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An environmental specialist has warned that human penises shrink and genitals typically get deformed at birth, all from pollution.
In his new book titled Countdown, Dr Shanna Swan – professor of environmental medicine and public health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York – warned that phthalates in the air cause unwanted effects in humans such as abnormal genital sizes, erectile dysfunction, low sperm count and dangerously low fertility rates.
A chemical used in the manufacture of plastics, phthalates in the air impact the endocrine system which produces hormones that are used to regulate almost all processes in the body. As a result, more babies are born with smaller penises, Swan wrote.
IMAGE: KUTV
Her book examines how sperm count as well as male and female reproductive organs are affected in the modern era, and how pollution “potentially jeopardizes the future of the human race.”
Pollution causing low blows.
In his research, Swan studied phthalate syndrome, which in rats caused fetuses exposed to the chemical to be born with smaller genitals.
In the case of humans, she found that male babies exposed to the chemical in the womb had a shorter anogenital distance, meaning less penile volume.
The reason why this happens is that phthalates mimic the hormone estrogen, which likely results in disruption of the production of natural hormones in the human body and adverse effects on the development of sexual organs.
As to how these phthalates even reach unborn babies, Swan believes the chemical – which is used to make plastic products more flexible – is most likely transmitted through toys and food.
Phthalates are chemicals widely used in the manufacture of plastic products. IMAGE: Harvard University
“Babies now enter the world already contaminated with chemicals from the substances they absorb in the womb,” she writes in her book.
Swan’s results are based on several peer-reviewed studies, one of which found that sperm levels in men in Western countries have fallen by more than 50% over the past four decades.
More alarmingly, she also predicted that rapidly declining fertility rates could see most men become infertile by 2045.
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Cover image from NDRC and The Irish Sun.
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