Global decline in male fertility linked to common pesticides
A prolonged decline in male fertility in the form of sperm concentrations appears to be connected to the use of pesticides, according to a study published Wednesday.
Researchers compiled, rated and reviewed the results of 25 studies of certain pesticides and male fertility and found that men who had been exposed to certain classes of pesticides had significantly lower sperm concentrations. The study, published Wednesday in Environmental Health Perspectives, included data from more than 1,700 men and spanned several decades.
“No matter how we looked at the analysis and results, we saw a persistent association between increasing levels of insecticide and decreases in sperm concentration,” said study author Melissa Perry, who is an environmental epidemiologist and the dean of the College of Public Health at George Mason University. “I would hope this study would get the attention of regulators seeking to make decisions to keep the public safe from inadvertent, unplanned impacts of insecticides.”
Well shit, what can we do?
Organic food only maybe
Organic food typically has more pesticides, since gmos are often attempting to remove the need for pesticides
Also organic farming relies on old types of pesticides instead of the modern ones which are designed to be more effective and safe.
Have a source for this?
This depends very much on the country you are in - perhaps that's the way it works in the US. But in the UK Soil Association standards limits the kin dof permissable pesitcides and how they are used quite strictly: https://www.soilassociation.org/media/23378/gb-farming-growing.pdf - see page 63 onward
Source?
Any farmer? Including me?
Organic is nebulous, first off. But depending on your region, the organic label just makes some specific pesticides off limits. Which means we over apply the stuff we can use.
There isnt a modern produce company on the planet who doesnt use pesticides. You cant compete otherwise. Only pesticide free foods are locally grown by very very very small gardens and farms.
That's one solution, but even being more careful with what pesticides are used would help in this case (though it would still be devastating for the insect population and will come back to bite us in other ways)