Print Friendly and PDF
Shanna Swan Count Down author
Photo courtesy Shanna Swan

Global sperm counts are declining. Shanna Swan knows why

1 min read

Financial Times reporter Sarah Neville tells the story of endocrine disrupting chemistry through a gorgeous profile of scientist Shanna Swan and her quest to understand why sperm counts have dropped so precipitously in men worldwide.


Environmental Health Sciences founder Pete Myers, who literally wrote the book on endocrine disrupting chemistry (Our Stolen Future, 1996), calls Neville's piece "one of the most consequential mainstream news stories ever written on EDCs."

Key quote:

"I would not say with any certainty, of course, that we will be reduced to The Handmaid's Tale," Swan says. But a dramatic increase in surrogacies and the use of assisted reproduction are omens for her.

Worth noting:

  • Swan, a professor of Environmental and Reproductive Epidemiology at Mount Sinai and a senior scientist at EHS, is author of Count Down, which tells the story of declining fertility rates.
  • WATCH Dr. Swan's video on the latest evidence of sperm count decline.
  • "Pregnant women, and men planning to conceive a pregnancy, have a responsibility to protect the reproductive health of the offspring they are creating." – Shanna Swan.
The Financial Times story is located here behind a paywall. We are working to obtain access for EHS readers. Please email us at feedback@ehsciences.org to be placed on a distribution list that will be used only to share the story URL, should we get it.

Read Sarah Neville's Financial Times profile on Shanna Swan...

About the author(s):

Douglas Fischer

Douglas Fischer is the executive director of Environmental Health Sciences, which publishes EHN.org.

Become a donor
Today's top news
From our newsroom

Heat, air pollution and climate change … oh my! Was summer 2023 the new normal?

Intense heat waves induced by climate change create favorable conditions for air pollution to worsen. Scientists say this isn’t likely to change unless action is taken.

Calor, aire contaminado y cambio climático…¿Es el verano de 2023 nuestro futuro?

Intensas olas de calor provocadas por el cambio climático, crearon condiciones que empeoraron la contaminación del aire. Los científicos dicen que nada cambiará sin intervenciones.

Opinion: Protecting Indigenous children means protecting water

We need to stop compartmentalizing the environment, family and culture as separate problems.

Tracking down a poison: Getting the lead out of spices in Bangladesh and Georgia

Many low- and middle-income countries lack the resources to tackle lead poisoning. Here’s how two countries did it.