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Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

nationalgeographic.com

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Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#811

Earlier quoted context omitted.

which tea bags don't do this?

I wouldn't use tea bags at all. Use a metal loose leaf tea infuser and buy loose leaf tea. I use this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X50NUU4

the hilarity of suggesting use of something from Amazon when the discussion is about avoiding health hazards...

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#812
post #541

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This common explanation never made sense. Lower income is correlated with higher fertility within the US, within every country, across the world, and (seemingly) throughout history.

Most of history is subsistence farming economies. More people means more labor. It’s a pretty good ROI. And of course, lack of contraception. Plus with kids dying you need several to reliably end up with a few when you’re old. In an urban economy kids are largely dead weight and expensive for two decades. The middle class dual income family isn’t typically looking for 3+ kids anymore.

The fertility rate today in the United States is inversely correlated with income. The effects are not minor, either. As far as I'm aware, there's not much subsistence farming going on in the United States.

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#813
post #787

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…

What does "etc." mean?

Also - products which would not reasonably be produced with, say, "phtalate" - would probably not be labeled phtalate-free anyway. So one first needs to know which "X-free" labels to look for.

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#814

Earlier quoted context omitted.

k-cups get quite warm when in use so I'd avoid it for daily use. Try a french press with a glass container instead. I also threw away my Aeropress for similar reasons.

Aeropress claims they have tested for plastic leaching and found none. https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0601/8783/6659/files/Evolu... Link is from the FAQ page on aeropress.com. I can't find the reference now but at one point they discussed why they don't offer an aeropress in stainless steel or glass, and it's basically because of safety (metal and glass transmit heat much more than plastic). Additionally with glas…

shocker, company claims its own product isn't harmful

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#815
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…

> list of thing to avoid > ... > 7. Age

Well, I'm trying my best...

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#816

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…

One of these is not like the others:

> Phytoestrogens — naturally occurring substances in plants that have hormone-like activity, such as genistein and daidzein that are in soy products, like tofu or soy milk

Your comment doesn’t explicitly say that Phytoestrogens are only present in soy, but it should be clear that such compounds are extremely common, even though people tend to single out soy (largely because soy has been the most studied for potentially positive health reasons).

Phytoestrogens are present in many different grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, vegetables, etc [0]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytoestrogen?wprov=sfti1

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#817
Nobody should be surprised.

The past 20 years of research have indicated entire classes of chemicals that should be immediately banned, and yet the government continues to allow the use of these chemicals.

We are being poisoned without our consent. This is our generation's taxation without representation.

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#818
post #787

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

What does "etc." mean? Also - products which would not reasonably be produced with, say, "phtalate" - would probably not be labeled phtalate-free anyway. So one first needs to know which "X-free" labels to look for.

"etc" in my comment was meant to be other types of chemicals people don't necessarily like. Example: many deodorants that are phthalate-free are also free of aluminum, because people likely to be concerned about phthalates are also likely to be concerned about aluminum, even though aluminum is not an EDC (some people are worried about it being a carcinogen I think). I was just saying here that products with "X-free" are correlated with also being phthalate-free.

But yeah, specifically the thing to look for is "phthalate-free".

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#819

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a Catholic and fairly traditionally minded and am surprised by what you're saying since at my church, couples in this age range are on their fourth or fifth kid by the time they're 30. Even amongst the newest married couples, most are expecting within the first year. I understand we have different beliefs and such but since we're all in the same environment, how do we explain the simultaneous existence of the see…

Not sure why your comment is downvoted but you have a point.. The difference is that religious couples should always be open to life so in a sense they are always "trying" as contraceptives are not allowed (except for NFP) hence their chances go up. Further they are encouraged to married sooner than later sense they should abstain from sex until then. It makes sense that younger couples having lots of sex without con…

Yeah that makes sense to me. I also think a lot of fertility doctors are hoodwinking couples into thinking something is wrong with them if they haven't conceived within a year. I think it'll happen for most people eventually (and the stats agree). Of course, it eases nerves if your 'eventually' is longer because you're younger.

Re: Sperm counts worldwide are plummeting faster than we thought

#820
post #559

There is an excellent book on this topic called "Countdown". I highly recommend it. The author goes into detail about the causes (mostly phthalates, chemicals added to flexible plastics), presents good science to back it up, and overall is just very thorough. I found it compelling and well written. Another interesting tidbit presented in the book: the increase in the number of trans people is very likely also correla…

> the increase in the number of trans people is very likely also correlated with the decrease in sperm counts (due to phthalate exposure) There are no studies showing a clear link between trans identities and phthlate. Correlation is not causation. It's dangerous to push the idea that minorities are caused by chemicals. It is pure speculation to suggest that it could affect the way a person behaves and responds to so…

Feels pretty anti-science to be outraged by discussion of current evidence. No one is pushing an idea.
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