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Increasing Trends in Male Reproductive Disorders, Environmental Exposures and Implications for Human Health

April 20, 2016
1:00 pm US Eastern Time

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This call was hosted by the CHE

On this call, Dr. Skakkebaek presented his concerns about increasing trends in male reproductive disorders, including the significant global increase in incidence of germ cell tumors. He and colleagues from all over the world demonstrated that over half of all young men's semen quality does not meet the reference standard of the World Health Organization. Dr. Skakkebaek presented evidence linking testicular cancer, poor semen quality, childlessness, and rapidly decreasing fertility rates. He showed how there is little doubt that environmental factors, most likely associated with modern lifestyles, have - in a broad sense - had an adverse influence on male reproductive health. He and his group are examining a fundamental role that exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals may play in these trends, trends that in a few decades will result in decreasing populations in industrialized countries, and believes collaborative research is required to identify the causes of these adverse trends.

Featured speaker

Niels Skakkebaek, MD, is Professor of Endocrine Disruption of Male Reproduction in the Department of Growth and Reproduction at Rigshospitalet at the University of Copenhagen. His research focuses on endocrine disruption of the male reproduction system and the prevention of reproductive health problems through the identification of environmental exposures. He is internationally known for his groundbreaking research, including the detection of precursor cells for testicular cancer and the identification of Testicular Dysgenesis Syndrome, which links several parameters of male reproductive health (spermatogenetic disorders, testicular cancer, cryptorchidism and hypospadias) via common genetic and environmental factors. He has served on several national and international research committees, including WHO-UNEP and EU working groups on male reproductive health and the environment. Dr. Skakkebaek is a recipient of the European Society of Pediatric Endocrinology’s 1996 Andrea Prader Prize, the 2001 W. Nielsen’s Award, Copenhagen University’s 2006 KFJ Medical Research Prize, The Lundbeck Foundation’s 2008 Nordic Research Prize, the British Society for Endocrinology’s 2008 European Medal, and the 2009 Danish Oncology Prize.

This teleconference call is one in a monthly series sponsored by the Collaborative on Health and the Environment’s EDC Strategies Partnership. The CHE EDC Strategies Partnership is chaired by Carol Kwiatkowski (TEDX), Sharyle Patton (Commonweal), and Genon Jensen (HEAL). To see a full list of past calls in the series and listen to the MP3 recordings please visit the CHE Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals webpage.

The call was moderated by Genon Jensen, the Director of HEAL. The call lasted 30 min and was recorded.