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Count Down: How Our Modern World Is Threatening Sperm Counts, Altering Male and Female Reproductive Development, and Imperiling the Future of the Human Race
In the tradition of Silent Spring and The Sixth Extinction , an urgent, “disturbing, empowering, and essential” ( Kirkus Reviews , starred review) book about the ways in which chemicals in the modern environment are changing—and endangering—human sexuality and fertility on the grandest scale, from renowned epidemiologist Shanna Swan.
In 2017, author Shanna Swan and her team of researchers completed a major study. They found that over the past four decades, sperm levels among men in Western countries have dropped by more than 50 percent. They came to this conclusion after examining 185 studies involving close to 45,000 healthy men. The result sent shockwaves around the globe—but the story didn’t end there. It turns out our sexual development is changing in broader ways, for both men and women and even other species, and that the modern world is on pace to become an infertile one.
How and why could this happen? What is hijacking our fertility and our health? Count Down unpacks these questions, revealing what Swan and other researchers have learned about how both lifestyle and chemical exposures are affecting our fertility, sexual development—potentially including the increase in gender fluidity—and general health as a species. Engagingly explaining the science and repercussions of these worldwide threats and providing simple and practical guidelines for effectively avoiding chemical goods (from water bottles to shaving cream) both as individuals and societies, Count Down is “staggering in its findings” (Erin Brockovich, The Guardian) and “will serve as an awakening” ( The New York Times Book Review ).
In 2017, author Shanna Swan and her team of researchers completed a major study. They found that over the past four decades, sperm levels among men in Western countries have dropped by more than 50 percent. They came to this conclusion after examining 185 studies involving close to 45,000 healthy men. The result sent shockwaves around the globe—but the story didn’t end there. It turns out our sexual development is changing in broader ways, for both men and women and even other species, and that the modern world is on pace to become an infertile one.
How and why could this happen? What is hijacking our fertility and our health? Count Down unpacks these questions, revealing what Swan and other researchers have learned about how both lifestyle and chemical exposures are affecting our fertility, sexual development—potentially including the increase in gender fluidity—and general health as a species. Engagingly explaining the science and repercussions of these worldwide threats and providing simple and practical guidelines for effectively avoiding chemical goods (from water bottles to shaving cream) both as individuals and societies, Count Down is “staggering in its findings” (Erin Brockovich, The Guardian) and “will serve as an awakening” ( The New York Times Book Review ).
304 pages, Hardcover
First published February 23, 2021
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February 25, 2021
I read about this book from an article in the NYT. I could’ve stopped there and learned just about as much, minus the alphabet soup and the annoyingly informal conversational tone.
I’m not denying the importance of the information about phthalates and other chemicals on the reproductive health of our own and other species. It’s just that two or three chapters (the length of a well-written feature article) would have served the same purpose.
And the constant intrusion of slang-like language (“scrambled eggs”, “little swimmers”, and “spoiler alert”) set my teeth on edge since the author didn’t use one style (journalistic vs. informal) consistently.
The content gets a 3-4, but the writing was so off-putting that I almost gave up on it. — js
I’m not denying the importance of the information about phthalates and other chemicals on the reproductive health of our own and other species. It’s just that two or three chapters (the length of a well-written feature article) would have served the same purpose.
And the constant intrusion of slang-like language (“scrambled eggs”, “little swimmers”, and “spoiler alert”) set my teeth on edge since the author didn’t use one style (journalistic vs. informal) consistently.
The content gets a 3-4, but the writing was so off-putting that I almost gave up on it. — js
April 4, 2022
7.5/10.
Aside from the obligatory kowtows to the homosexual and transsexual, this book has a great deal of very frightening (yet enlightening) information. Our sperm counts have been dropping by 1% per year for the past 50 years, which means that we have half the sperm as did men in 1970. Only about ~10% of males today will get their sperm accepted into sperm banks. Our sperm are becoming mutated, without tails, spinning in circles, and decreasing in density and volume. Why?
Chemicals and plastics — everywhere. In our shampoos, hair and skin products, electronics, water bottles, baby toys, fire retardants (couches, chairs), canned foods, and food linings. These chemicals disrupt our endocrine (hormonal) system and destroy our seed. It is essential to preserve your seed if you want to have children. Males can luckily get good quality sperm back, as their sperm regenerates from the testes every 7-8 weeks, but women are not so lucky. All damage to their eggs are permanent. I certainly wonder how far sperm, egg, and fertility rates will fall after five years of vaccines . . . It does not look good.
In procreation, the male normally releases one to two million sperm. If he is lucky, one reaches its target and pregnancy happens. But as sperm counts lower and as more and more sperm get defective, his chances of procreation dwindle. Therefore, it is imperative that he protect his sperm. If he (or his wife) has infertility problems, then the prospect of being a biological dead-end looms. How do you protect your sperm?
1. Use metal water bottles. If a water bottle is made out of plastic, then plastic particles will seep into your drink.
2. Filter your water, especially if you are in a city. Chemicals, medications, and other crap can get into drinking supplies, which are then ingested by you.
3. Stop using so many hair and skin products (ahem, women). Many have various chemicals and heavy metals that are very deleterious to your hormonal system.
4. You must work out. Working out increases testosterone and sperm. Working out makes you feel like a Grecian god. Men who exercise 7 hours per week have 43% higher sperm concentrations than those who do not work out.
5. Food: wash all of your fruits and vegetables. This will take off fertility-reducing chemicals applied. Get USDA organic meat so you don't ingest estrogen-laced meat. Fast. People who fasted lowered their concentration of fertility-reducing chemicals by 80-90%. Yes, they are infecting all of our food with population-reducing chemicals.
6. Never, never heat food in plastic containers unless you love to ingest plastic. Get rid of plastic containers that contain the labels "3", "V", or "PVC" in their recycling label. These signify that the container has a high concentration of endocrine-disrupting chemicals.
7. Trash all cleaning products that say "toxic", "hazardous", "danger", or "warning". You do not need deleterious chemicals to clean your floor.
8. Look for paraben-free and phthalate-free on labels. These are some of the worst endocrine disrupters. Avoid sunscreens with benzophenone-3. "In particular, avoid products that contain the following EDCs or other harmful chemicals: triclosan (often in liquid soap and toothpaste), dibutyl phthalate or DBP (in hair spray and nail products), and parabens such as methyl-, ethyl-, propyl-, isopropyl-, butyl- and isobutyl-paraben (preservatives found in shampoos, conditioners, facial and skin cleansers, moisturizers, deodorants, sunscreens, toothpastes, and makeup)". People who got rid of products with these chemicals decreased their amount of endocrine-disrupting chemicals by ~40% in three days.
9. No more plastic shower curtains. Get cotton or linen ones so you don't plasticize yourself.
10. Clean your dust and leave your shoes at the door. Dust has lots of destructive chemicals that you can inhale all day if you don't clean it up. Shoes bring pesticides inside. Don't let it happen.
------
So that's how you protect yourself as best as you can. As a side note, when animal mothers (e.g. frogs, mice, and turtles) were placed in environments with high percentages of plastics and other endocrine-disrupting chemicals, their children turned homosexual and/or androgyneous. Some had testes with eggs in them. Male turtles start humping other male turtles (how familiar!). Female frogs and fish became masculinized (sound similar to our women?). Other pesticides in the environment made male and female fish not want to mate with one another. They also decreased both sexes' fertility (rise of asexuality, incels). Drug-polluted rivers create intersex fish; minnows exposed to antidepressants spend their blissful lives swimming eternally towards the sun until they get eaten, and also sometimes experience autism-like symptoms (transsexuals, autism). Holy cow, that's a lot of diversity! I have concluded that plastics, fertilizers, and other chemicals have continually homosexualized our species since their rise after WW2. They have disrupted development in utero and led to massive sexual and evolutionary dysfunction.
So not only have we become more and more genetically mutated, thereby creating a spike in evolutionary deviant behaviors such as homosexuality, but our hormonal systems have also been disrupted by the elites, the money-holding families, and the secretive councils such that there will be a population decline. They care, but they certainly do not care for our fertility! mRNA inoculations are just one step further toward the agenda they have been implementing since at least 1945.
Aside from the obligatory kowtows to the homosexual and transsexual, this book has a great deal of very frightening (yet enlightening) information. Our sperm counts have been dropping by 1% per year for the past 50 years, which means that we have half the sperm as did men in 1970. Only about ~10% of males today will get their sperm accepted into sperm banks. Our sperm are becoming mutated, without tails, spinning in circles, and decreasing in density and volume. Why?
Chemicals and plastics — everywhere. In our shampoos, hair and skin products, electronics, water bottles, baby toys, fire retardants (couches, chairs), canned foods, and food linings. These chemicals disrupt our endocrine (hormonal) system and destroy our seed. It is essential to preserve your seed if you want to have children. Males can luckily get good quality sperm back, as their sperm regenerates from the testes every 7-8 weeks, but women are not so lucky. All damage to their eggs are permanent. I certainly wonder how far sperm, egg, and fertility rates will fall after five years of vaccines . . . It does not look good.
In procreation, the male normally releases one to two million sperm. If he is lucky, one reaches its target and pregnancy happens. But as sperm counts lower and as more and more sperm get defective, his chances of procreation dwindle. Therefore, it is imperative that he protect his sperm. If he (or his wife) has infertility problems, then the prospect of being a biological dead-end looms. How do you protect your sperm?
1. Use metal water bottles. If a water bottle is made out of plastic, then plastic particles will seep into your drink.
2. Filter your water, especially if you are in a city. Chemicals, medications, and other crap can get into drinking supplies, which are then ingested by you.
3. Stop using so many hair and skin products (ahem, women). Many have various chemicals and heavy metals that are very deleterious to your hormonal system.
