Sperm counts plummet
Sperm counts have dropped by almost a third since 1989, according to new research.
The average sperm count dropped 29 per cent between 1989 and 2002, according to the Aberdeen Fertility Centre in Scotland.
The study, Semen Parameters in the North East, analysed 16,000 semen samples from men who attended the centre.
The centre has called for further research in other areas of Britain to establish the factors behind the drop off.
The centre will present its preliminary findings to the Association of Clinical Embryologists and the British Fertility Society at a conference in Liverpool today.
According to some scientists, sperm counts have plummeted by about 50 per cent in the past half-century.
Some scientists have pointed to increased drug use, alcohol, smoking, obesity and the presence of pesticides, chemicals in the environment as well as the radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986 as key factors behind the “alarming” trend.
Dr Siladitya Bhattacharya, a consultant at the assisted conception unit, said counts fell from about 87 million per millilitre in 1989 to 62 million by 2002.
