Chemicals found in carpets, floors and clothes damage SPERM

Chemicals found in household items are damaging the sperm of both men and their dogs, research has found.

Sperm quality in men has fallen by 50 per cent in the past 80 years.

And, intriguingly, it has also been found to have fallen by 30 per cent in domestic dogs.

This has led researchers to believe the common factor damaging both species’ fertility is living in the home environment.

They found chemicals known as DEHP and PCB 153 are found in similar levels in humans and dogs – suggesting that, despite very different diets and activities, both are having their fertility damaged in the same way.

Chemicals DEHP and PCB 153, which are both found in clothing, carpets and upholstery, can damage sperm quality by upsetting the balance of hormones in men’s and dogs’ bodies, researchers at the University of Nottingham have found

Researchers from the University of Nottingham have tested the effects of the two chemicals on sperm count and quality of men and dogs.

PCB was banned in the UK and Europe in 2004 but it lasts a long time in the environment and can be found in fatty foods.

DEHP, full name diethylhexyl phthalate, is found in many items containing plastic, including carpets, flooring, furniture, clothes and toys. 

Scientists tested the effects on semen in a lab using concentrations of the chemicals found in human and dogs – and found that they led sperm quality to decline. 

Sperm had reduced motility – they were less able to swim – and also showed more signs of DNA damage.

The chemicals have similar effects to the female sex hormone, oestrogen, meaning they cause problems during sperm production – a testosterone-led process.

Professor Richard Lea said: ‘This new study supports our theory that the domestic dog is indeed a ‘sentinel’ or mirror for human male reproductive decline.

CHEMICALS IN PERFUME AND BODY LOTION ‘TRIGGER EARLY PUBERTY’

Chemicals found in perfumes and body lotions may make girls go through puberty early, according to University of California researchers.

People exposed to chemicals called diethyl phthalate or methyl paraben as children or in the womb could become teenagers at a younger age, a study suggests.

Diethyl phthalate was used in perfumes and cosmetics and only banned by the EU in significant concentrations last year. 

And methyl paraben is found in high street body lotions and hand creams.  

Researchers tracked almost 200 girls from birth to adolescence, and checked for signs of puberty every nine months between the ages of nine and 13.

The chemicals they were exposed to are believed to affect the female sex hormone oestrogen, triggering adolescence early. 

The findings are significant because girls who go through puberty early are at greater risk of breast and ovarian cancer, the scientists warned.

Their research was published in the journal Human Reproduction. 

‘And our findings suggest that man-made chemicals that have been widely used in the home and working environment may be responsible for the fall in sperm quality reported in both man and dog that share the same environment.

‘Our previous study in dogs showed that the chemical pollutants found in the sperm of adult dogs, and in some pet foods, had a detrimental effect on sperm function at the concentrations previously found in the male reproductive tract.

‘This new study is the first to test the effect of two known environmental contaminants, DEHP and PCB153, on both dog and human sperm, in the levels found occurring in samples.’ 

The impact of the chemicals was on motility – a measure of how the sperm are of moving and on how much the DNA carried in the sperm is fragmented.

Rebecca Sumner, who carried out the experimental work as part of her PhD, said: ‘In both cases and in both subjects, the effect was reduced sperm motility and increased fragmentation of DNA.

 ‘We know that when human sperm motility is poor, DNA fragmentation is increased and that human male infertility is linked to increased levels of DNA damage in sperm.

‘We now believe this is the same in pet dogs because they live in the same domestic environment and are exposed to the same household contaminants.

‘This means that dogs may be an effective model for future research into the effects of pollutants on declining fertility, particularly because external influences such as diet are more easily controlled than in humans.’  

Gary England, a professor of veterinary reproduction said: ‘Since environmental pollutants largely reflect a Western way of life such as the effects of industry, the chemicals present in the environment are likely to depend on the location. 

‘An important area of future study is to determine how the region in which we live may effect sperm quality in both man and dog.’ 

Allan Pacey, professor of andrology at the University of Sheffield, commenting on the study said: ‘This is a well conducted study which shows these two man-made chemicals can damage sperm in the laboratory. 

‘However, we need to be careful in the interpretation of these results, because often what we see in the lab is a long way from what we see in real life when humans (and animals) are going about their daily lives’.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk