Pollution Affects Fertility in Small Gulf Community
How much can pollution really affect fertility? More and more people are asking that question on the small island village of Bahraini, located in the Persian Gulf.
During the prior 20 years, their surrounding environment has been the target of major changest, triggered, in large part, by the Gulf War in the early 1990’s.
As a direct result of the war, the surrounding sea and lands became contaminated. The Iraqi military forces in Kuwait opened the valves at the Sea Island oil terminal near Kuwait City and released large quantities of crude oil into the Gulf, polluting the waters. In addition, the many uranium-enriched bombs dropped by U.S. contaminated both the surrounding waters and land.
Today, almost 20 years later, it appears that Bahraini men in their early twenties, and attempting to start families are, all of a sudden, experiencing conception problems.
And now, Dr. Isa Amin, a Bahraini urologist, has come forward with data showing that the incidences of infertility in men has risen dramatically. From the average of two cases per month a decade ago, he is now seeing an average of 11 per month.
Infertility can be caused by a number of things. Heredity, disease, accidents, bodily defects, and more. But with such a major change in the environment, it’s not a huge leap to suspect it of being the main culprit.
The doctor’s suspicions were first aroused when he observed an unusually large percentage of his male patients with zero semen. It’s now recognized in the scientific community that exposure to certain chemicals that are present in the home, diet, and general environment can affect the fertility of a person.
Unfortunately, the people in this small area don’t have many real options. It’s extremely difficult to purify Uranium contaminated water on this scale. And even though, based on his patient’s results, Dr. Amin is calling for more research into the effects of environmental pollution on fertility rates in his community, it’s unlikely that enough could be done to affect the welfare of his current patients.
R. Corcoran is web master for his fertility website. Please visit Richard’s site which discusses acupuncture and male infertility issues, acupunture and fertility, and the best ivf message boards.
The medically related information published on this web page is not to been taken as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional.
Posted: December 24th, 2009 under Uncategorized.