Guest Post by
Organophosphate and N-methyl carbamate pesticides used at residences and on food crops were associated with lower sperm counts, according to a study in Environmental Health Perspectives — and the higher the exposure, the greater the effect.
Two common classes of pesticides may be responsible for the 50-year-long drop in global sperm counts.
According to a paper in Environmental Health Perspectives, men with the highest exposure to organophosphate and N-methyl carbamate pesticides had sperm counts almost one-third lower than men in the lowest-exposure group.
During the last 50 years, sperm concentrations in human semen have dropped by 51.6%, and total sperm counts fell 62.3%. Low sperm counts reduce a man’s ability to father children.
‘Strength of evidence warrants reducing exposure’
Led by Melissa Perry, Sc.D., an epidemiologist at George Mason University, investigators examined relevant epidemiologic studies published before Aug. 11, 2022, in PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science article archives plus the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s NIOSHTIC-2 Publications Search and the Science.gov gateway to federal science activity.
From 20 studies on 21 populations of 1,774 adult men and 42 exposure levels, the difference in sperm concentration between more- and less-exposed men was 30%.
Researchers determined their data to be “of moderate quality” but with sufficient evidence to associate the highest exposure levels to drops in sperm count.
“The strength of evidence warrants reducing exposure to OP [organophosphate pesticides] and NMC [N-methyl carbamate] insecticides now to prevent continued male reproductive harm,” they concluded.
As a precaution against selection bias, which is common in literature-based reviews or meta-analyses, the scientists ran their choices through the Navigation Guide systematic review methodology, a method for reducing bias and providing transparency to environmental health studies.
This process injects the data analysis with “what-if” scenarios with the intent to reduce the observed effect. However, every attempt led to the same strong association between pesticide exposure and reduced sperm counts.
“We were surprised to see such robust findings,” Perry said in a video interview on the George Mason University website. “We weren’t really sure, if we looked at all of the studies combined, would we find an aggregate effect, and if we applied such advanced calculations, would we still see this association show up.”
Organophosphates interfere with nerve impulse transmission
Organophosphate pesticides, which are widely used on food crops, include products that contain diazinon, ethoprop, tribufos and phosmet, which are applied in both agricultural and non-agricultural settings.
Diazinon and phosmet control insects, ethoprop kills worms and other soil pests while tribufos defoliates cotton right before harvest.
Organophosphates interfere with nerve impulse transmission by blocking acetylcholinesterase, an enzyme that breaks down the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which plays a role in memory, learning, attention, arousal and involuntary muscle movement.
Once the acetylcholinesterase enzyme stops working, acetylcholine remains and builds up on the nerve cell, causing it to fire repeatedly.
Animals and humans exposed to organophosphates exhibit symptoms that include hyperactivity, uncoordinated movements, tremors, convulsions and paralysis.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) originally planned to complete the quindecennial safety review for organophosphate pesticides between 2024 and 2025. But after recognizing the health risks posed by this class of pesticides, the agency announced on March 15, 2023, that it was moving its reevaluation up by two years.
“The science is clear,” said Michal Freedhoff, assistant administrator of the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, in an EPA press release. Freedhoff added:
“Some uses of these four pesticides pose a serious health risk to the people that are exposed to them. … That’s why we’re taking early action now. While we know there’s still a lot of work to finish our review of these pesticides, today’s announcement helps deliver on our promise to protect farmworkers and uphold our commitment to environmental justice.”
N-methyl carbamates in high doses can paralyze respiratory system
N-methyl carbamates, used in homes, gardens and agriculture, are a diverse family of chemical ingredients. Two carbamates, aldicarb and fenoxycarb, are used mainly in residential settings while aldicarb and methomyl are mostly used in agriculture.
Since they are acetylcholinesterase blockers, they work similarly to the organophosphates.
Human exposure to N-methyl carbamates causes weakness, blurred vision, headache, nausea, tearing, sweating and tremors in humans. Very high doses kill by paralyzing the respiratory system.
Pesticides are comprised mainly of solvents that dissolve, stabilize and disperse the active chemical ingredients. The risks of exposure to the solvent are an open question because the pesticide formulations are often proprietary.
Although solvents are generally not as toxic as carbamates or organophosphates, the alcohols, glycols, petroleum distillates and chlorinated hydrocarbons they contain are sources of additional toxic exposure.
Pesticide production proceeds unabated and these products continue to be widely applied despite the increasingly apparent dangers, and the fact that they are dangerous even if used as directed.
“Pesticides are specifically formulated to be biologically active, to kill things,” Perry said.
Pesticides not the only cause of declining sperm counts
Many risk factors have been associated with low sperm counts, including:
- Varicoceles, reversible swelling of veins around the testicles, which also reduce sperm quality.
