Document YjneD6a4RM4R2rpYM1a6kYV7V

Chemicals decrease fertility, study says Amerlaa men neem to be km fertile then tom wen > decade ago and chemical con- tandMtloa el the emdronraent may tie the caeet, ecceedhy te t Florida State Univend- tydWBMi A etady el IS college men awora grow- lai etMiace that Venn ceaau aeem to haw* tfecBned rapidly over thn lent M yuan. , "The evMmce Indfcetee that men In the U.4 eeein In be lean fertile no* than In the ' aed `Se," ankl Ralph Deugjierty, who coRriKtMl Um itudy. The mofUio number at eptrm In the Flori da etady wm N eetlUon eperm per mllllUter ol mown. Thlo la nearly a SB peroent reduc- lion compared to that oI the period from 1920 through the 'Mb, when the median eperm count wae mere than 100 million eperm per mllllUter, he odd. Farthormoro, B percent of the Florida make tooted had a eperm count at 20 mlllkn or Wee, which to equivalent to being sterile, aid Dougherty. In order for cnuceptiou be a woman to taxe place, a auMcient auaabar ol eparm have to be praeeat a that then lean locreaaad UkeUhood that on will fertlUa an egg. Aaalyata at the eemen ampin elwwed that all at them wen contaminated with potential ly harmful chemicals, Including peotlcida and hmglclda, aid Dougherty. The meet comma torlc agents were petychlorohlphenyle. DDT metabolites, hexacmorobcmoBDtnd pentechltrophenol. These chemicals got Into thr body through the consumption of toad that haa baon com taminated by tham. The compoonda an da garoua bacaua they can damage the geaede code Inside cells, causing a slowdown la coR division at death ol tho cell, ho explained. "If chemical contamination la Involvod In tho declining qwrm comh, we should tone top* to remove them from the envtrem meat," Dougherty sold. Sperm cello are more sensitive te the harmful effect! of the unde agents heream they divide more rapidly than do other cede HONS 007039