4. You must work out. Working out increases testosterone and sperm. Working out makes you feel like a Grecian god. Men who exercise 7 hours per week have 43% higher sperm concentrations than those who do not work out.
5. Food: wash all of your fruits and vegetables. This will take off fertility-reducing chemicals applied. Get USDA organic meat so you don't ingest estrogen-laced meat. Fast. People who fasted lowered their concentration of fertility-reducing chemicals by 80-90%. Yes, they are infecting all of our food with population-reducing chemicals.
6. Never, never heat food in plastic containers unless you love to ingest plastic. Get rid of plastic containers that contain the labels "3", "V", or "PVC" in their recycling label. These signify that the container has a high concentration of endocrine-disrupting chemicals.
7. Trash all cleaning products that say "toxic", "hazardous", "danger", or "warning". You do not need deleterious chemicals to clean your floor.
8. Look for paraben-free and phthalate-free on labels. These are some of the worst endocrine disrupters. Avoid sunscreens with benzophenone-3. "In particular, avoid products that contain the following EDCs or other harmful chemicals: triclosan (often in liquid soap and toothpaste), dibutyl phthalate or DBP (in hair spray and nail products), and parabens such as methyl-, ethyl-, propyl-, isopropyl-, butyl- and isobutyl-paraben (preservatives found in shampoos, conditioners, facial and skin cleansers, moisturizers, deodorants, sunscreens, toothpastes, and makeup)". People who got rid of products with these chemicals decreased their amount of endocrine-disrupting chemicals by ~40% in three days.
9. No more plastic shower curtains. Get cotton or linen ones so you don't plasticize yourself.
10. Clean your dust and leave your shoes at the door. Dust has lots of destructive chemicals that you can inhale all day if you don't clean it up. Shoes bring pesticides inside. Don't let it happen.
------
So that's how you protect yourself as best as you can. As a side note, when animal mothers (e.g. frogs, mice, and turtles) were placed in environments with high percentages of plastics and other endocrine-disrupting chemicals, their children turned homosexual and/or androgyneous. Some had testes with eggs in them. Male turtles start humping other male turtles (how familiar!). Female frogs and fish became masculinized (sound similar to our women?). Other pesticides in the environment made male and female fish not want to mate with one another. They also decreased both sexes' fertility (rise of asexuality, incels). Drug-polluted rivers create intersex fish; minnows exposed to antidepressants spend their blissful lives swimming eternally towards the sun until they get eaten, and also sometimes experience autism-like symptoms (transsexuals, autism). Holy cow, that's a lot of diversity! I have concluded that plastics, fertilizers, and other chemicals have continually homosexualized our species since their rise after WW2. They have disrupted development in utero and led to massive sexual and evolutionary dysfunction.
So not only have we become more and more genetically mutated, thereby creating a spike in evolutionary deviant behaviors such as homosexuality, but our hormonal systems have also been disrupted by the elites, the money-holding families, and the secretive councils such that there will be a population decline. They care, but they certainly do not care for our fertility! mRNA inoculations are just one step further toward the agenda they have been implementing since at least 1945.
March 5, 2021
One of the most important and essential books I would recommend this year.
Eye opening facts with details and solutions. So many things we take for granted and use on a daily basis that are incredibly harmful to ourselves and our future.
I also think this is very essential if you plan to be a parent one day. It highlights what we should and shouldn’t be doing to our bodies if we plan to give a healthy life to our future offspring.
Eye opening facts with details and solutions. So many things we take for granted and use on a daily basis that are incredibly harmful to ourselves and our future.
I also think this is very essential if you plan to be a parent one day. It highlights what we should and shouldn’t be doing to our bodies if we plan to give a healthy life to our future offspring.
April 29, 2021
Шокираща книга. Започва ударно, но завършва с разочарование, граничещо с псевдонаука.
Основната теза е плашеща: в последните десетилетия се регистрира рязък спад в броя и концентрацията на спертматозидите, както и спад във фертилитета. Забременяването и износването на плода стават по-трудни. Нараства честотата на спонтанните аборти. Спермограмите все по-често регистрират намален брой сперматозоиди, с променена форма и намалена подвижност.
Според епидемиолога Шана Суан развиващият се в матката плод е подложен на ендокринни въздействия, водещи до феминизация. Отчита се по-къса аногенитална дистанция (АГД) като маркер за феминизация. Резултатите важат и за животни в дивата природа, при които се наблюдава микропенис или неясно различими гениталии.
Дотук добре. Основна теория на авторката е, че химични вещества в околната среда (фталати, бисфенол А) играят ролята на "ednocrine disruptors" и са отговорни поне частично за тревожната тенденция. Проблемът е, че се намират почти навсякъде, основно в пластмасови изделия.
Препоръките към читателите меко казано разочароват и оставят горчив вкус за иначе добре обоснованата книга.
Първата препоръка е да се консумират "органични" храни поради използването на пестициди в конвенционалните такива. Не се уточнява обаче, че при органичните продукти също се използват пестициди, но с такива "естествен" произход. Естественият произход въобще не гарантира безопасност в сравнение със синтетичните алтернативи. Друг спорен съвет е употребата на филтри за вода. Препоръчват се всякакви "eco-friendly" алтернативи. На доста места срещаме изсмукани от пръстите спекулации, базирани на далечна ��кстраполация на несвързани данни. Черешката на тортата е твърдението, че някои ендокринно активни вещества са по-опасни в ПО-НИСКИ дози, отколкото в по-високи. Брадфорд Хил се обръща в гроба си.
Никъде в книгата не видях коментар за други възможни обяснения на наблюдаваните резултати напр. затлъстяване, нарастващи доходи, кариеризъм и по-късно забременяване. Не се споменава, че концентрацията на сперматозидите всъщност е сурогатен маркер за самото забременяване, което ни вълнува като важно събитие. Нямаше и намек за еволюционно тълкуване на наблюдаваните резултати.
Прочетете книгата с идеята, че не всичко в нея е категоричен научен факт и ще научите много. Трудно е да се отсява истината. Особено днес.
Основната теза е плашеща: в последните десетилетия се регистрира рязък спад в броя и концентрацията на спертматозидите, както и спад във фертилитета. Забременяването и износването на плода стават по-трудни. Нараства честотата на спонтанните аборти. Спермограмите все по-често регистрират намален брой сперматозоиди, с променена форма и намалена подвижност.
Според епидемиолога Шана Суан развиващият се в матката плод е подложен на ендокринни въздействия, водещи до феминизация. Отчита се по-къса аногенитална дистанция (АГД) като маркер за феминизация. Резултатите важат и за животни в дивата природа, при които се наблюдава микропенис или неясно различими гениталии.
Дотук добре. Основна теория на авторката е, че химични вещества в околната среда (фталати, бисфенол А) играят ролята на "ednocrine disruptors" и са отговорни поне частично за тревожната тенденция. Проблемът е, че се намират почти навсякъде, основно в пластмасови изделия.
Препоръките към читателите меко казано разочароват и оставят горчив вкус за иначе добре обоснованата книга.
Първата препоръка е да се консумират "органични" храни поради използването на пестициди в конвенционалните такива. Не се уточнява обаче, че при органичните продукти също се използват пестициди, но с такива "естествен" произход. Естественият произход въобще не гарантира безопасност в сравнение със синтетичните алтернативи. Друг спорен съвет е употребата на филтри за вода. Препоръчват се всякакви "eco-friendly" алтернативи. На доста места срещаме изсмукани от пръстите спекулации, базирани на далечна ��кстраполация на несвързани данни. Черешката на тортата е твърдението, че някои ендокринно активни вещества са по-опасни в ПО-НИСКИ дози, отколкото в по-високи. Брадфорд Хил се обръща в гроба си.
Никъде в книгата не видях коментар за други възможни обяснения на наблюдаваните резултати напр. затлъстяване, нарастващи доходи, кариеризъм и по-късно забременяване. Не се споменава, че концентрацията на сперматозидите всъщност е сурогатен маркер за самото забременяване, което ни вълнува като важно събитие. Нямаше и намек за еволюционно тълкуване на наблюдаваните резултати.
Прочетете книгата с идеята, че не всичко в нея е категоричен научен факт и ще научите много. Трудно е да се отсява истината. Особено днес.
May 10, 2021
"The status quo has persisted for too long—and it’s endangering the reproductive health and survival of human beings and other species. The time to correct course is overdue and more important now than ever."
In late July of 2017, Dr. Shanna Swan went viral. Leading media publications from the BBC to the Financial Times to Newsweek ran shocking headlines based on Dr. Swan's research findings that sperm counts have dropped by a precipitous 50% in the last 40 years. Speculation abounded: Will this problem continue? What does this mean for our future here on Earth? The findings of Dr. Swan's research were indeed astonishing, but like every other sensational story, Dr. Swan's research disappeared from the news cycle, eventually to be forgotten. The problem, however, persists.
Count Down builds upon this and a plethora of other research findings that all point to one terrifying fact: our modern lifestyles are having deleterious effects on fertility and reproductive health, not only in humans, but in other species as well. Persistent chemical pollutants in our households, air, oceans, drinking water and food supply are having measurable effects on our ability to reproduce. Left unabated, this will inevitably have tragic consequences for our future here on this planet.
The findings presented in Count Down are unsettling, and Dr. Swan doesn't shy away from ringing the alarm. She makes it clear that the problem is urgent and backs up her claim with research that is presented in an organized, easy to follow, and easy to read manner. Leaving no stone unturned, Dr. Swan also presents a range of solutions, from individual tools for mitigating pollutant exposure (a "personal protection plan") to regulatory recommendations for bridging the gap between science and unchecked corporate practices.
