Over the past 46 years, worldwide average sperm count has plummeted by more than 50%. And since 2000, this trend has started to increase.

These are the alarming findings of a study recently published in the journal Human Reproduction Update and conducted by scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Icahn School of Medicine in New York, cited by Il Fatto Quotidiano and Rador.

An international team led by scientists Hagai Levin and Shanna Swan, consisting of researchers from Denmark, Brazil, Spain, Israel and the United States, evaluated data collected in 53 countries between 2011 and 2018.

Experts looked at sperm count trends in the regions of South and Central America, Asia and Africa.

The same research team has already shown declines in sperm levels in North America, Europe and Australia, and the new study shows that this trend is accelerating in the 21st century.

“The data speak volumes and show us that we must urgently mitigate this serious threat to male fertility. This is something we can no longer postpone,” says Luigi Montano, uro-andrologist, coordinator of the EcoFoodFertility research project and president of the andrology section of the Italian Society of Human Reproduction (SIRU).

Pollution, smoking and unhealthy lifestyle

“It’s been known for a long time that male fertility is declining in Western countries,” Montano notes.

“There is a growing body of scientific evidence that sperm quality is deteriorating, which is a sign that environmental pollution and unhealthy lifestyles appear to be having an extremely negative impact on men’s health and reproductive capacity,” adds Professor Montano.

“This is the first time that data indicate a significant decrease in the total number of sperm and their concentration, especially in South America, Asia and Africa, regions where, especially in the last two decades, significant rates of exploitation and pollution of the environment have been recorded,” explains Montano.

The authors also refer to changes in the development of the reproductive tract during intrauterine life in connection with impaired fertility and other indicators of reproductive dysfunction due to an unhealthy lifestyle and chemicals in the environment.

In addition, the impairment of male fertility can be even more serious and profound than those reported by the analysis of the number and concentration of sperm.

“In Italy, thanks to the FASt (Fertility, Environment, Lifestyle) study, funded by the Ministry of Health, a study that analyzed three areas with high levels of environmental pollution, Brescia, Frosinone, Accerra and published in the international journal European Urology. “Focus, we found high reproductive risks in healthy young non-smokers, a problem that cannot be ignored in a country like Italy with a very low birth rate,” adds Montano.

But while science continues to improve its methods of analysis, experts are urging men to act to preserve their reproductive capacity, starting at an early age, because this still unrecognized issue is essential to the survival of the species, the authors of the paper say. .

“For this reason, we consider it important to promote the culture of prevention, and especially the culture of fertility risk in the near future, so it is necessary to involve groups of general practitioners, pediatricians and biologists for a large-scale project of prevention, especially andrological ones,” concludes Professor Montano.