Human beings could become extinct in the next three and a half decades. This could be as a result of an industrial and biological mess it inflicted by them and not an intervention of extra-terrestrial being.
A latest book titled Countdown, by Shanna Swan reveals that hormone-disrupting chemicals are decimating reproduction at a worrying pace in all countries around the world.
Swan, an environmental and reproductive epidemiologist at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, says since 1973, sperm counts have dropped by almost 60 per cent, suggesting that it could hit as low as 0 per cent by 2045 if that trajectory continues.
Practically, that means there would be no babies. No reproduction, and above all, no humans. The worrying aspect? Policy makers, including the United Nations, do not seem to care about the danger this poses.
The chemicals posing the human existential crisis, Swan reveals, are found in everything from plastic containers and food wrapping, to waterproof clothes and fragrances in cleaning substances, to soaps and shampoos, to electronics and carpeting.
Some of these chemicals, named PFAS (Perfluorooctanoic Acid), are also referred to as “forever chemicals”, because they neither breakdown in the environment nor in the human body systems. Minute by minute, hour by hour, and day by day, they accumulate and accumulate – doing more and more damage. Now, that has seemingly pushed humanity to the edge of existence.
In some of its astonishing findings, Swan’s book reveals that in some parts of the world, the average 20+ woman today is less fertile than her grandmother was at 35. On average, the book says, a man today will have half of the sperm his grandfather had.
“The current state of reproductive affairs can’t continue much longer without threatening human survival,” Swan writes, adding that: “It’s a global crisis. These are neither some amplifying statements nor superstitious claims not meant to be taken literally. It’s just science.
If that doesn’t sound terrifying enough, you probably need to be sensitized on another finding that these chemicals are not only dramatically reducing semen quality, they are also diminishing penis size and volume of testes. It’s nothing but a full-scale emergency for humanity.
The study is a reflection of research findings by Endocrine Society, titled Endocrine Disruption of Androgenic Activity by Perfluoroalkyl Substance: Clinical and Experimental Evidence. It found that PFAS harms sperm production, disrupts the male hormone, and is correlated to a reduction of semen quality, testicular volume, and penile length. The chemicals are confusing the human body, making it send mixed messages and go haywire.
What the government can do
Despite everything known about these chemicals save for a paltry patchwork of inadequate legislation responding to this threat by world bodies.
Even such laws and legislations are passed, they would vary from country to country, region to region, and, for the case of South Sudan, State to State, if such policy framework would be crafted and implemented.
In Europe, the European Union has currently imposed restrictions on many phthalates in toys and limits phthalates considered “reprotoxic” – which means toxic substances that harm the human reproductive capacities – in food production.
Phthalates, also called phthalate esters, are esters of phthalic acid. They are mainly used as plasticizers, that is to say, substances added to plastics to increase their flexibility, transparency, durability, and longevity. No wonder why all plates used in the South Sudanese households carry these features.
In South Sudan, a scientific study found exposure to such substances rampant in infants, and that the chemicals were found in the urine of babies who came into contact with baby shampoos, lotions, and powders.
Until the government through the National Bureau of Statistics becomes seized of this looming emergency crisis and establish aggressive regulations on the goods we consume, it will be too little, too late in 2045.