Count Down is an important resource in the ongoing conversation on the destructive effect that Westernized, hyper-consumptive lifestyles are having on our bodies and our ecosystems. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is concerned about the future of life here on this planet.
In late July of 2017, Dr. Shanna Swan went viral. Leading media publications from the BBC to the Financial Times to Newsweek ran shocking headlines based on Dr. Swan's research findings that sperm counts have dropped by a precipitous 50% in the last 40 years. Speculation abounded: Will this problem continue? What does this mean for our future here on Earth? The findings of Dr. Swan's research were indeed astonishing, but like every other sensational story, Dr. Swan's research disappeared from the news cycle, eventually to be forgotten. The problem, however, persists.
Count Down builds upon this and a plethora of other research findings that all point to one terrifying fact: our modern lifestyles are having deleterious effects on fertility and reproductive health, not only in humans, but in other species as well. Persistent chemical pollutants in our households, air, oceans, drinking water and food supply are having measurable effects on our ability to reproduce. Left unabated, this will inevitably have tragic consequences for our future here on this planet.
The findings presented in Count Down are unsettling, and Dr. Swan doesn't shy away from ringing the alarm. She makes it clear that the problem is urgent and backs up her claim with research that is presented in an organized, easy to follow, and easy to read manner. Leaving no stone unturned, Dr. Swan also presents a range of solutions, from individual tools for mitigating pollutant exposure (a "personal protection plan") to regulatory recommendations for bridging the gap between science and unchecked corporate practices.
Count Down is an important resource in the ongoing conversation on the destructive effect that Westernized, hyper-consumptive lifestyles are having on our bodies and our ecosystems. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is concerned about the future of life here on this planet.
May 6, 2021
Count Down is a solid fact-based description of an alarming problem that we humans face now. In the past forty years, human male sperm count has dropped by more than fifty percent. Female fertility also has declined precipitously in the same period. If this rate continues, then the human species could become extinct. In other words, writers like P.D. James (Children of Men) are beginning to seem more like prescient visionaries than creators of dystopian science fiction.
What is causing this? Authors Shanna Swan, a reproductive and environmental epidemiologist, and Stacey Colino sum it up in a few words. “If it sounds like we’re living in an alphabet soup of evil chemicals, well, we are.” There are many evil chemicals that risk our health and existence, but the worst are endocrine disruptors, a class of chemicals that disrupt hormone function. Chief among these chemicals are phthalates, a key component of plastics. Endocrine disruptors negatively affect our reproductive health which has led to a low fertility among humans, and even a declining interest in sex in general. Human fetuses in the womb are also negatively affected by the endocrine disruptors. And we’re not the only creatures being adversely affected. The horror extends to the fish in the sea, the birds and bees in the air – to every living creature.
Swan lays out all the data which makes the story both equally credible and terrifying. She also makes a compelling case that our governments are doing a very poor job of regulating these dangerous chemicals. Unlike too many authors who sound environmental alarm bells with no suggestions of what we can do, Swan has a “personal protection plan” to mitigate effects of the chemicals, as well as “reducing the chemical footprint in our homes.” I intend to implement as many of these suggestions as possible. She also makes it clear that we cannot as individuals solve this problem. She argues that we must vote and put in office government leaders who will act to regulate these “evil chemicals.” Highly recommended.
What is causing this? Authors Shanna Swan, a reproductive and environmental epidemiologist, and Stacey Colino sum it up in a few words. “If it sounds like we’re living in an alphabet soup of evil chemicals, well, we are.” There are many evil chemicals that risk our health and existence, but the worst are endocrine disruptors, a class of chemicals that disrupt hormone function. Chief among these chemicals are phthalates, a key component of plastics. Endocrine disruptors negatively affect our reproductive health which has led to a low fertility among humans, and even a declining interest in sex in general. Human fetuses in the womb are also negatively affected by the endocrine disruptors. And we’re not the only creatures being adversely affected. The horror extends to the fish in the sea, the birds and bees in the air – to every living creature.
Swan lays out all the data which makes the story both equally credible and terrifying. She also makes a compelling case that our governments are doing a very poor job of regulating these dangerous chemicals. Unlike too many authors who sound environmental alarm bells with no suggestions of what we can do, Swan has a “personal protection plan” to mitigate effects of the chemicals, as well as “reducing the chemical footprint in our homes.” I intend to implement as many of these suggestions as possible. She also makes it clear that we cannot as individuals solve this problem. She argues that we must vote and put in office government leaders who will act to regulate these “evil chemicals.” Highly recommended.
April 19, 2021
What a difference a bit of editing could make. This could easily have been reduced by half what with the repetition that caused my attention to wander and I then realized that I was able to skim through to the end. Then there is the bizarrely casual conversational tone that strikes me as unprofessional.
Countdown provides a few interesting ideas regarding the possible future of humanity, diminishing each year due to our insatiable need to pollute ourselves with toxic products. From low sperm counts to lowering birth rates to low sex drives, the human race could be on the wane, and we will take other life on the planet with us.
Countdown provides a few interesting ideas regarding the possible future of humanity, diminishing each year due to our insatiable need to pollute ourselves with toxic products. From low sperm counts to lowering birth rates to low sex drives, the human race could be on the wane, and we will take other life on the planet with us.
March 19, 2021
There’s a bit of conflicting information here – on the one hand certainly the author has correctly called out the overuse of certain chemical compounds in the environment and their deleterious effects (see honey bees), but on the other hand the delivery is so overly panicked as if it’s from Jack D. Ripper of Dr. Strangelove fame. It would not have been surprising to hear the author complaining of chemicals sapping her precious bodily fluids. My fear here is that a Venn diagram of an enthusiastic reader of this book would overlap a bit too much with the anti-vaxxer crowd. The fear mongering over penis size shrinkage – was this substantiated by longitudinal study in the notes (only had the audio version)? I was kind of waiting to hear about the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide at some point. We live in a chemical environment and the deployment and control of harmful agents is needed and often thwarted by bad actors, but dose / selection are important factors as well.
March 10, 2021
I’ve never read Rachel Carson’s SILENT SPRING, but Shanna Swan and Stacey Colino’s COUNTDOWN rings a similar clarion call. Examining the precipitous decline in male sperm counts as well as other types of infertility faced by both men and women, they explain the roles that chemicals found all around us, in our food, our homes, even the air we breathe, have had in causing that decline — not just in the present generation but in subsequent ones as well. At times, the data can feel overwhelming and it is devastating. The book ends with things all of us can do to alter these impacts, many of which any individual can do on their own. Important on numerous levels, essential reading if you care about the future of humans as well as the other inhabitants of the earth.
February 16, 2023
This book is very enlightening and can be down right frightening. It highlights that our sperm counts have been dropping by 1% per year for the past 50 years, which means that we have half the sperm as did men in 1970. Women suffer similar downward trends. The book provides an array of statistics and studies to demonstrate how chemicals in our environments are affecting us. While the book can seem very doom and gloom the author highlights studies which show that we have the power to limit our exposure to altering chemicals and improve our reproductive chances (men more so than women). Overall the book does a good job in the end by proving practical steps everyone can take including using metal water bottles, not heating meals in plastic containers, etc. that can be helpful for anyone.
August 25, 2022
Massively disappointing. I’ve had this in my “to read” queue for over a year and was really excited when it was finally available through my library. Unfortunately, this book contains about one lengthy article’s worth of information stretched out to fill a book. Seriously, if you’ve read any credible article on the subject in recent years you already know everything this book can teach you. If on the other hand, you have never even heard of this issue, then this might be a good introduction to the subject.
Long story-short, male fertility (sperm count and motility) have dropped my more than half since the 1980s. Issues with female fertility and pregnancy complications have also skyrocketed in recent years (partly environmental but also due to women postponing pregnancy into their late 30s/40s). Reasons for this are numerous including: obesity, smoking, marijuana, heavy drinking, Tylenol use, cycling (for men), excessive exercise (impacting women’s menstrual cycle), cosmetics (perfumes, lotions, shampoos with unregulated and harmful chemicals), regular hot tub and sauna use, high beef-diet (cows are pumped full of hormones), cheese (made from cows pumped full of hormones), anti-depressants, opioids, and most of all plastics (which are full of chemical thalates, BPA, PVC that function as endocrine disrupters).
Again, pretty much everything I wrote above I previously read in much more cogently argued articles that are widely available. What was not covered in those articles was the question of whether or not the sudden rise in the number of gender dysphoria cases might be caused by greater exposure to anti-androgenic chemicals or endocrine disrupters (either in utero or prior to puberty). I previously assumed this phenomenon was largely (or even exclusively) the result of social contagion (i.e. teens and young adults pushing boundaries and trying to be popular or relevant). So in all honesty this question was rather intriguing and I was curious to see what the data showed. Sadly, the author spent roughly an eighth of the book speculating without any evidence one way or the other. But rest assured, she made sure to state multiple times that even if toxic chemicals are responsible for gender dysphoria, the rise of gender fluidity is something to be celebrated and embraced. OK. Thanks for that scientific analysis Doc.
OK, it pains me to give this one two stars, especially as I consider this issue critical to the future health and prosperity of the human race (let alone the billions of other creatures impacted by our choices). I genuinely want more people to gain awareness of this issue…I just think there are better sources of information that get the point across without wasting so much of your time.
Long story-short, male fertility (sperm count and motility) have dropped my more than half since the 1980s. Issues with female fertility and pregnancy complications have also skyrocketed in recent years (partly environmental but also due to women postponing pregnancy into their late 30s/40s). Reasons for this are numerous including: obesity, smoking, marijuana, heavy drinking, Tylenol use, cycling (for men), excessive exercise (impacting women’s menstrual cycle), cosmetics (perfumes, lotions, shampoos with unregulated and harmful chemicals), regular hot tub and sauna use, high beef-diet (cows are pumped full of hormones), cheese (made from cows pumped full of hormones), anti-depressants, opioids, and most of all plastics (which are full of chemical thalates, BPA, PVC that function as endocrine disrupters).
