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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Science
Tom Perkins

Toxins plus climate harms likely cause of reduced fertility, study finds

Sperm and egg
The study found that toxic chemicals’ harms were often the same across organisms from invertebrates to humans. Photograph: rez-art/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Simultaneous exposure to toxic chemicals and climate change’s impacts likely generates an additive or synergistic effect that increases reproductive harm, and may contribute to the broad global drop in fertility, new peer-reviewed research finds.

The review of scientific literature considers how endocrine-disrupting chemicals, often found in plastic, coupled with climate change’s effects, such as heat stress, are each linked to reductions in fertility and fecundity across global species – including in humans, wildlife and invertebrates.

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