Sperm Quality Low in Farming Region
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Sperm Quality Low in Farming Region
Date:
Mon, 11 Nov 2002 10:26:48 -0500
From:
Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide
Regulation
cc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
Sperm Quality Low in Farming Region
Mon Nov 11,12:54 AM ET
By CHERYL WITTENAUER, Associated Press Writer
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=534&e=1&cid=534&u=/ap/20021111/ap_on_he_me/study_sperm_quality
[Please visit the original website to view the whole
article.]
ST. LOUIS (AP) - A study has found the quality of semen significantly poorer in men from rural mid-Missouri than in males from urban areas, and its authors believe agricultural chemicals might explain the difference.
The University of Missouri researchers said their study offered the first convincing evidence that semen quality - measured by the count, shape and movement of sperm - varies significantly among regions of the United States. ...
Fertile men from mid-Missouri's Boone County were found to have a mean sperm count of about 59 million per milliliter, compared to 103 million for men in New York, 99 million in Minnesota and 81 million in Los Angeles. The sperm of the Boone County men also tended to be less vigorous, the study found.
Dr. Shanna Swan of the University of Missouri-Columbia, the lead researcher, said she and her collaborators believe that environmental factors such as the use of agricultural chemicals might contribute to the differences. . . .
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http://www.ehponline.org/swan2002
Geographic Differences In Semen Quality Of Fertile US Males
SHANNA H. SWAN, PH.D., CHARLENE BRAZIL, B.S., ERMA Z. DROBNIS, PH.D., FAN LIU, M.S., ROBIN L. KRUSE, PH.D., MAUREEN HATCH, PH.D., J. BRUCE REDMON, M.D., CHRISTINA WANG, M.D., JAMES W. OVERSTREET, M.D., PH.D. AND THE STUDY FOR FUTURE FAMILIES RESEARCH GROUP FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND COMMUNITY MEDICINE, UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURICOLUMBIA SCHOOL OF MEDICINE (S.H.S., F.L., R.L.K.); THE DEPARTMENT OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA (E.Z.D.); THE HARBOR-UCLA MEDICAL CENTER AND RESEARCH AND EDUCATION INSTITUTE (C.W.); THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS (C.B., J.W.O.); THE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, MT SINAI, NEW YORK (M.H.); THE DEPARTMENTS OF MEDICINE AND UROLOGIC SURGERY, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA (J.B.R.).
Corresponding author: Shanna H. Swan, Department of Family and Community Medicine, MA306 Medical Sciences Building, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia MO 65212. SwanS@health.missouri.edu
While geographic variation in semen quality has been reported, this is the first study in the US to compare semen quality among study centers using standardized methods and strict quality control. We evaluated semen specimens from partners of 512 pregnant women recruited through prenatal clinics in four US cities during 1999-2001; 91% of men provided two specimens. Sperm oncentration, semen volume and motility were determined at the centers and morphology was assessed at a central laboratory. Study protocols were identical across centers and quality control was rigorously maintained. Sperm concentration was significantly lower in Columbia MO than in New York NY, Minneapolis MN and Los Angeles CA; mean counts were 58.7, 102.9, 98.6 and 80.8×106 per milliliter (medians 53.5, 88.5, 81.8 and 64.8×106 per milliliter) in MO, NY, MN and CA, respectively. The total number of motile sperm was also lower in MO than in other centers; 113, 162, 201 and 196×106 in MO, NY, MN and CA, respectively. Semen volume and the percent morphologically normal sperm did not differ appreciably among centers. These between-center differences remained significant in multivariate models that controlled for abstinence time, semen analysis time, age, race, smoking, history of sexually transmitted disease and recent fever (all p-values <0.01). Confounding factors and differences in study methods are unlikely to account for the lower semen quality seen in this mid-Missouri population. These data suggest that sperm concentration and motility may be reduced in semi-rural and agricultural areas relative to more urban and less agriculturally exposed areas.
From Steve Quotes to Ponder:
"The first task is population control at home. How do we go about it? Many of my colleagues feel that some sort of compulsory birth regulation would be necessary to achieve such control. One plan often mentioned involves the addition of temporary sterilants to water supplies or staple food. Doses of the antidote would be carefully rationed by the government to produce the desired population size." — Paul Ehrlich, The Population Bomb, p.135
"A total population of 250-300 million people, a 95% decline from present levels, would be ideal." — Ted Turner - CNN founder and UN supporter - quoted in The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor, June '96
"Childbearing [should be] a punishable crime against society, unless the parents hold a government license ... All potential parents [should be] required to use contraceptive chemicals, the government issuing antidotes to citizens chosen for childbearing." — David Brower - first Executive Director of the Sierra Club; founder of Friends of the Earth; and founder of the Earth Island Institute - quoted by Dixie Lee Ray, Trashing the Planet, p.166
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