Again, pretty much everything I wrote above I previously read in much more cogently argued articles that are widely available. What was not covered in those articles was the question of whether or not the sudden rise in the number of gender dysphoria cases might be caused by greater exposure to anti-androgenic chemicals or endocrine disrupters (either in utero or prior to puberty). I previously assumed this phenomenon was largely (or even exclusively) the result of social contagion (i.e. teens and young adults pushing boundaries and trying to be popular or relevant). So in all honesty this question was rather intriguing and I was curious to see what the data showed. Sadly, the author spent roughly an eighth of the book speculating without any evidence one way or the other. But rest assured, she made sure to state multiple times that even if toxic chemicals are responsible for gender dysphoria, the rise of gender fluidity is something to be celebrated and embraced. OK. Thanks for that scientific analysis Doc.
OK, it pains me to give this one two stars, especially as I consider this issue critical to the future health and prosperity of the human race (let alone the billions of other creatures impacted by our choices). I genuinely want more people to gain awareness of this issue…I just think there are better sources of information that get the point across without wasting so much of your time.
May 12, 2021
I like this book, but it made me sad.
Swan highlights all of reasons fertility is declining in the United States. It's a very sad topic to read about fertility issues and how they devastate families, but thankfully it's more on facts than stories.
Some of the reasons for fertility issues stem from people have children at older ages. While this unfortunately affects women more, men also have declining fertility as they age. The other main reason highlighted in the book was the presence of endocrine disruptors, which have not been thoroughly regulated and affect many populations- not just human ones. Regulation of the chemical industry then appears to be more serious than previously thought and many common chemicals may be culprits from cosmetics to pesticides to air fresheners. The problem is that it seems nearly impossible to avoid all of them!
Swan also does an exploration of the demographic effects of declining fertility-- how the young generally support the elderly and the implications this has for the future. The scary part is that this topic isn't a hypothetical- it is already happening in some places and is starting to impact societies in others.
The reason I gave this book one less star is twofold: one is the topic is depressing and the other is that she really never talked about how the cost of childcare contributes to this issue. I know many people opting to have one child instead of two solely based on the rising cost of raising children in the United States. It is strange that she never delves into this topic as Universal Child Care is a hot button issue whose day has come.
Overall, I think this is an important book and everyone should read about this crisis to be aware of the issue.
Swan highlights all of reasons fertility is declining in the United States. It's a very sad topic to read about fertility issues and how they devastate families, but thankfully it's more on facts than stories.
Some of the reasons for fertility issues stem from people have children at older ages. While this unfortunately affects women more, men also have declining fertility as they age. The other main reason highlighted in the book was the presence of endocrine disruptors, which have not been thoroughly regulated and affect many populations- not just human ones. Regulation of the chemical industry then appears to be more serious than previously thought and many common chemicals may be culprits from cosmetics to pesticides to air fresheners. The problem is that it seems nearly impossible to avoid all of them!
Swan also does an exploration of the demographic effects of declining fertility-- how the young generally support the elderly and the implications this has for the future. The scary part is that this topic isn't a hypothetical- it is already happening in some places and is starting to impact societies in others.
The reason I gave this book one less star is twofold: one is the topic is depressing and the other is that she really never talked about how the cost of childcare contributes to this issue. I know many people opting to have one child instead of two solely based on the rising cost of raising children in the United States. It is strange that she never delves into this topic as Universal Child Care is a hot button issue whose day has come.
Overall, I think this is an important book and everyone should read about this crisis to be aware of the issue.
April 27, 2021
This is a book on an important topic, yet it still feels bland.
What I liked:
The book goes into great detail about how the phthalates, plasticizers, and other endocrine-disrupting chemicals are interfering with human and animal reproduction. It's a fascinating topic. The book describes how frogs, alligators, and other animals are impacted by this, but focuses on humans. We get some heartbreaking statistics. One that stuck with me is that by 2050, it is plausible that the ocean will contain more plastic than fish [page 144]. It makes you wonder what the impact of all that plastic will be.
On page 168, we find an interesting but brief analysis of how humans fit the standard for an endangered species based on the US Fish and Wildlife Service's requirements. There are five possible criteria:
1. present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of its habitat or range;
2. over-utilization of the species for commercial, recreational, scientific, or educational purposes;
3. disease or predation;
4. inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms; and
5. other natural or manmade factors affecting its continued existence.
All it takes is one of these criteria for a species to be considered endangered. But according to this book, humans fit three: points 1, 4, and 5.
This was particularly interesting, but it is not given great detail - barely 2 pages.
"Part IV: What We Can Do About This" contains 3 chapters, two of which are filled with ideas for reducing your chemical footprint. Chapter 11 includes common sense ideas such as: don't smoke, eat healthfully, and manage your stress levels. Chapter 12 has less obvious [but still kind of obvious] ideas such as: don't microwave plastic and don't use air fresheners. Another suggestion was to avoid antibacterial soaps, but it is not explained why. Do they or don't they contain endocrine disrupting chemicals?
I enjoyed the tips, but ultimately, haven't we all heard that you shouldn't microwave plastic? The tips were not very useful for me...maybe other people could use the advice though.
What I was ambivalent about
The book does go into great detail - typically in the form of streams of statistics and numbers. I don't know if it's possible to write a book like this without going into statistics, but it became boring and bland; I ended up skipping some of the numbers because, ultimately, it is meaningless to me and doesn't paint a vivid picture of what is actually happening.
Chapter 10 "Imminent Social Insecurities" discusses the question of why young people are having fewer babies. It is established that endocrine disruptors can lower people's libidos. When contemplating why youth in Japan and Singapore are not having children and prefer celibacy, the author says the reasons aren't well understood. She describes how men buy sex dolls and parade them around in wheelchairs. Another description tells us that in Singapore, the government had a campaign that suggested "The best role for women is at home." Despite the omnipresent handwringing about women waiting too long, the idea that they want fewer kids for reasons other than chemical interference isn't really addressed.
And that is where the biggest part of my ambivalence comes from: we get "chemical interference" as an explanation for a variety of things such as trans identification, homosexuality, spatial ability in girls, language skills in boys, and a desire to have less kids. Obviously endocrine disruptors can cause intersex conditions and other disorders of sexual development, but this other stuff has me less than convinced.
Chapter 4: Beyond Male And Female covers the topic of trans identification. I don't know if this chapter was necessary. It felt out of place to me, especially the weird pseudo science and the overabundance of pages to say...nothing at all. For example, the author says, "Getting to the root of whether endocrine disrupting chemicals are influencing gender identity is difficult" [page 60], then on the next page we get a strange attempt at measuring gender identity: a scale with masculine on one side and feminine on the other. People then state where they perceive themselves to be on the scale using questions about their hobbies, clothes and appearance, personality traits, and occupation to indicate how they feel about their gender. The study found that fewer than 1/3 of people saw themselves at the "maximum of their sex typical identification scale," meaning they felt they were a blend of masculine/feminine. This is not science...it doesn't even make sense. How is that different from having a personality? For years, feminist activists have been saying that your interests don't have to align with what is typical for your sex, but this section frames it as something atypical and caused by artificial tampering. How does a person's hobbies and interests really reveal anything deeper about the topic of the book, namely endocrine disruptors?
This section also discusses intersex disorders. It brings up an athlete named Caster Semenya who has been in the news as an intersex woman with what some see as an "unfair" advantage due to high testosterone levels. The book moralizes about how unfair it is for Caster, but leaves out the fact that she has XY chromosomes. My point is, this book didn't really stay focused on the topic of endocrine disruptors, especially in the first few chapters. These chapters instead had strange pseudo science, an overabundance of stats and numbers, and "interviews" that felt made up.
What I did NOT like
I picked up this book because I heard the author say in an interview that she believed it was plausible that by the year 2050, most humans won't be able to reproduce without assisted technology. Even the subtitle of the says that the future of the human race is "imperiled." But in the book itself, the impact that all this is going to have on future generations isn't really fleshed out. I hoped the book would put all the stats and numbers into some bigger context or critique; as it is, though, it just felt like a data dump. Some kind of bigger framework could have helped everything feel more cohesive. For example, it would have been interesting if the book took the idea of humans as an endangered species and framed the entire book around those points.
The book takes an interesting and potentially alarming concept and makes it bland. Parts were very repetitive. I got the impression the author was trying to make the book longer. I didn't walk away from this book with new knowledge - almost everything is stuff I have heard before. You could get the same information from a much shorter article.
Conclusion
Unless you know nothing about endocrine disruptors, I cannot recommend this book. Even then, you're not missing out if you just read an article on the topic. There simply isn't anything new in this book.
What I liked:
The book goes into great detail about how the phthalates, plasticizers, and other endocrine-disrupting chemicals are interfering with human and animal reproduction. It's a fascinating topic. The book describes how frogs, alligators, and other animals are impacted by this, but focuses on humans. We get some heartbreaking statistics. One that stuck with me is that by 2050, it is plausible that the ocean will contain more plastic than fish [page 144]. It makes you wonder what the impact of all that plastic will be.
On page 168, we find an interesting but brief analysis of how humans fit the standard for an endangered species based on the US Fish and Wildlife Service's requirements. There are five possible criteria:
1. present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of its habitat or range;
2. over-utilization of the species for commercial, recreational, scientific, or educational purposes;
3. disease or predation;
4. inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms; and
5. other natural or manmade factors affecting its continued existence.
