After two difficult decades marked by continuous opposition, the petite scientist Shanna Swan remains steadfast in sounding the alarm about the decline in sperm counts among men worldwide.
On a rainy night in Copenhagen in 2022, the 87-year-old scientist, small in stature and dressed in jeans, boots, and a casual shirt, took the stage at the Koncerthuset.
This was scientist Shanna Swan. She was invited by Science & Cocktails, a non-profit organization in Denmark, to speak to the public.
A Lecture Captivating Rock Music Fans
Scientist Shanna Swan – (Photo: ROGER MEISSEN / GUARDIAN).
Many young attendees came to the lecture in a mood more suited for listening to rock music than a scientific talk, eagerly awaiting to see the face of the woman who dares to tirelessly battle against several prominent scientific figures and industry giants in global chemical production, as well as the plastics industry.
It seemed that the young audience was ready to leave midway through.
Shanna Swan, an epidemiologist and graduate of Berkeley, slowly stated: “I would like to tell you about a mystery: Since the late 1930s, sperm counts in men have started a continuous decline.”
She guided the audience through her lifelong research on the effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), which can interfere with the body’s natural hormones.
These include pesticides, bisphenol used to harden plastics for food containers and baby bottles, and phthalates used to soften plastics for packaging and products such as garden hoses.
Recently, traces of EDCs have been found in breast milk, placental tissue, urine, blood, and semen.
In the glaring orange stage lights, Swan concluded: “The seemingly harmless products in your kitchen, bathroom, or garden shed can reduce sperm counts.
They can also affect the reproductive systems of your unborn children. They may disrupt thyroid function, cause cancer, and lead to obesity.”
Shanna Swan truly engaged the young rock music fans. No one left.
“The Endocrine Disruptor”
However, few know that Swan has endured two difficult decades of continuous opposition from both within and outside the scientific community.
The strongest resistance has come from the chemical industry, which would face significant financial impacts if tighter regulations were enforced.
Since the 1990s, they have enlisted scientists and published a series of articles questioning the findings of Swan and her colleagues.
Swan has been mocked as an “endocrine disruptor” by JunkScience.com, a website run by Steve Milloy, a climate change denier and tobacco industry supporter.
A study published in 2021 by several scientists from Harvard University even suggested that Swan’s and her colleagues’ work contained racial and gender biases.
One night, after sharpening her arguments for a lawsuit against a chemical company, she found herself tossing some of her notes into the hotel trash can.
The next day, while talking with an advisor from a pharmaceutical company, she saw those notes in front of him. She recalled, with a hint of humor, the opposing legal team calling her “the whore from California.”
Only in April did G7 climate, energy, and environment ministers agree to issue a statement committing to “actively preventing chemical pollution or minimizing the risks of plastic products related to the release of endocrine-disrupting chemicals.”
According to the Guardian, a new study published in the journal Human Reproductive Update shows that globally, the average sperm density in men has decreased from 101.2 million/ml to 49 million/ml between 1973 and 2018. The total sperm count is estimated to have dropped by 62.3% during the same period.
