Dog sperm quality decline is blamed on pet food chemicals
Source: New Scientist
Sperm quality in dogs has fallen rapidly over the past three decades, a trend which could help explain the purported decline in human fertility.
The finding has highlighted a potential link between environmental contaminants and fertility after scientists discovered chemicals which had a detrimental effect on sperm function in some commercially available pet foods.
Researchers at the University of Nottingham believe that the study could help explain the reported significant decline in human semen quality.
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Sperm motility declined by 2.5 per cent per year between 1988 and 1998, and then at a rate of 1.2 per cent per year from 2002 to 2014.
The researchers also found that male pups fathered by the stud dogs with declining semen quality were more prone to cryptorchidism a condition in which the testes fail to correctly descend into the scrotum.
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He said that the study begs the question whether a similar effect could be observed in human male fertility.
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Journal reference: Scientific Reports, doi: 10.1038/srep31281
Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2100408-dog-sperm-quality-decline-is-blamed-on-pet-food-chemicals/
bluestateguy
(44,173 posts)nt
Lance Bass esquire
(671 posts)jberryhill
(62,444 posts)jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Laser102
(816 posts)breeders do. We have way too many dogs and cats in shelters that need loving homes. I have always adopted shelter pets. The three in front of me are family.
GreatGazoo
(3,937 posts)Last edited Tue Aug 9, 2016, 08:55 PM - Edit history (1)
I agree that more should be done to avoid the 50 million euthanized pets that Americans kill every year but quality of life (and quality of health) is an issue for all of us who eat food coming out of that same mass commodity system.
The same factories that produce dog food also produce shelf stable human food. Dog food is made with the byproducts of food destined for human consumption. The BPA found in dogs is also found in humans and is worth avoiding.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)jtuck004
(15,882 posts)George II
(67,782 posts)milestogo
(16,829 posts)unless they're just in it for the money.
womanofthehills
(8,758 posts)I only give my dog and cats grain free now
milestogo
(16,829 posts)But I think there are a lot of people out there who don't want to spend the extra money for grain free.
Person 2713
(3,263 posts)be allowed grain filler OK , but not with toxic chemicals a pet ingests too
burrowowl
(17,644 posts)jmondine
(1,649 posts)GreatGazoo
(3,937 posts)...
The researchers saw increases in cryptorchidism in the study dogs pups over the years. They also saw a clear connection between environmental chemicals and declining fertility. How this might work, however, is not so clear.
If you think about it, we are exposed to a cocktail. Who knows how many chemicals are out there and what they are doing? It gets even more complicated when you start to look at the effects of mixtures of chemicals, Dr Lea said.
What we have been able to do here is just to pull out ones that we know are present, and we have tested those in terms of their effects and it does suggest there is an impact. The next stage and it is a big next stage - is trying to tease out what else is there and how those chemicals are interacting.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/aug/09/study-showing-decline-in-dog-fertility-may-have-human-implications
milestogo
(16,829 posts)Person 2713
(3,263 posts)RobinA
(9,894 posts)eat pet food?
FrodosPet
(5,169 posts)yellowcanine
(35,701 posts)Ew.