All it takes is one of these criteria for a species to be considered endangered. But according to this book, humans fit three: points 1, 4, and 5.
This was particularly interesting, but it is not given great detail - barely 2 pages.
"Part IV: What We Can Do About This" contains 3 chapters, two of which are filled with ideas for reducing your chemical footprint. Chapter 11 includes common sense ideas such as: don't smoke, eat healthfully, and manage your stress levels. Chapter 12 has less obvious [but still kind of obvious] ideas such as: don't microwave plastic and don't use air fresheners. Another suggestion was to avoid antibacterial soaps, but it is not explained why. Do they or don't they contain endocrine disrupting chemicals?
I enjoyed the tips, but ultimately, haven't we all heard that you shouldn't microwave plastic? The tips were not very useful for me...maybe other people could use the advice though.
What I was ambivalent about
The book does go into great detail - typically in the form of streams of statistics and numbers. I don't know if it's possible to write a book like this without going into statistics, but it became boring and bland; I ended up skipping some of the numbers because, ultimately, it is meaningless to me and doesn't paint a vivid picture of what is actually happening.
Chapter 10 "Imminent Social Insecurities" discusses the question of why young people are having fewer babies. It is established that endocrine disruptors can lower people's libidos. When contemplating why youth in Japan and Singapore are not having children and prefer celibacy, the author says the reasons aren't well understood. She describes how men buy sex dolls and parade them around in wheelchairs. Another description tells us that in Singapore, the government had a campaign that suggested "The best role for women is at home." Despite the omnipresent handwringing about women waiting too long, the idea that they want fewer kids for reasons other than chemical interference isn't really addressed.
And that is where the biggest part of my ambivalence comes from: we get "chemical interference" as an explanation for a variety of things such as trans identification, homosexuality, spatial ability in girls, language skills in boys, and a desire to have less kids. Obviously endocrine disruptors can cause intersex conditions and other disorders of sexual development, but this other stuff has me less than convinced.
Chapter 4: Beyond Male And Female covers the topic of trans identification. I don't know if this chapter was necessary. It felt out of place to me, especially the weird pseudo science and the overabundance of pages to say...nothing at all. For example, the author says, "Getting to the root of whether endocrine disrupting chemicals are influencing gender identity is difficult" [page 60], then on the next page we get a strange attempt at measuring gender identity: a scale with masculine on one side and feminine on the other. People then state where they perceive themselves to be on the scale using questions about their hobbies, clothes and appearance, personality traits, and occupation to indicate how they feel about their gender. The study found that fewer than 1/3 of people saw themselves at the "maximum of their sex typical identification scale," meaning they felt they were a blend of masculine/feminine. This is not science...it doesn't even make sense. How is that different from having a personality? For years, feminist activists have been saying that your interests don't have to align with what is typical for your sex, but this section frames it as something atypical and caused by artificial tampering. How does a person's hobbies and interests really reveal anything deeper about the topic of the book, namely endocrine disruptors?
This section also discusses intersex disorders. It brings up an athlete named Caster Semenya who has been in the news as an intersex woman with what some see as an "unfair" advantage due to high testosterone levels. The book moralizes about how unfair it is for Caster, but leaves out the fact that she has XY chromosomes. My point is, this book didn't really stay focused on the topic of endocrine disruptors, especially in the first few chapters. These chapters instead had strange pseudo science, an overabundance of stats and numbers, and "interviews" that felt made up.
What I did NOT like
I picked up this book because I heard the author say in an interview that she believed it was plausible that by the year 2050, most humans won't be able to reproduce without assisted technology. Even the subtitle of the says that the future of the human race is "imperiled." But in the book itself, the impact that all this is going to have on future generations isn't really fleshed out. I hoped the book would put all the stats and numbers into some bigger context or critique; as it is, though, it just felt like a data dump. Some kind of bigger framework could have helped everything feel more cohesive. For example, it would have been interesting if the book took the idea of humans as an endangered species and framed the entire book around those points.
The book takes an interesting and potentially alarming concept and makes it bland. Parts were very repetitive. I got the impression the author was trying to make the book longer. I didn't walk away from this book with new knowledge - almost everything is stuff I have heard before. You could get the same information from a much shorter article.
Conclusion
Unless you know nothing about endocrine disruptors, I cannot recommend this book. Even then, you're not missing out if you just read an article on the topic. There simply isn't anything new in this book.
April 6, 2024
I disliked this book.
The tone of the book is off putting. It’s alarmist to things we largely have no control over as average citizens (plastics in the water/chemicals in the foods/toxins in the environment) and could only be altered by huge corporate regulations. It’s also trying too hard to be funny/conversational about a serious topic. We didn’t need that many euphemisms for sperm. Just call them sperm.
It actually seems impossible that all the data the author talks about are true, everyday women experience unwanted pregnancies. If infertility were as dire as this book makes it out to be that wouldn’t be the case.
The book goes into the “oh woe is me, I’m a man and no one ever told me I should check my sexual wellbeing and now that I did I feel like less of a man because I have issues with my semen” but doesn’t suggest that perhaps it should be a health recommendation that men regularly see a urologist the way women are advised to see a gynecologist.
The author actually suggests people who can give birth would be in better health later in life by having a child at age 15 (are you actually fucking kidding me) than someone who waits until 30 or doesn’t have a child at all. Because they will have a “break from period hormones/variations”…OR we could invent a medication that would mimic this (or modify one that already exists) for women to be on for 9 months so that they don’t have to have a BABY while they are still children themselves. There is plenty of evidence that being pregnant that young wreaks absolute havoc on the body.
The planet has so many people on it, perhaps we don’t need to worry about the birth rate decline. There is also little mention of how women have more option for birth control than ever before and how many people simply have NO desire to carry and birth a child as a reason for the declining birth rate. And further, who actually cares if the human race were to die out? We are killing the planet, and it’s sort of only fair the planet would try to kill us back. Why would we WANT the population to keep going up?! For what reason?? The birth rate declining is only a “problem” due to capitalism needing more workers for the system to churn through and exploit. We do not NEED more people, we need a new system.
The entire portion about Japan was lacking statistically and felt culturally insensitive and poorly researched.
We should also consider how much time and money we’ve poured into researching all of this. Could that money not have been more well spent on ending problems like childhood homelessness and hunger? To implementing social programs to help the children and families that are already in this world? This book seems to come from an unbelievably selfish place. Not everyone needs to have kids, not everyone should have kids, not everyone WANTS to have kids.
There is a (small) and very important section about what we are doing to the animals on the planet. They didn’t sign up for our micro-plastics and chemicals. But once again, it’s is an issue the average citizen cannot tackle. Again, no information is given about how to even begin contacting our government representatives to indicate we want a change.
On the downside, there’s a throwaway line about how antidepressants are excreted by humans (and medications sometimes flushed down the toilet) which is getting into our water and the author implies we shouldn’t be taking these drugs at all because of that. I absolutely do not agree with that conclusion in the slightest. Those drugs are vital to many people’s mental well-being. The answer is better filtering and regulation of our water supply, not depriving people of the meds that allow them to live without being in a constant state of distress. Regulation of our water is also a HUGE issue in the world and the book barely touches on everyday solutions (reverse osmosis) or getting in contact with your local water municipality to get stricter regulations in place for the community.
I read non-fiction to expand my knowledge base but this is the first book in a long time where I didn’t trust the author at their word or really care about the issue they were raising. I found myself saying “good” many, many times while reading. I’m glad it’s (allegedly) harder for people to thoughtlessly bring more children into this broken world. The discussion of epigenetics was interesting, and I think there’s a lot to be investigated there but again, there are better books for this. I don’t like that we’re being poisoned by the mere fact of existing in the era we do, but there are much better books that talk specifically about that topic and don’t talk about the length of a person’s taint ad nauseam.
Since reproductive rights are under attack in many countries, if you don’t want to have kids ~apparently~ all you have to do is smoke (or breath a lot of second hand smoke), have a high BMI, spend a lot of time in a sauna (if you have testicles), eat highly processed food and high mercury fish, don’t take any vitamin D, don’t exercise (or exercise “excessively”), be as stressed as possible at all times, consume as many chemicals as possible, put all to wall carpet in your house, never dust, wear your shoes indoors, buy flat pack furniture, fill your house with mothballs, and use every air freshener available. (The earlier the better so you can destroy your eggs at a young age.) As we all know, people who do these things never produce children.
/sarcasm
(this doesn’t even touch on how much privilege you’d have to have and how classist these “easy” suggestions are as a way to “increase your fertility”)
The tone of the book is off putting. It’s alarmist to things we largely have no control over as average citizens (plastics in the water/chemicals in the foods/toxins in the environment) and could only be altered by huge corporate regulations. It’s also trying too hard to be funny/conversational about a serious topic. We didn’t need that many euphemisms for sperm. Just call them sperm.
It actually seems impossible that all the data the author talks about are true, everyday women experience unwanted pregnancies. If infertility were as dire as this book makes it out to be that wouldn’t be the case.
The book goes into the “oh woe is me, I’m a man and no one ever told me I should check my sexual wellbeing and now that I did I feel like less of a man because I have issues with my semen” but doesn’t suggest that perhaps it should be a health recommendation that men regularly see a urologist the way women are advised to see a gynecologist.
The author actually suggests people who can give birth would be in better health later in life by having a child at age 15 (are you actually fucking kidding me) than someone who waits until 30 or doesn’t have a child at all. Because they will have a “break from period hormones/variations”…OR we could invent a medication that would mimic this (or modify one that already exists) for women to be on for 9 months so that they don’t have to have a BABY while they are still children themselves. There is plenty of evidence that being pregnant that young wreaks absolute havoc on the body.
