Pesticides Blamed for Fall in Male Fertility 68
hapdiddesigner writes "Man-Made Pesticides Blamed for Fall in Male Fertility Over Past 50 Years -- According to a new report by Michael Skinner of Washington State University in the June 3rd edition of Science Magazine, pesticides and environmental toxins can have a deleterious effect on fertility and susceptibility to disease for generations. A Commondreams.org posting of an Independent UK article states 'Pesticides and other man-made chemicals may lower male fertility for at least four generations, according to new research."' A Eurekalert.org copy of a Washington State University press release begins "A disease you are suffering today could be a result of your great-grandmother being exposed to an environmental toxin during pregnancy.'"
I relly don't think... (Score:2)
Re:I relly don't think... (Score:1)
So that is why.... (Score:1)
Re:So that is why.... (Score:1, Flamebait)
You and your chemlawn using motherfucking yuppy friends are why I hate society. You get some idiotic believe that something that totally rapes and murders plants magically will have no effect on humans and if you can't immediately see it you must not be exposed to it.
The minute people realize that everything, and I mean EVERYTHING we do is interelated the better.
That and my front and back lawn are decently healt
Re:So that is why.... (Score:1)
Re:So that is why.... (Score:2)
We got odd ball weeds and things here and there growing. The point is it's not just some yellow'ed out field with a chemlawn poster...
Tom
Re:So that is why.... (Score:1)
You and your ricin-using motherfucking yuppy friends are why I hate society. You get some idiotic believe that something that totally rapes and murders mammals magically will have no effect on us castor plants and if you can't immediately see it you must not be exposed to it.
The minute herbs realize that everything, and I mean EVERYTHING we do is interelated the better.
Hypocrites...
Frizzy-Stamen Jr.
Re:So that is why.... (Score:2)
Re:So that is why.... (Score:1)
Please note... (Score:4, Informative)
The development of persistent epigenetic modification is interesting, but turning this into "Man-Made Pesticides Blamed for Fall in Male Fertility Over Past 50 Years" is a good example of the idiocy rampant at both the Independent and Common Dreams.
Re:Please note... (Score:4, Insightful)
The article goes on to say, "If confirmed by further experiments, the findings could help explain the decline in human male fertility over the past 50 years." In other words, "This is priliminary research, and we don't know anything yet, but we'd like to alarm you, so you'll read more."
Then at the end, some more alarming is done with the (to me) incredibly unsupported-yet-very-sure statement in the final paragraph.
Re:Please note... (Score:2)
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the concentration they used -- this was a study of mechanism, not epidemiology, and they did it a completely appropriate way. It's just the hype and the hype of the hype that are drawing unwarranted conclusions.
Re:Please note... (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm not a "sky is falling" type of person, but I had been looking at buying a really nice "nalgene" plastic water bottle (the kind that you can order in different colors and that are really sturdy - see the Google store for an example of one). I did some research and found reason to be concerned. Or, rather, cautious. So for now, I'll drink my drinks out of non-plastic containers.
While perhaps not scientifically proven, I think common sense would almost demand that we acknowledge that man made plastics and pesticides probably cause some undesired effects in humans. Making both of these products is not a simple, clean process and with enough exposure to the end-product, I think it's reasonable to suspect they could cause health problems of some sort to people.
Scientific proof is, of course, a different issue. But until there is irrefutable proof, I think it's sensible to avoid them. I also avoid fruits with pesticides when I can (or at least clean them very well to do what I can to protect myself). Again, not because of anything irrefutably proven by science, but because common sense tells me that something intended to kill insects is probably not great for me, either. I'm sure not going to take an apple sprayed with RAID, for example.
The problem I have is not with people who decide "I'll be safe until there's proof one way or the other", but with the people who scaremonger and invent facts or distort facts to push their causes like some of these groups do. It's beyond being cautionary and becomes just another tool for them to "dismantle" "the man" as they see him.
Re:Please note... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Please note... (Score:1, Interesting)
It's ironic, really. Those Nalgene bottles were probably developed first for survival/military use, where a long-term risk of reduced fertility is much less threatening than the nasties all around you. Then someone got the bright idea of selling the convenience to the public at large while barely mentioning the chemical mechanism.
Whose responsibility is it t
Re:Please note... (Score:4, Interesting)
Of course, those followups aren't always performed and the press release is premature. A lot of news agencies don't bother to check if science stories are really stories because they don't understand it.
Re:Please note... (Score:2)
Re:Please note... (Score:1)
Re:Please note... (Score:1)
Even so, I'm filing a suit today. I'm gonna be wealthy! Yee haw!
pesticides mimicing hormones (Score:2)
Consensus Statement: Atlantic Coast Contaminants Workshop 2000 [nih.gov]
It's relatively well known some chemicals mimic hormones or otherwise disrupt sexual functions in a number of animals.
This is a study on rats
This is a big problem with medical research today, many drugs are tested on rats, guinea pigs, and other animals, which doesn't really show what effects those drugs will have on humans. One candidate may not be effective as a drug on the species being used to test with whereas it may very well
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:natural is just better (Score:2)
I have been considering switching to a mostly vegetarian diet but I have to say that it is a hell of a lot of work. It's hard to find stuff to eat.
Not only that, but it's really expensive.
