What are the effects of environmental pollution on men’s sperm health

Environmental pollution There is a class of “environmental hormones”, also known as “hormones” and “endocrine disrupting substances”, which are chemical substances with estrogen-like properties existing in the environment. After they enter the human body, they will act on multiple links of sperm development, resulting in abnormal sperm development, reduced quantity and quality of male sperm, greatly reducing the pregnancy rate of women , and even completely losing their fertility.

　　There are many types of pollutants containing environmental hormones, mainly in pesticides, chemical fertilizers, insecticides, detergents, plastic products, plasticizers, asbestos, chemicals, vehicle exhaust, gases from garbage incineration, certain heavy metals and cosmetics . Among the more than 200 kinds of compounds that people are often exposed to, more than 60% have irreversible toxicity to sperm, and more than 20 occupational poisons can also harm sperm.

　　Due to the increasing environmental pollution, the amount of men’s semen has been almost halved in the past 50 years. Acute or chronic poisoning caused by environmental pollution can reduce the activity of enzymes in the testes, affect the spermatogenic process, increase the proportion of deformed sperm, and decrease their vitality, penetrating power, and pregnancy rate.

　　Workers engaged in radioactive work, high-temperature work, and long-term exposure to paint, coatings, and toxic substances such as mercury, lead, and phosphorus without protective measures are all high-risk groups of infertility . About 40% of the fertility rate is affected by the decline of sperm quality and quantity.

　　It can be said that environmental pollution is the number one killer of sperm. Its greater threat to human beings is that it is latent, persistent and irreversible, and it is difficult for people to detect its harm in the short term (several years, ten years).