Could Pollution Cause Testicles To Grow In The Wrong Place?
cryptorchidism is a condition where children are born with undescended testicles. It affects around 1-8% of newborns. It usually corrects itself within 6 months of birth. 1 in 100 children need…
INNER MONGOLIA, CHINA – NOVEMBER 04: Smoke billows from a large steel plant as a Chinese labourer works at an unauthorized steel factory, foreground, on November 4, 2016 in Inner Mongolia, China. To meet China’s targets to slash emissions of carbon dioxide, authorities are pushing to shut down privately owned steel, coal, and other high-polluting factories scattered across rural areas. In many cases, factory owners say they pay informal ‘fines’ to local inspectors and then re-open. The enforcement comes as the future of U.S. support for the 2015 Paris Agreement is in question, leaving China poised as an unlikely leader in the international effort against climate change. U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has sent mixed signals about whether he will withdraw the U.S. from commitments to curb greenhouse gases that, according to scientists, are causing the earth’s temperature to rise. Trump once declared that the concept of global warming was “created” by China in order to hurt U.S. manufacturing. China’s leadership has stated that any change in U.S. climate policy will not affect its commitment to implement the climate action plan. While the world’s biggest polluter, China is also a global leader in establishing renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)
cryptorchidism is a condition where children are born with undescended testicles. It affects around 1-8% of newborns. It usually corrects itself within 6 months of birth. 1 in 100 children need surgery to correct the problem. If left untreated it could lead to fertility problems later in life and a higher risk of testicular cancer.
A new study from French researchers show that this condition has shot up 50%, especially in industrial urban areas.
“Our main findings are the increase in the frequency of operated cryptorchidism in France during the study period and the strong tendency for cases to cluster together in particular locations. This is the first time that such a finding has been documented at a country level for this birth defect,” says study co-author Dr. Joëlle Le Moal, a medical epidemiologist at the DATA Science Department with Public Health France, in a statement.