The planet has so many people on it, perhaps we don’t need to worry about the birth rate decline. There is also little mention of how women have more option for birth control than ever before and how many people simply have NO desire to carry and birth a child as a reason for the declining birth rate. And further, who actually cares if the human race were to die out? We are killing the planet, and it’s sort of only fair the planet would try to kill us back. Why would we WANT the population to keep going up?! For what reason?? The birth rate declining is only a “problem” due to capitalism needing more workers for the system to churn through and exploit. We do not NEED more people, we need a new system.
The entire portion about Japan was lacking statistically and felt culturally insensitive and poorly researched.
We should also consider how much time and money we’ve poured into researching all of this. Could that money not have been more well spent on ending problems like childhood homelessness and hunger? To implementing social programs to help the children and families that are already in this world? This book seems to come from an unbelievably selfish place. Not everyone needs to have kids, not everyone should have kids, not everyone WANTS to have kids.
There is a (small) and very important section about what we are doing to the animals on the planet. They didn’t sign up for our micro-plastics and chemicals. But once again, it’s is an issue the average citizen cannot tackle. Again, no information is given about how to even begin contacting our government representatives to indicate we want a change.
On the downside, there’s a throwaway line about how antidepressants are excreted by humans (and medications sometimes flushed down the toilet) which is getting into our water and the author implies we shouldn’t be taking these drugs at all because of that. I absolutely do not agree with that conclusion in the slightest. Those drugs are vital to many people’s mental well-being. The answer is better filtering and regulation of our water supply, not depriving people of the meds that allow them to live without being in a constant state of distress. Regulation of our water is also a HUGE issue in the world and the book barely touches on everyday solutions (reverse osmosis) or getting in contact with your local water municipality to get stricter regulations in place for the community.
I read non-fiction to expand my knowledge base but this is the first book in a long time where I didn’t trust the author at their word or really care about the issue they were raising. I found myself saying “good” many, many times while reading. I’m glad it’s (allegedly) harder for people to thoughtlessly bring more children into this broken world. The discussion of epigenetics was interesting, and I think there’s a lot to be investigated there but again, there are better books for this. I don’t like that we’re being poisoned by the mere fact of existing in the era we do, but there are much better books that talk specifically about that topic and don’t talk about the length of a person’s taint ad nauseam.
Since reproductive rights are under attack in many countries, if you don’t want to have kids ~apparently~ all you have to do is smoke (or breath a lot of second hand smoke), have a high BMI, spend a lot of time in a sauna (if you have testicles), eat highly processed food and high mercury fish, don’t take any vitamin D, don’t exercise (or exercise “excessively”), be as stressed as possible at all times, consume as many chemicals as possible, put all to wall carpet in your house, never dust, wear your shoes indoors, buy flat pack furniture, fill your house with mothballs, and use every air freshener available. (The earlier the better so you can destroy your eggs at a young age.) As we all know, people who do these things never produce children.
/sarcasm
(this doesn’t even touch on how much privilege you’d have to have and how classist these “easy” suggestions are as a way to “increase your fertility”)
January 2, 2022
The tone of the book is annoying. The whole thing could have been much shorter. I already knew most of the info, but it is still important.
Two things annoy me: restaurant food is the worst, I get that, but ALL restaurant food? Fast food and five star restaurants? I need more information on that one.
They know that porn watching can cause ED. But why hasn’t anyone looked into the testosterone draining effects of excessive masturbation? The ancient Romans weren’t allowed to have sex during summer war campaigns so as not to deplete their “manliness.” Why would that be any less true today? Sultans with harems were generally infertile after age thirty, that was a known thing. A major change that has happened in the last forty years that no one talks about is that young men are masturbating a lot more than they ever have in the history of the human race. (This is an assumption based on the fact that it is accepted and even encouraged today whereas in the past our ancestors discouraged it in almost every culture.) Why has that not been studied as a source of testosterone depletion?
The most interesting thing this book had to offer — that it did not follow through on — was a biological basis for gender dysphoria. It was so interesting to hear that animals exposed to chemicals will become homosexual or act not according to their gender. It’s fascinating that boy fetuses exposed to too many estrogens will have a short anogenital distance (more like a woman’s) and be likely to be infertile. If homosexuality clearly has a biological cause in the animal kingdom, why aren’t we exploring that in the human realm? Not to mention gender dysphoria. Especially if the problem is at extinction levels as she claims. I don’t know if there is no science on these issues or if she cannot discuss it as, quickly after she explains the dire circumstances of hormone imbalances in the animal (including human) kingdom, she says how great she thinks transsexuals are. So I have no idea if she shut that door of interesting ideas or if it was shut for her by her editor.
Super frustrating that anogenital distance is such a good predictor of chemical exposures in utero, but no one cares. Every baby isn’t measured. I can’t even find statistics on what average measurements are so I can measure my own newborns.
Two things annoy me: restaurant food is the worst, I get that, but ALL restaurant food? Fast food and five star restaurants? I need more information on that one.
They know that porn watching can cause ED. But why hasn’t anyone looked into the testosterone draining effects of excessive masturbation? The ancient Romans weren’t allowed to have sex during summer war campaigns so as not to deplete their “manliness.” Why would that be any less true today? Sultans with harems were generally infertile after age thirty, that was a known thing. A major change that has happened in the last forty years that no one talks about is that young men are masturbating a lot more than they ever have in the history of the human race. (This is an assumption based on the fact that it is accepted and even encouraged today whereas in the past our ancestors discouraged it in almost every culture.) Why has that not been studied as a source of testosterone depletion?
The most interesting thing this book had to offer — that it did not follow through on — was a biological basis for gender dysphoria. It was so interesting to hear that animals exposed to chemicals will become homosexual or act not according to their gender. It’s fascinating that boy fetuses exposed to too many estrogens will have a short anogenital distance (more like a woman’s) and be likely to be infertile. If homosexuality clearly has a biological cause in the animal kingdom, why aren’t we exploring that in the human realm? Not to mention gender dysphoria. Especially if the problem is at extinction levels as she claims. I don’t know if there is no science on these issues or if she cannot discuss it as, quickly after she explains the dire circumstances of hormone imbalances in the animal (including human) kingdom, she says how great she thinks transsexuals are. So I have no idea if she shut that door of interesting ideas or if it was shut for her by her editor.
Super frustrating that anogenital distance is such a good predictor of chemical exposures in utero, but no one cares. Every baby isn’t measured. I can’t even find statistics on what average measurements are so I can measure my own newborns.
February 1, 2022
There’s a lot more freaky stuff here than just sperm counts.
If anyone needs me, I’ll be living in an organic dirt pit from now on, weaving hempen tunics.
If anyone needs me, I’ll be living in an organic dirt pit from now on, weaving hempen tunics.
March 11, 2022
I liked this book a lot for its content but agree with other reviewers that the tone could be grating. It couldn’t decide between thinking the audience were a bunch of nincompoops and trusting us to be smart enough to understand, which I think is a general problem public health people have. That said, I enjoyed the science a lot and found chapter 6 especially helpful to help me reduce edcs in my house.
February 1, 2024
I would give 5 stars for the info here! It’s important information I wish more people knew and would be taken more seriously! However I think this could’ve been a bit shorter, there was quite a lot of repetition. I also wasn’t a huge fan of the writing style.
December 24, 2021
A book that caught my attention after reading several articles on this topic in NY times and the Economist. It's not just about human fertility but also about the impact of chemicals, climate change and nowadays stressors (sedentarism, obesity) on our every day life and how they affect not just our human body but also other species of animals and insects which are also going extinct. Also, human fertility decline is not just a biological issue, it is also a choice that has many personal and social reasons but also consequences at a macro level. All in all, a future similar to the Handmaid's tale scenario is not that impossible.
March 31, 2021
Pretty interesting but at times the tone is so weirdly conversational (ending a bleak string of stats with a “Gee golly, imagine that!”—that kind of tone). There’s also a couple deeply unfortunate pages where the writers explore Japan, “that wacky land of sex dolls and for-hire families.” (I will grant you that this is my language, but the tone is very much the same in the book.) And for a book that’s really about systemic and environmental issues, it’s a little weird that all its recommendations center on individual actions like not microwaving plastic containers.
October 13, 2023
Actually took a year to read, in short plastic kills Sperm. Could of been a one page book.
June 13, 2021
If you're a woman over 30 probably best to skip over the first few chapters and spare yourself the bludgeoning.
The rest of the book though... scary. And legit science. Much of this info about pollutants and compounds in household items has been known for years, especially among chemists. But to hear it all put together in one book and linked to the biological effects associated with it - very unsettling.
A must read for everyone who cares for their health or the health of their children.
The rest of the book though... scary. And legit science. Much of this info about pollutants and compounds in household items has been known for years, especially among chemists. But to hear it all put together in one book and linked to the biological effects associated with it - very unsettling.
A must read for everyone who cares for their health or the health of their children.
October 17, 2022
In line with how it’s been promoted, I expected this book to be somewhat akin to Silent Spring, but sadly it falls short. Instead, while it does include some interesting theories about the dangers of phthalate and PFA exposure for human and animal endocrine and reproductive systems, which Shanna Swan is no doubt an expert in, there’s also quite some shockingly poorly written and researched sections about things which are far from her area of expertise, and these sections are so ill researched some of the theories touted verge on pure conjecture.
Take the section on Japan, for example. As someone who used to live in rural Japan in an area where the population has declined so much that village schools have shut down for lack of children, I found myself literally laughing out loud at the reasons this book suggested for population decline in East Asia, such as a diet high in soy products leading to a drop in male testosterone levels, a myth which has been debunked. Her primary reference on Japan seemed to be one Japanese hairdresser living in San Francisco and a bunch of ‘weird Japan’ articles from tabloid news outlets about family rental services and men falling in love with sex dolls, which in spite of Swan’s ridiculous claims are far from common. The reality is that Japan is suffering from a toxic mix of shitty working conditions under a political climate that offers nothing but neoliberalism on steroids, stifling patriarchal attitudes. What Swan seemed to fail to grasp is that just like many of us in Europe, the US and elsewhere, Japanese young people don’t know how they’re ever going to be financially secure enough to support themselves, let alone any children. So no, it’s not the tofu.
Take the section on Japan, for example. As someone who used to live in rural Japan in an area where the population has declined so much that village schools have shut down for lack of children, I found myself literally laughing out loud at the reasons this book suggested for population decline in East Asia, such as a diet high in soy products leading to a drop in male testosterone levels, a myth which has been debunked. Her primary reference on Japan seemed to be one Japanese hairdresser living in San Francisco and a bunch of ‘weird Japan’ articles from tabloid news outlets about family rental services and men falling in love with sex dolls, which in spite of Swan’s ridiculous claims are far from common. The reality is that Japan is suffering from a toxic mix of shitty working conditions under a political climate that offers nothing but neoliberalism on steroids, stifling patriarchal attitudes. What Swan seemed to fail to grasp is that just like many of us in Europe, the US and elsewhere, Japanese young people don’t know how they’re ever going to be financially secure enough to support themselves, let alone any children. So no, it’s not the tofu.
October 27, 2021
Woah. This book is alarming. It's basically telling us that everyday life is slowly killing us and might be the end of our species if we don't make changes. Endocrine disrupting chemicals are EVERYWHERE - perfumes, soaps, toys, flame retardant clothing, pesticides.. the list goes on and on. 59% drop in sperm counts, fertility drops, sexual health issues being just some of the outcomes of our current "normal" way of living. This could be the most important book I've read this year.
September 21, 2022
It’s a really interesting and concerning book.
Sometimes it fells off a little bit because its quite cientific and have a lot of especific concepts, but it should be more popular and talked about.
Not gonna lie, it was also a bit scary reading this book and learning that my reproduction options are dropping down each year.
Sometimes it fells off a little bit because its quite cientific and have a lot of especific concepts, but it should be more popular and talked about.
Not gonna lie, it was also a bit scary reading this book and learning that my reproduction options are dropping down each year.
July 25, 2022
Extremely important intervention in a disturbing, saddeningly neglected public health crisis. The effects of endocrine disruptors on reproductive health, sexual development, sexual behavior, mental health, and beyond for both animal and human species are extensive, disturbing, and directly tied to the profit-seeking behavior of corporations (and government enablers). Countdown is a clarion call for greater public awareness of the effects these ubiquitous chemicals as well as stringent regulation and reduction of the environmental presence of these substances found in plastic and metal containers, cosmetics, hygiene products (e.g. deodorants), and beyond for the sake of human reproductive health. The author is an endocrinologist with decades of research experience, using her own studies as part of the body of support for her argument.
It’s fairly well-known that birth rates have been declining significantly in Western democracies for decades. Socioeconomic explanations are usually advanced to account for this, given that higher earnings tend to correlate with individuals choosing to have fewer children as do advances in political rights for women. Swan argues these explanations are insufficient, controlling for these and other variables to establish that for generations American women have seen steep declines in fertility. It’s so dire that 35-year-old women were shown to have considerably higher fertility rates than 25-year-old women several decades later. This has been accompanied by increases in ectopic pregnancies (wherein the egg is implanted outside of the womb), miscarriages, birth defects, and other serious reproductive outcomes. These issues are directly linked with male-related issues of decreases in sperm counts, motility, and morphology (in addition to the consistently declining testosterone levels).
What’s driving the increased incidence of these reproductive problems? Endocrine disruptors. And…they…are…everywhere. You cannot avoid them. Seriously. Bisphenol-A (BPAs) and phthalates are commonly found in plastic bottles and containers (you’d better microwave those leftovers on a glass plate), PFAS are non-stick coatings frequently used in cookware (is this the cost for avoiding burnt eggs?), dioxins are widely used in manufacturing processes and therefore frequently wind up in foods (mostly animal products, time to go vegan), flame retardants are commonly used in furniture and other products. Unfortunately, the list of these chemicals as well as the products and items that harbor them is much longer (fragrances, shampoos, even toys!). Worse yet, they are extremely difficult to destroy. Meaning, they tend to accumulate in both the body and environment and spread endlessly, wreaking reproductive havoc all up and down the food chain. These endocrine disruptors affect our body’s normal endocrinological processes, which in turn affects…disrupts…our reproductive abilities. They are now even part of our atmosphere.
Who is responsible for the spread of these endocrine disruptors? Corporations (and the governments that “regulate” them). Swan details the history of industrial research and development of chemicals for the sake of cheapening production costs as well as industry’s awareness of their hazards. As an example, even in the 1930s it was observed by scientists that BPAs mimic estrogen. Swan offers numerous other examples highlighting the knowledge corporations had of the dangers of these chemicals, long before broader public awareness, as well as the deceptions and manipulations they have taken to keep profit margins high at the expense of public reproductive health. Swan gives the example of an endocrine disrupting chemical that was banned from an industrial process for its effects…only to be replaced by a chemical that had the exact same effects. Efforts to regulate and tamp down the usage and spread of these chemicals have met with stiff resistance due to intense lobbying as well as misinformation campaigns by these bad actors.
Swan also links the increased presence of endocrine disruptors in the environment to changes in sexual biology and behavior across species. The effects of endocrine disruptors on wildlife have been widely studied and established, linking them with the increased numbers of intersex organisms (especially in marine life) as well as the increased incidence of same-sex sexual behaviors in organisms. Swan takes it a step further, bringing forth research establishing that humans are no exception to this pattern. Swan argues that much of what is driving what has been termed “gender fluidity”—transgenderism, homosexuality in various forms, and other sexual behaviors to a heightened frequency—is corollary of the increased presence of endocrine disruptors in the environment. Needless to say, no matter how much hard science Swan brings to bear this is a highly controversial take given the implication of homosexual behavior as “aberrant.” She takes care to disabuse the reader of notions of any malevolent or prejudicial intentions, but my sense is many will not take kindly to her points.
As though the existence and durability of these scary chemicals aren’t troubling enough, Swan brings forth more bad news: the effects of endocrine disruptors on human DNA can be permanent. For all their horror, it would be less disturbing if it were at least the case that a “reset” button gets hit for the next generation and our progeny start from square one. Not the case. The effects are cumulative and transgenerational; endocrine disruptors change up your genome. So, your children (if you even manage to have them) inherit your damage at the point of their conception AND continue to amass damage as they are exposed to these chemicals throughout life (and in utero). Those endocrine disrupting toys are only the beginning. Swan argues that this has immense implications for the continued existence of humanity and, frankly, it is difficult to see how this can be interpreted as hyperbolic given the stark and worsening rates across various measures of reproductive behavior and health.
So, why in the world are such potent, dangerous chemicals so ubiquitous in the environment and man-made processes and products? Especially given that the awareness of their dangers dates back at least as far as the 1930s? One would assume, given that these substances have this serious an effect on reproduction, sexual behavior (they are also tied to lower libido in men and women and probably also explain why younger adolescent/young adult populations are having a lot less sex compared to previous generations), and health (increased rates of birth defects, autism, and other disorders are linked to endocrine disruptors as well), that governments would act urgently and decisively to mitigate the crisis. Is there not more that can be done? Swan does not speculate on motivations beyond those economic. Personally, I think it’s worth considering whether some folks in high places want these chemicals in the environment in order to control the population—behaviorally as well as numerically. Not that they necessarily put them there, but rather knowing their effects they do not take meaningful effort to stop them. Hey, I can’t bring out direct proof but I think a lot of times you can tell elites’ motivations by what they DON’T act on just as well as you can tell by what they do. What’s stopping them? Not us little people, that’s for sure.
Alongside Swan’s resounding call to action is her offering of a sliver of hope—that if action is taken NOW, it is possible to reduce the damage (on human DNA and reproductive processes) and reverse the presence of endocrine disrupting hormones in the environment. On an individual level, there are actions one can take such as avoiding cosmetics and hygiene products with endocrine disrupting chemicals and avoiding non-stick cookware. More research has to be conducted on how to get these chemicals out of the environment and our bodies. The efforts of governments and corporations, their feet held to the fire by an informed and vigilant public, will be wholly necessary toward the end of rectifying this crisis.
I appreciate that the author is not only a skilled researcher but also possesses some ability to effectively spread the message, as she’s been on numerous media platforms and has built an online presence. It remains to be seen to what extent the message will stick and catalyze broader public action, but anyone who cares about the future of humanity—and their own potential future offspring—should take heed.
It’s fairly well-known that birth rates have been declining significantly in Western democracies for decades. Socioeconomic explanations are usually advanced to account for this, given that higher earnings tend to correlate with individuals choosing to have fewer children as do advances in political rights for women. Swan argues these explanations are insufficient, controlling for these and other variables to establish that for generations American women have seen steep declines in fertility. It’s so dire that 35-year-old women were shown to have considerably higher fertility rates than 25-year-old women several decades later. This has been accompanied by increases in ectopic pregnancies (wherein the egg is implanted outside of the womb), miscarriages, birth defects, and other serious reproductive outcomes. These issues are directly linked with male-related issues of decreases in sperm counts, motility, and morphology (in addition to the consistently declining testosterone levels).
