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How Your Drinking Water is Affecting Your Fertility.

Writer: Catherine FarleyCatherine Farley

For the last 70 years, the worldwide fertility rate has declined by a total of 50%.



Though this exponential decrease can be attributed to a wide variety of factors, the pollutants and chemicals found in drinking water play an alarming role in the damaging effects on both male and female fertility.


Let's break it down.


What's in our Water?

  • Phthalates - Phthalates are widely used chemicals, primarily found in plastics to enhance durability and structure. These chemicals are prevalent throughout the manufacturing world, from baby toys and personal care products like shampoo, to kitchen utensils and cups. This widespread use means phthalates can easily find their way into your drinking water

  • Estrogen - You read that right. Estrogen. Whether natural or synthetic, it has infiltrated our drinking water. Sources include the cattle industry, solid waste and effluents from livestock and agricultural areas, sewage plants, and birth control pills. Regardless of its origin, the presence of estrogen in drinking water poses serious health concerns for both humans and animals.

  • DBPs (disinfection byproducts) - Here’s a quick throwback to high school chemistry. The chlorine used to treat drinking water reacts with both organic and inorganic matter, forming a compound known as DBP. Exposure to DBP in tap water is associated with various harmful effects.

  • PFAs - PFAs are yet another toxic manufactured chemical that has been widely used by the manufacturing industry since the 1940s. You may have heard them referred to as “forever chemicals” because they take thousands of years to break down in the environment. 


So what's the harm?

Hang on to your hats because this list is a doozy.

  • Phthalates  

    • increased incidence of tumors

    • endocrine disruption in both males and females

    • impaired neurodevelopment

    • influence on functioning of multiple organs

    • adverse reproductive outcomes

    • increase risk of chronic disease

  • Estrogen

    • Disrupts the endocrine system

    • associated with increased risk of breast cancer

    • Impairs reproductive function

    • Triggers adverse health effects

  • DBPs  

    • Carcinogenic effects

    • Reproductive and developmental effects

    • Cardiovascular diseases

    • Respiratory problems

    • Immune system effects

  • PFAs

    • Increase in cholesterol levels

    • Pregnancy-induced hypertension and preeclampsia

    • Kidney and testicular cancer

    • Changes in liver enzymes

    • Endocrine disruption


What now?

While it can be overwhelming to read the long list of side effects these contaminants pose to your health and fertility, equipping yourself with knowledge is the first step in protecting your well-being. Thankfully, there are effective solutions available to filter these harmful contaminants from your drinking water


Check out some of these articles to see what options are available to you:


Sources Cited:


CDC. (n.d.). How PFAS Impacts Your Health. ATSDR. https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/pfas/about/health-effects.html


Cleveland Clinic. (2024, November 18). Are Phthalates Safe? Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/what-are-phthalates


Gonsioroski, A., Mourikes, V. E., & Flaws, J. A. (2020). Endocrine Disruptors in Water and Their Effects on the Reproductive System. International Journal of molecular sciences, 21(6), 1929.


Kalita, I., Kamilaris, A., Havinga, P., & Reva, I. (2024). Assessing the Health Impact of Disinfection Byproducts in Drinking Water. ACS Publications, 4(4), 1564-1578. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsestwater.3c00664


Our Current Understanding of the Human Health and Environmental Risks of PFAS | US EPA. (2024, November 26). Environmental Protection Agency. https://www.epa.gov/pfas/our-current-understanding-human-health-and-environmental-risks-pfas


Roser, M. (2014). The global decline of the fertility rate. Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/global-decline-fertility-rate

 
 
 

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