Hibernation

Hibernation


Google



Monday, November 11, 2002


Further Pesticide Evil

The war on insects appears to be having more unforeseen negative consequences.

First there was the Hermaphrodite Frog study -- male frog genitals becoming ambiguous due to exposure to Atrazine.

At which point I speculated about the potential effect on human males....

Well.

Here is the report:

Sperm Quality Low In Farming Regions

The study found the quality of semen was significantly poorer in men from rural mid-Missouri than in males from urban areas, and its authors believe agricultural chemicals might explain the difference.

How significant is significant?

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.

Erk.

Along the same lines is the theory that statistically abnormal high rates of breast cancer in affluent areas of California could be due to more frequent fumigation and pesticide use.

It makes sense to me.

What can kill an insect in seconds is probably not too splendiferous for humans over the long term.