December 26, 2018 at 2:06 pm









The chemicals in Teflon and other non-stick cookware reduce testosterone, shrink penises, and contribute to infertility, a new study says









Researchers examined 200 men who grew up drinking water contaminated with perfluoroalkyl chemicals and found they have significantly smaller penises and less mobile sperm than those who grew up with clean water.

The chemicals, commonly referred to as PFCs, are widely used in non-stick pots and pans, fast-food packaging and to make carpets and other fabrics water-repellent and stain-resistant.

The men studied were from one of four locations in the world known to be heavily polluted with PFCs, the Veneto region of Padua Italy.

The other three locations are in the Netherlands, China and in the Mid-Ohio Valley of West Virginia, where DuPont dumped the chemicals into a river and then tried to cover it up.

Researchers from the University of Padua examined 383 male high-school students, including 212 who had been exposed to PFCs, in northeast Italy.

They took participant’s blood to measure sexual hormones, examined semen samples, and measured penis length and circumference, testicular volume and anogenital distance.

Participants who weren’t exposed to PFCs had an average penis length of 3.94 inches, compared to 3.44 inches in those who had. Exposed men were also one-fifth of an inch less girthy.

They also found evidence that two of the most common PFCs, compounds called PFOA and PFOS, readily bind to the testosterone receptor and block its activation.

“This study documents that PFCs have a substantial impact on human male health as they directly interfere with hormonal pathways potentially leading to male infertility,” the authors wrote.

“We found that increased levels of PFCs in plasma and seminal fluid positively correlate with circulating testosterone and with a reduction of semen quality, testicular volume, penile length, and AGD [anogenital distance].” (Shortened AGD is a marker of abnormal male reproductive tract development.)

Their full results are published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.