- Infections of sex organs or tissues, including sexually transmitted diseases.
- Ejaculation problems resulting from diabetes, spinal injuries or surgery.
- Medications, particularly alpha-blocker blood pressure medications. Some of these problems can be reversed but some are permanent.
- Benign or malignant tumors and their associated treatments.
- Drug, alcohol and tobacco use.
- Emotional stress and depression.
- Hormone imbalances.
- Sperm blockages.
- Chromosome defects.
- Celiac disease.
- Age, nutrition and lifestyle.
This long list of risk factors reduces the possibility that any one case of low sperm count is due to pesticide exposure alone. A deeper understanding of the pesticide-sperm link, and the relative contributions of these risk factors, will only arise through new experimental designs, larger study sample sizes and more studies.
“At the same time, given the weight of evidence in front of us, as our meta-analysis shows, there is plenty of evidence to advocate for reducing exposure to insecticides, especially among men who are intending to plan their family and father children,” Perry said.
“Taken together, this should be adequate evidence for policymakers to make some important decisions about how to reduce individual insecticide exposure, and to recognize it as a public health issue.”
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I must have said that a thousand times. No one understands enough about harvesting to make the connection.
Inversionism
@Inversionism
Did you know a company called Epicyte made an anti-fertility corn that creates anti-sperm antibodies back in 2001 with the expressed intent of one day “saving the world from overpopulation”?
The initial idea and foundational research came from work done by the WHO on immunological contraceptive technologies that were being studied with the use vaccines in the 90s, after discovering a woman with a rare autoimmune condition which made her infertile. So they isolated that specific gene and engineered it into corn, to then be fed to human beings to make them infertile.
Can you guess which corporations were responsible for funding this research and investing in Epicyte?
Smells of Gates ……
Porn.
Men have jerked off SO MUCH they are ejaculating dust.
Actual answer.
living in a zoo doesn’t help
Could be we see a pattern here , eh ?
Why were German politicians so eager to vaccinate children, and why are they lying about it now?
https://www.eugyppius.com/p/why-were-german-politicians-so-eager
Good morning Ladies and Germs. My own sperm takes the form of spores now. I can impregnate any fertile woman within a 10 mile radius. That’s what I call the blast zone. Out to 20 miles returns diminish.
yeah yeah, i get it…we’re ALL mushrooms now.
Kept in the dark and fed bullshit forever.
This started WAY back. My uncle whos family owned, still do, several sections of land often told the story of how the chemical guy showed up. Telling the uncle that by applying this chemical to his fields would increase the yields twofold or more.
Well the chemical fella was right, yields went way up, but then so did the weeds. Not to worry the chemical guy had a solution, just spray/spread this chemical and it’ll take care of the weeds.
As a kid spending summers on that farm the soils were rich and BLACK. Was back there a few years back, before covscam, and the soils there are now grey bleached out and chemical dependent.
The introduction of commercial farming, monoculture farming has destroyed the soils. They can be restored, but not before these farmers shrug off the monsantos and the big commercial farms. Go back to respecting the soil, respecting animal husbandry and how they all tie in together.
Until then, eat ze bugs und be happy.
Do we really have time to mourn the past right now? I’m just sayin…life is happening pretty fast right now. It might not be the appropriate moment to take our eyes off the road.
Mourn the past!?!? Not mourning at all merely pointing out that commercial takeover of farming has killed the soils and the way forward is to move away from commercial farming. But if you see that as ‘mourning’ then carry on, eat ze bugs.
Oh please. You’ll have starved to death long before I resort to eating “ze bugz”.
It is not morning the past. It is the path to owning our future.
Well said.
Cushy job offer in 3, 2, 1….
Top FDA Officials Took High-Paying Big Pharma Jobs after Approving Covid Shots
Several former officials with the U.S. Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) took high-paying jobs with pharmaceutical companies after playing key roles in pushing those Big Pharma firms’ Covid shots through the regulation process.
Its an oft repeated pattern, funny how that works.
I blame screeching blue haired future cat ladies. Virile sperm rightfully refusing service.
That’s funny !!!
TOP 9 BENEFITS AND USES OF GLYCINE
“Glycine is an amino acid that helps build proteins needed for tissue and hormone maintenance. More glycine may help support heart and liver health, improve sleep, reduce diabetes risk, and reduce muscle loss.
Your body naturally produces glycine from other amino acids, but it’s also found in protein-rich foods and available as a dietary supplement.
(I pop a 3000 mg ‘detox’ tablet every now and then…and then and now).
Along with being a component of protein, glycine has several other impressive health benefits.
Here are the top 9 health benefits and uses of glycine”.
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/glycine
Yada…yada…yada…Just scroll down to Conclusions:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5350494/