Green Forest, © Ioana Grecu, Dreamstime.com
With the increase of environmental toxins more and more research findings are published related to their long term effect on health.
A recent study done in Denmark, suggests hormone-disrupting environmental chemicals may explain why so many men in that country develop testicular cancer as well as other male reproductive disorders, including poor semen quality and genital abnormalities. In fact, Danish men are up to four times more likely to have testicular cancer as men in their neighbouring Finland.
Some experts believe man-made pollutants that alter the effect of hormones in the developing foetus may be to blame. In the findings, as reported in the International Journal of Andrology, researchers measured levels of 121 chemicals in 68 samples of breast milk from women in Denmark and Finland. They found a dramatic difference between the two countries. Danish breast milk had significantly higher levels of some chemicals, including dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and pesticides, than Finnish breast milk.
Previous research in animals and humans has suggested a connection between hormone-disrupting chemicals and testicular cancer. Why women in Denmark should have more of the chemicals in their breast milk than their Finnish neighbours remains unclear. Study leader Professor Niels Skakkebaek, from the University Department of Growth and Reproduction in Copenhagen, said: "We were very surprised to find that some EDC (endocrine disrupting chemicals) levels, including some dioxins, PCBs and some pesticides, were significantly higher in Denmark than in Finland.
"Our findings reinforce the view that environmental exposure to EDCs may explain some of the temporal and between-country differences in incidence of male reproductive disorders." However he urged women to continue breast feeding which had "many beneficial effects for the child". Rates of testicular cancer vary greatly around the world. In the UK, almost 2,000 men are diagnosed with the disease each year, while in the US the number is more than 8,000.
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