Exposure to Phthalates Decreases Testosterone and Sperm Quality in Men

[Nelson Vergel]

Phthalates are used in a large variety of products, from enteric coatings of pharmaceutical tablets and nutritional supplements to viscosity control agents, gelling agents, film formers, stabilizers,dispersants, lubricants, binders, emulsifying agents, and suspending agents. End-applications include adhesives and glues, electronics, agricultural adjuvants, building materials, personal-care products, medical devices, detergents and surfactants, packaging, children's toys, modeling clay, waxes, paints, printing inks and coatings, pharmaceuticals, food products, and textiles.


Phthalates are easily released into the environment because there is no covalent bond between the phthalates and plastics in which they are mixed. As plastics age and break down, the release of phthalates accelerates. People are commonly exposed to phthalates, and most Americans tested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have metabolites of multiple phthalates in their urine. Because phthalate plasticizers are not chemically bound to PVC, they can easily leach and evaporate into food or the atmosphere. Phthalate exposure can be through direct use or by indirect means through leaching and general environmental contamination. Diet is believed to be the main source of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and other phthalates in the general population. Fatty foods such as milk, butter, and meats are a major source.



Reprod Toxicol. 2013 Oct 15. pii: S0890-6238(13)00356-0. doi: 10.1016/j.reprotox.2013.10.001. [Epub ahead of print]

Human urinary phthalate metabolites level and main semen parameters, sperm chromatin structure, sperm aneuploidy and reproductive hormones.

Jurewicz J, Hanke W, Radwan M, Sobala W, Ligocka D, Radwan P, Bochenek M, Hawuła W, Jakubowski L.

Source

Department of Environmental Epidemiology; Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Lodz, Poland (address: 8 Teresy St; 91-362 Lodz, Poland). Electronic address: [email protected].

Abstract

The aim of the study was to assess the association of phthalate metabolites levels in urine with semen parameters (sperm concentration, motility, morphology, CASA parameters), sperm chromatin structure, sperm aneuploidy and reproductive hormones. The study population consisted of 269 men who were attending an infertility clinic and had normal semen concentration (20-300 mln/ml) or slight oligozoospermia (15-20 mln/ml). Participants were interviewed and provided a semen sample. The phthalate metabolites were analysed in the urine using a procedure based on the LC-MS/MS method. Urinary phthalate metabolites levels were significantly associated with a decrease in sperm motility (5OH MEHP, MEHP, MINP), CASA parameters (MBP), testosterone level (MEHP) and an increase sperm DNA damage (MBP) and sperm aneuploidy (MBzP, MBP, MEHP, MEP). In view of the importance of human reproductive health and the widespread usage of phthalates, it is important to further investigate these correlations.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2014 Aug 14:jc20142555. [Epub ahead of print]

Urinary Phthalate Metabolites Are Associated With Decreased Serum Testosterone in Men, Women, and Children From NHANES 2011-2012.

Meeker JD1, Ferguson KK.

Abstract

Context: There is evidence of declining trends in T levels among men in recent decades, as well as trends in related conditions at multiple life stages and in both sexes. There is also animal and limited human evidence that exposure to phthalates, chemicals found in plastics and personal care products, is associated with reduced androgen levels and associated disorders. Objective: To explore relationships between urinary concentrations of 13 phthalate metabolites and serum total T levels among men, women, and children when adjusting for important confounders and stratifying by sex and age (6-12, 12-20, 20-40, 40-60, and 60-80 y). Design: A cross-sectional study. Setting: US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2011-2012. Patients or Other Participants: US general population.

Interventions: None Main Outcome

Measures: Serum total T measured by isotope dilution-liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Results: Multiple phthalates were associated with significantly reduced T in both sexes and in differing age groups. In females, the strongest and most consistent inverse relationships were found among women ages 40-60 years. In boys 6-12 years old, an interquartile range increase in metabolites of di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate was associated with a 29% (95% confidence interval, 6, 47) reduction in T. In adult men, the only significant or suggestive inverse associations between phthalates (metabolites of di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate and dibutyl phthalate) and T were observed among men ages 40-60 years.

Conclusions: Because T plays an important role in all life stages for both sexes, future efforts should focus on better defining these relationships and their broader impacts.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Are you killing your fertility with plastics?

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Urinary bisphenol-A, phthalate metabolites and body composition in US adults, NHANES 1999-2006.

Corbasson I, et al. Int J Environ Health Res. 2016 Oct-Dec.

Authors
Corbasson I1, Hankinson SE1, Stanek EJ 3rd1, Reeves KW1.
Author information
1a Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology , University of Massachusetts Amherst , Amherst , MA , USA.
Citation
Int J Environ Health Res. 2016 Oct-Dec;26(5-6):606-17. doi: 10.1080/09603123.2016.1233524. Epub 2016 Sep 19.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Exposure to bisphenol-A (BPA) and phthalates is highly prevalent. Prior studies have not assessed associations between urinary levels of BPA and phthalate metabolites and body composition.

METHODS: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data from 1999 to 2006 on adults aged ≥20 were analyzed by linear regression for associations between urinary BPA, monoethyl phthalate, monobutyl phthalate (MBP), monoethylhexyl phthalate (MEHP), and monobenzyl phthalate (MBzP) and lean mass, fat mass, and percent body fat.

