of my interest as well and I find local community to be well openminded compared to other online communities where raising this kind of question will be widely perceived as offence to vocal trans community. That's one of many spaces where we can openly bring it up and respectfully discuss. It's quite difficult to explore the topic on your own without hearing other peo…

I have no idea what you are disagreeing with. Could you clarify what exactly you are arguing against in what I have said?

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#920

Post by antiatheist » Fri, Dec 02, 2022, 6:17 AM UTC

DoreenMichele wrote: post #913

TexanFeller wrote: post #855

One thing that I'm genuinely curious about that I've never heard addressed is whether the large increase of people identifying as trans(trans women in particular) could be related to the same factors that are causing lowered sperm counts and testosterone in men. There are massive amounts of compounds in our environment that are endocrine disrupters or mimic sex hormones like estrogen. Like maybe many persons assumed…

This is not the first time I have seen a question like this asked on HN. It's generally really controversial to ask it because trans individuals are fighting for recognition, rights and humane treatment at the most basic level, so it generally gets taken as a means to be dismissive and attack their cause rather than helpful and suggesting a possible alternative path for at least some trans individuals. The world has…

If it's controversial why should it be relegated to back pages?

The front page is the perfect place for such communication, the lack of truly social discourse and individualistic isolation is what creates such reactionary tension while trying to reconcile all the distortions in the zeitgeist of the world.

I think mental stressors of such social failure is whats leading to such childish ideas that adults seem to preoccupy their lives with today, and environmental pollution is definitely contributing to bringing those about.