In a new study researchers have linked a gender bending chemical that is used in food containers, baby bottles and tins to male infertility. A chemical called Bisphenol-A is used to harden plastic and is found in baby bottles, folks, plastic knives and the lining of food and drink cans.
Now for the first time, a team of researchers from US have linked BPA chemical to poor quality of semen in men. Chinese factory workers exposed to high levels of the plastic chemical had low sperm count, reported the study published in the journal Fertility and Sterility.
The chemical imitates the female sex hormone oestrogen, so researchers had long frightened that it would intervene with the way hormones are processed by the body. In a study trail researchers examined one hundred and thirty Chinese factory employees who worked directly materials containing BPA and eighty-eight male workers who did not manage it and whose exposure was analogous to that of western males.
They found low sperm count in workers who had visible levels of Bisphenol-A in their urine. Poor sperm quality was two to four times more widespread among these males than among workers whose urine showed no sign of BPA. Males with the highest levels of BPA had the lowest sperm counts.
BPA in urine was associated with lower quality of semen even in men who did not work with the chemical, although their average BPA levels were much lower than in the other group. The leading intellectual also recommended manufacturers to cut down on BPA in food packaging and containers.
This is a significant but preliminary study. The results are no less than reminiscent of the likelihood that BPA may be one of the composites that are causing some of these changes in sperm, explained Andrea Gore, a toxicology professor at the University of Texas who was not involved in the research.