RESULTS: BPA and phthalate metabolites were not independently associated with fat mass or percent body fat. Significant inverse associations were observed with lean mass, with the strongest association observed for BPA in men (mean lean mass 1.39 kg lower for quartile 4 vs. quartile 1, p trend = 0.02).

CONCLUSIONS: BPA and some phthalates could have important, negative effects on muscle and may affect conditions related to deficits in lean mass, though additional research is needed.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Fighting Bisphenol A-Induced Male Infertility: The Power of Antioxidants

Bisphenol A (BPA), a well-known endocrine disruptor present in epoxy resins and polycarbonate plastics, negatively disturbs the male reproductive system affecting male fertility. In vivo studies showed that BPA exposure has deleterious effects on spermatogenesis by disturbing the...

www.mdpi.com

 

[Fernando Almaguer]

Fighting Bisphenol A-Induced Male Infertility: The Power of Antioxidants

Bisphenol A (BPA), a well-known endocrine disruptor present in epoxy resins and polycarbonate plastics, negatively disturbs the male reproductive system affecting male fertility. In vivo studies showed that BPA exposure has deleterious effects on spermatogenesis by disturbing the...

www.mdpi.com

Try taking avmacol. A powerful NRF2 pathway activator (antioxidant response mechanism in our bodies)

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and Reproductive Health in Boys and Men - PMC

Male reproductive health has declined as indicated by increasing rates of cryptorchidism, i.e., undescended testis, poor semen quality, low serum testosterone level, and testicular cancer. Exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) has been ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Groups petition FDA to restrict bisphenol A in food packaging

The Endocrine Society joined a coalition of physicians, scientists and public health and environmental organizations to send a formal petition to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), calling on the agency to rescind its approvals for bisphenol A (BPA) in adhesives and coatings and set strict...

www.endocrine.org

 

[Dicky]

Restricting BPA is a great first step. But what happens is that industry simply shifts to using a different bisphenol. Instead of BPA they use BPC or BPS. Some of these alternative bisphenols are even worse than BPA. They really need to take a more comprehensive approach to all endocrine disrupters instead of focusing on one chemical at a time.

 

[sammmy]

Correlations/associations between phtalate levels in drinking water and human diseases does NOT prove that phtalates are the reason because there are billions of other factors at play, which are not controlled for in those "studies" - it's just stupid pseudo-science.

Mice/rat studies that show negative effect of phtalates use doses that are 1000 times higher than the ones found in human urine, hence are not proving anything. You can die from table salt if you consume 100 times the normal amount.

Humans should be concerned more with unnatural concentrates and extracts such as sugar, that they are consuming in ASTRONOMICAL amounts. Of course it is easier to just find an imaginary scapegoat like phtalates and blame everything on it, while we stuff ourselves with chocolate and ice-cream ...

 

[Outcome]

I thought it was pretty well known, to anyone paying attention, that phthalates and other EDC’s were effing people up in multiple ways. Cancer, hormone disruption, epigenetic modulation, reproductive toxicity. A pretty exhaustive list. And possibly a bigger problem.. they are so ubiquitous in the environment that there is no escaping them.

 

[sammmy]

CDC: Finding a detectable amount of phthalate metabolites in urine does not mean the levels will cause harmful health effects.

The rest is just pseudo-science fiction and opinions spread by internet.

 

[sammmy]

Frying, broiling, and even baking food probably produces more cancerogenic compounds than the ultra low levels phtalates. It is just easier to ignore all that and blame it all on phtalates.

Eating excessive amounts of processed sugar and milk (contains the fast sugar lactose) clearly causes diabetes, cardio-vascular deceases, and can promote cancer. Almost nobody cares, let's blame the phtalates.

 

[Dicky]

The rest is just pseudo-science fiction and opinions spread by internet.

You are free to do as you please, but I don't believe that the CDC is the most reliable purveyor of scientific rigor these days. You are also free to consume as many phthalates as you like, but I'm going to do my best to minimize that. We know that there are estrogen receptors all over the body. We know that it takes very little estrogen to make a real difference in bodily behavior. Seems reasonable to me that we would want to minimize contract w/ estrogen mimicking substances.

The EU regulates phthalates much more strictly than the USA. I am not in on why they decided to do so. I can only think that they had good reason.

 

[sammmy]

The CDC position just reflects the fact that there isn't a single study demonstrating harm by phtalates at the levels they are currently in the environment. Correlation/observational studies do not prove anything.

I personally do not bother protecting myself from imaginary fantasies. There are much more real threats to pay attention to.

If you want to protect from estrogen mimicking substances, you should stop taking any herbals or eat spices - most are estrogenic.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

PFAS 'forever chemicals' are everywhere. Here's what you should know about them - PFAS 'forever chemicals' are everywhere. Here's what you should know about them

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Hormone receptor activities of complex mixtures of known and suspect chemicals in personal silicone wristband samplers worn in office buildings - PubMed

Humans are exposed to increasingly complex mixtures of hormone-disrupting chemicals from a variety of sources, yet, traditional research methods only evaluate a small number of chemicals at a time. We aimed to advance novel methods to investigate exposures to complex chemical mixtures. Silicone...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov