Roundup Toxicity May Impact Male Fertility

In 2011, Purdue University professor emeritus Don Huber notified US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, with a letter warning that tests show glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup herbicide, may be contributing to spontaneous...

March 31, 2014 | Source: Mercola.com | by Dr. Mercola

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In 2011, Purdue University professor emeritus Don Huber
notified US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, with a letter warning
that tests show glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup
herbicide, may be contributing to spontaneous abortions and infertility
in pigs, cattle, and other livestock.

This wasn’t the first time the chemical had been implicated as a threat
to fertility, nor was it the last. Steep declines in human male sperm
counts have been occurring alongside rises in birth defects of the male
reproductive tract, and now new research suggests increasing exposure to
glyphosate and Roundup may be at least partially to blame.

There’s No Denying Trends in Infertility and Poor Semen Quality

A new report from the Institute of Science in Society (ISIS) has
highlighted what appears to be the perfect storm for an “infertility
time-bomb,” courtesy of Roundup.1 Average sperm counts have dropped by
nearly half in the last 50 years, even among men without fertility
problems.

Further, ISIS noted, 20 percent of young European men have sperm counts
below the World Health Organization (WHO) reference level of 20 m/ml,
and 40 percent have levels below 40 m/ml, which is associated with
prolonging the time to pregnancy. Meanwhile, rates of conditions that
impact semen quality and fertility are also on the rise. ISIS noted the
following, in particular:

“Testicular germ cell cancer (TGC),
which has been rising in the last five decades. Congenital malformations
of the male reproductive tract, including undescended testes and
incomplete fusion of the urethral folds that form the penis. Low
testosterone.”