Who is the manlier man, a farmer or a city slicker? Folk wisdom would pick the guy in bib overalls over the one in Armani. That would be wrong, however, at least when it comes to sperm count, according to a recent report in E, The Environmental Magazine.
Epidemiologist Shanna Swan found that men in rural Boone County, Mo., had fewer and lower quality sperm than men in urban Minneapolis. Swan ruled out tight jeans, alcohol and tobacco, suspecting instead the main industry in Boone County - agriculture. In a subsequent study, she found the insecticides diazanon and herbicides alachlor and atrazine in urine samples of Boone County males. Those chemicals are widely used in farming and linked to diminished sperm vitality.
The results are "enormously significant because the pesticides we've linked to poor semen quality are among the most commonly used," Swan said. The chemical industry objected, of course, saying the sample was too small and taken in the summer when sperm counts drop anyway. Until public health officials solve the mystery, men living in rural areas and concerned about their fertility might want to filter their drinking water, Swan said.