What’s driving the increased incidence of these reproductive problems? Endocrine disruptors. And…they…are…everywhere. You cannot avoid them. Seriously. Bisphenol-A (BPAs) and phthalates are commonly found in plastic bottles and containers (you’d better microwave those leftovers on a glass plate), PFAS are non-stick coatings frequently used in cookware (is this the cost for avoiding burnt eggs?), dioxins are widely used in manufacturing processes and therefore frequently wind up in foods (mostly animal products, time to go vegan), flame retardants are commonly used in furniture and other products. Unfortunately, the list of these chemicals as well as the products and items that harbor them is much longer (fragrances, shampoos, even toys!). Worse yet, they are extremely difficult to destroy. Meaning, they tend to accumulate in both the body and environment and spread endlessly, wreaking reproductive havoc all up and down the food chain. These endocrine disruptors affect our body’s normal endocrinological processes, which in turn affects…disrupts…our reproductive abilities. They are now even part of our atmosphere.
Who is responsible for the spread of these endocrine disruptors? Corporations (and the governments that “regulate” them). Swan details the history of industrial research and development of chemicals for the sake of cheapening production costs as well as industry’s awareness of their hazards. As an example, even in the 1930s it was observed by scientists that BPAs mimic estrogen. Swan offers numerous other examples highlighting the knowledge corporations had of the dangers of these chemicals, long before broader public awareness, as well as the deceptions and manipulations they have taken to keep profit margins high at the expense of public reproductive health. Swan gives the example of an endocrine disrupting chemical that was banned from an industrial process for its effects…only to be replaced by a chemical that had the exact same effects. Efforts to regulate and tamp down the usage and spread of these chemicals have met with stiff resistance due to intense lobbying as well as misinformation campaigns by these bad actors.
Swan also links the increased presence of endocrine disruptors in the environment to changes in sexual biology and behavior across species. The effects of endocrine disruptors on wildlife have been widely studied and established, linking them with the increased numbers of intersex organisms (especially in marine life) as well as the increased incidence of same-sex sexual behaviors in organisms. Swan takes it a step further, bringing forth research establishing that humans are no exception to this pattern. Swan argues that much of what is driving what has been termed “gender fluidity”—transgenderism, homosexuality in various forms, and other sexual behaviors to a heightened frequency—is corollary of the increased presence of endocrine disruptors in the environment. Needless to say, no matter how much hard science Swan brings to bear this is a highly controversial take given the implication of homosexual behavior as “aberrant.” She takes care to disabuse the reader of notions of any malevolent or prejudicial intentions, but my sense is many will not take kindly to her points.
As though the existence and durability of these scary chemicals aren’t troubling enough, Swan brings forth more bad news: the effects of endocrine disruptors on human DNA can be permanent. For all their horror, it would be less disturbing if it were at least the case that a “reset” button gets hit for the next generation and our progeny start from square one. Not the case. The effects are cumulative and transgenerational; endocrine disruptors change up your genome. So, your children (if you even manage to have them) inherit your damage at the point of their conception AND continue to amass damage as they are exposed to these chemicals throughout life (and in utero). Those endocrine disrupting toys are only the beginning. Swan argues that this has immense implications for the continued existence of humanity and, frankly, it is difficult to see how this can be interpreted as hyperbolic given the stark and worsening rates across various measures of reproductive behavior and health.
So, why in the world are such potent, dangerous chemicals so ubiquitous in the environment and man-made processes and products? Especially given that the awareness of their dangers dates back at least as far as the 1930s? One would assume, given that these substances have this serious an effect on reproduction, sexual behavior (they are also tied to lower libido in men and women and probably also explain why younger adolescent/young adult populations are having a lot less sex compared to previous generations), and health (increased rates of birth defects, autism, and other disorders are linked to endocrine disruptors as well), that governments would act urgently and decisively to mitigate the crisis. Is there not more that can be done? Swan does not speculate on motivations beyond those economic. Personally, I think it’s worth considering whether some folks in high places want these chemicals in the environment in order to control the population—behaviorally as well as numerically. Not that they necessarily put them there, but rather knowing their effects they do not take meaningful effort to stop them. Hey, I can’t bring out direct proof but I think a lot of times you can tell elites’ motivations by what they DON’T act on just as well as you can tell by what they do. What’s stopping them? Not us little people, that’s for sure.
Alongside Swan’s resounding call to action is her offering of a sliver of hope—that if action is taken NOW, it is possible to reduce the damage (on human DNA and reproductive processes) and reverse the presence of endocrine disrupting hormones in the environment. On an individual level, there are actions one can take such as avoiding cosmetics and hygiene products with endocrine disrupting chemicals and avoiding non-stick cookware. More research has to be conducted on how to get these chemicals out of the environment and our bodies. The efforts of governments and corporations, their feet held to the fire by an informed and vigilant public, will be wholly necessary toward the end of rectifying this crisis.
I appreciate that the author is not only a skilled researcher but also possesses some ability to effectively spread the message, as she’s been on numerous media platforms and has built an online presence. It remains to be seen to what extent the message will stick and catalyze broader public action, but anyone who cares about the future of humanity—and their own potential future offspring—should take heed.
September 19, 2021
I picked up this book from the episode Shanna Swan went on Joe Rogan's podcast. The material itself was mindblowing at the time. How can our sperm count?
After reading the book, I have to say the podcast was much more interesting than the book itself. It was not well written. It was just hard to read with scientific jargon and not-so-interesting stories.
I was much expecting a scary downhill line chart of how our sperms have been going down year after year in the past century. None was in the book. Numerically speaking, I could only find 1 paragraph describing WHO estimates of our sperm count threshold had been reduced.
Another part I would complain is she wasn't particularly set on the target audience. Given the nature of topic, I had assumed the male audience was the primary audience. Instead, she goes back on the topic of female fertility in every chapter. I know she wants to educate us both (especially male?). But I didn't come to this book to learn about menopause.
How much I wished she focused solely on the topic of sperm. What was the symbolic nature of sperm historically? Where did this stereotype of blaming women for infertility come from? Each of them deserves a full chapter on its own. That would have made an amazing book.
In the podcast, they've discussed why this information is not widespread to the general public. I could instantly tell the answer. The book wasn't as well written as the topic deserves.
After reading the book, I have to say the podcast was much more interesting than the book itself. It was not well written. It was just hard to read with scientific jargon and not-so-interesting stories.
I was much expecting a scary downhill line chart of how our sperms have been going down year after year in the past century. None was in the book. Numerically speaking, I could only find 1 paragraph describing WHO estimates of our sperm count threshold had been reduced.
Another part I would complain is she wasn't particularly set on the target audience. Given the nature of topic, I had assumed the male audience was the primary audience. Instead, she goes back on the topic of female fertility in every chapter. I know she wants to educate us both (especially male?). But I didn't come to this book to learn about menopause.
How much I wished she focused solely on the topic of sperm. What was the symbolic nature of sperm historically? Where did this stereotype of blaming women for infertility come from? Each of them deserves a full chapter on its own. That would have made an amazing book.
In the podcast, they've discussed why this information is not widespread to the general public. I could instantly tell the answer. The book wasn't as well written as the topic deserves.
April 16, 2021
This book tries to do too much in a scant 215 pages. There is a core of valuable information, based on Shanna Swan’s scientific research, about the impact on human fertility and sexual development of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs a.k.a. plastics) in the environment. The recommendations at the end for personal and societal changes are not unhelpful. But the useful information is intercut with chapters on infertility in general, with lots of handwringing about demographic decline and harangues on avoiding smoking, alcohol, and waiting too long, that I could have gotten from Buzzfeed. There is one chapter that wades bravely into the gender swamp and, not surprisingly, doesn’t manage to say much of anything. There is a chapter on epigenetics and one on the effects of EDCs on other species. There is some bad writing—and I quote—no bueno. A book that presents the science and history of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in our environment clearly for the lay reader would be valuable, but this is not that book.
June 25, 2021
7/10
Most women at 25, are less fertile than their grandmothers would have been at 35.
Fertility is dropping at a rate of approximately 1% per year.
There has been almost a 50% decline in sperm count in the last 40 years, partially relating to environmental factors. Swan postulates that these same factors have something to do with the rise in gender fluidity, which was fairly surprising to hear.
These are just a few of the surprising things I learned in Count Down. That being said, I can't say I'm terribly worried about population decline among humans, given that humanity is still increasing at a rate of just over 1% per year. Still, Swan raises important questions that need to be considered. She also needs to consider her tone, which sounds to casual for a book whose data is serious. She calls sperm "little swimmers" multiple times.
Most women at 25, are less fertile than their grandmothers would have been at 35.
Fertility is dropping at a rate of approximately 1% per year.
There has been almost a 50% decline in sperm count in the last 40 years, partially relating to environmental factors. Swan postulates that these same factors have something to do with the rise in gender fluidity, which was fairly surprising to hear.
These are just a few of the surprising things I learned in Count Down. That being said, I can't say I'm terribly worried about population decline among humans, given that humanity is still increasing at a rate of just over 1% per year. Still, Swan raises important questions that need to be considered. She also needs to consider her tone, which sounds to casual for a book whose data is serious. She calls sperm "little swimmers" multiple times.
April 22, 2022
“Count Down” is a great book that anyone interested in health should read. This is not a normal book, I see it more as a scientific paper written in a book so anyone can understand it. Dr. Shanna H. Swan has some serious topics to talk about in her book of which she shares clear data about how humans are forever damaging future generations by the unintended massive consumption of chemicals we are getting into our biological systems. I encourage everyone to read this book, even if its not something fun to read, it is necessary to do so. I will certainly change my daily routing after reading this. I’ll leave you with a quote from the book, maybe it will open some people’s eyes; “ I see this as both a scientific and a moral imperative, because otherwise we and other species could end up marching toward the brink of extinction or obsolescence”.
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