Imagine a World with Few Men

HEALTH - Something is wrong with male birth rates around the world: They are dropping dramatically.

Approx. 1 million less boys are being born each year.

Scientists and doctors are pointing the finger at petrochemicals and specific chemicals like Polycarbonate which are used in baby bottles, toys, DVDs and a huge variety of products, and similar chemicals are used in food, drinks, pesticides and air fresheners. Polycarbonate blocks testosterone levels in the fetus and acts like synthetic estrogen, thus causing more girls to be born than boys.

The drop accounts for 2% of the world's male baby population (2008) and a 2% increase in female births, but is getting progressively worse in industrialized countries where people are exposed to more man-made chemicals. Its not just in our food and water, its also in the air we breathe.

For example in the native community of Aamjiwnaang in Canada (which is downwind from a petrochemical plant) the birth rate of males has dropped to half that of the female birth rate.

The rate of birth defects has also risen significantly, resulting in deformed penises, smaller penises, inverted testicles and infertility (all signs that the fetuses were exposed to synthetic estrogen in the womb).

Scientists are looking at the raw statistics of male births vs female births, the combined statistics for birth defects, and are growing concerned that the normal "male" as we know it may be in short supply 20 or 50 years from now.

So now our topic at hand: Imagine if 50 years from now "normal men" were very rare. Oh sure, we'd still have some men, but the short supply of them will have deformed smaller penises, infertility, etc. and be unable to reproduce. Women might very well become dependent on sperm donors just to become pregnant.

Sounds a bit like science fiction or the Hand Maids Tale, doesn't it? Some men and women might even welcome the idea of less men walking around (less annoyance for the women and less competition for the men), but what if this seriously effects the future of the human species?

Well, some countries are taking the matter seriously. Canada (as of April 2008) is working to ban such plastics in baby bottles, and this ban may spread to other products too.

See Also:

Pollution: Where have all the boys gone?

The Disappearing Male and Petrochemicals