If you're a parent, you've got to have a solid 6 figure income in order afford feeding that stuff to 4+ hungry mouths.
Re:natural is just better (Score:2)
Re:natural is just better (Score:2)
What comment are you reading?
The OP was referring to organic food, not "factory" vegetables (i.e., raised with petro-based fertilizer and doused in petro-based pesticides).
A few questions (Score:4, Insightful)
How many of the them tried your "nothing but natural" miracle-diet?
Did they abstain from other forms of cancer treatment?
Re: (Score:2)
Re:natural is just better (Score:2)
So...I expect 1 in 20 people who go on this diet to survive regardless of diet change. If two such people get cancer I'd expect both to survive 1 time in 400. Out of hundreds of thousands of active /. users (you're # 663,430) I'd expect a couple to fit this 1 in 400 category. So even if an all natural diet has no effect whatsoever on cancer I'd expect to see your post. So I really can't derive any useful information from it, sorry.
More like, change in diet is better (Score:2, Insightful)
I believe that it isn't so much whether or not the food has pesticides or dyes, but whether or not you are eating real food or processed food. If you are buying your food from the vegetable and meat section of the store, you tend to be doing a lot better than those who shop the breakfast aisle and the soda pop aisle.
But this isn't rocket science. The foods on the shelves are designed to be addictive and to t
Re:More like, change in diet is better (Score:1)
In my personal diet, I consider the staff of life being the basic grains: wheat, rice, barley, etc... Eat them whole or freshly ground, and in as large a portion as your body desires. On top of these, add lots of vegetables and some fruits. The fresher the better. And bring in a little meat
Huh? (Score:3, Interesting)
Is it possible that there would not even be four generations if fertility is lowered?
Re:Huh? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Oh no! (Score:2)
Re:Oh no! (Score:2)
Re:Oh no! (Score:2)
Long term biological warfare: drop the pesticides on your strategic enemy.
In the case of China, though, they are doing it to themselves. They, culturally, hate baby girls so much that they abort (and/or kill) them, so there is a huge male/female ratio. Less females -> lower population.
http://www.euthanasia.com/china-ra.html [euthanasia.com]
But then, it may also be the Hepatitis B virus.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_09
http://www.inquit.com/a [inquit.com]
firstsunscreen now this. (Score:2)
Re:firstsunscreen now this. (Score:2)
Cause i'm fertile as an earthworm and I ate my grapes from a can.
You're a hermaphrodite?
Waaaaaay too much information...
Re:How can I check this out? (Score:1)
This doesn't pass the sense-o-meter (Score:2)
In this case, the common sense-o-meter ticks because anyone who knows farmers is aware that almost all of them have kids and they usually have to count them in pairs. I would venture that a
Re:This doesn't pass the sense-o-meter (Score:2)
For a banker, a child is an economic liability, start to finish. It's also expected that the banker's offspring be able to attend a prestigious university like Harvard if he is capable of getting in.
The farmer on the other hand starts using his children as free labor starting at the age of ten or perhaps even younger. The farmer is not expected to send his kids to college, at least if he does a state agricultural college is perfectly res
Re:This doesn't pass the sense-o-meter (Score:2)
My point remains solid as long the farmers can keep pumping out that free labor on a consistant basis.
This is NOT news... (Score:2)
The projections of 15-20 years ago about the knock-on effects of DDT usage were very scary, almost to the point that we should be amazed that there is a relatively balanced population in North America at this point.
OTOH, for geeks, that means that soon enough there should be close to a 2:1 ratio of women
Re:This is NOT news... (Score:1)
No pun intended.
Cell phones? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
When I look around... (Score:2)
I really don't want the people in my community reproducing anyway...
P.S. I live in a red state... figure it out.
no subject (Score:1)
In other news: (Score:1)
But they did include that it wasn't the fact that women would make up for lack of fertility on the men's part, but rather the men would have breasts too and would be too hideous to find a willing female thus making low fertility a moot point.
Although the report is interesting and all... (Score:1)
population growth? (Score:2)
With 6+ billion people on the planet and little hope that we will max out before at least 12 billion, is lowered fertility really a bad this? I say lay on more pesticides!
Forget a population of 12 billion, it's doubtful we'll have a population of more than 9 billion. More and more people are having else and less children. For instance China's population is expected to start declining shortly and there is some concern that within 50 years there won't be enough people working to support those that will
Pesticides increase total fertility (Score:2)
The harm caused by pesticides is much less than the harm caused by pests, which is why humans live longer and better with use of pesticides. But we can do even better with GM crops that req
Pesticides (Score:2)
we can do even better with GM crops that require less pesticides,
By using organic farming methods you can eliminate or reduce the use of pesticides.
humans live longer and better with use of pesticides.
Can you prove this?
Researching effects of chemicals and pesticides upon health [chem-tox.com]
Falcon Falconfamine and crop yields (Score:2)
Can you prove that adapting current agricultural techniques in developing countries from using pesticides to using organic methods would not cause a mass famine due to lost production?
As for famine or starvation, not all of this is due to lack of food, but where there are shortages many of those shortages are directly related to conflict and/or political policies. An example is Zimbabwe, before President Robert Mugabe evicted White farmers off thier land and gave it to his cronies Zimbabwe was a breadb