By Geoffrey Lean and Richard Sadler
Sperm counts are falling dramatically across Britain and the rest of industrialized world, and scientists are increasingly convinced that pollution is to blame.
Studies around the world have shown that average sperm counts in men have dropped by more than half over the past 50 years - from about 160 million per milliliter of semen to 66 million.
The Medical Research Council reports that the fertility of Scottish men born since 1970 was 25 percent less than those born in the 1950s, with sperm counts continuing to drop by two percent a year.
Other research by the US Government's Environmental Protection Agency shows that, proportionately, a man now produce only about a third as much sperm as a hamster.
Scientists increasingly blame a whole class of hormone-disrupting chemicals. Evidence suggests that they cause cancer and damage the immune system, as well as impairing fertility. And they are ever more ubiquitous.
DDT and other pesticides disrupt hormones, as do PCBs, used in countless products worldwide, from plastics and paint to electrical equipment.
Other components of plastics have been found to leach hormone-disrupters including phthalates, which have been found in a wide range of foods including baby milk.
Artificial estrogens, used in contraceptive pills and emitted through sewage works, appear to be changing the sex of half the fish in Britain's lowland rivers.
Scientists and environmentalists fear that the powerful chemicals are getting into drinking water and affecting human fertility. One third of Britain's drinking water comes from rivers; most of it is taken from below sewage works.
But some scientists say that the chemicals may not have been detected, because there is no routine testing for them in drinking water, and because the equipment used in Britain is not sensitive enough.
Research at the University of Ulm, in West Germany, using more sophisticated techniques, found small amounts in four out of every 10 samples tested. And environmentalists fear that effects in people may occur over much longer periods than those used to test the fish.
Unlike in fish, it is going to take 20 years to see if my children have been affected by developmental exposure to this same cocktail of chemicals.
Independent.co.uk March 17, 2002
Some powerful and compelling information that should absolutely motivate you to rarely drink municipal water that has many of these chemicals floating around.
It just doesn't make sense to needlessly expose you and your family to these influences.
Your exclusive beverage should be water. Bottled spring water (not drinking water) is good, but it is expensive and has a negative impact on the environment. Reverse osmosis will remove virtually all problems from the water including fluoride. Carbon filtered water works well but does not remove fluoride.
Please be aware that nearly all of Europe used to add fluoride to their water supply, but after they studied the issue more carefully, they decided to remove it.
Try not to purchase the one-gallon cloudy plastic (PVC) containers from your grocery store as they transfer far too many chemicals into the water. The five-gallon containers and the clear bottles (polyethylene) are a much better plastic and will not give the water that awful plastic taste.
You can add lemon juice occasionally to your water to help flavor it and normalize your body's pH if it is to acidic. However, be careful not to use the lemon juice continuously or you run the risk of developing an allergy to it.
Do not drink tap water!
Chlorine is a toxic chemical and should not be consumed in large quantities. Britta filtered water costs approximately 24 cents per gallon. However, standard filters are a more effective solution that will bring the cost down to 1-2 cents per gallon.
You can obtain them locally from Home Depot or Coast Filtration (800-542-6723). Consumer Reports (October 1999) selected Culligan as a far better choice then Britta filters (Walgreen's has them for $24). They simply screw directly into your current faucet and only take a few minutes to install. However, please recognize nearly all carbon filters will not remove fluoride from your water supply. Another recommendation of mine is the GE Smart Water, which was top rated in Consumer Reports December 2002.
If you have a water softener, you need to divert the softened water away from the kitchen tap to a reverse osmosis system. Avoid distilled water as it has the wrong ionization, pH, polarization and oxidation potentials. It will also drain your body of minerals.
Freshly processed vegetable juices are a wonderful storehouse of nutrition. My patients have told me that the Krups Juice Extractor, which is available at Crate and Barrel, is one of the best value juicers on the market. It is far less noisy than the Juice Man Junior, actually juices parsley, and only cost $49.
However, if you are committed to juicing long-term you will want to consider a higher quality juicer. I have thoroughly researched this topic and you can view my report online.
Most of us do not drink enough water. The general rule is one quart of water for every fifty pounds of body weight. Drinking enough water is one of the simplest, basic, and important health steps you can do.
It will also be important to sip the water all day long. Depending on your size, your body can only process a bit more than a glass of water per hour. If you drink much more than this at one sitting, the extra water will not be used, but merely flushed down the toilet bowl. So keep your water bottle with you all day long and you can confirm precisely how much water you have consumed.
Most people do not recognize that their shower is a significant source of chlorine exposure. It would be best to put a filter on your showerhead. If you take a bath, fill it up from the shower. The filters are $29 (part #181128) at 800-642-2112. These are probably not necessary if you obtain your water from a well. Remember, you should have a reverse osmosis system for your drinking water if you have a water softener.