FORT COLLINS, CO — Chemicals found in drinking water, and in the environment at large, are changing male reproductive health and impacting sexual function, development and cancer rates of today’s generations and possibly their offspring, according to research by a Colorado State University expert, the university reported in a February 5 press release.

Rao Veeramachaneni, a biomedical sciences professor in Colorado State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, has found from more than 15 years of research that chemicals including insecticides; pesticides; common pollutants in groundwater; and chemicals in plastics, make-up and nail polish are causing developmental abnormalities to male reproductive organs, as well as impaired sperm quality and impotence. Reproductive health also can be compromised if males are exposed at various times in life spanning from in utero up to adulthood.

According to the press release, “Some of these chemicals can survive in the environment for 30 to 40 years, and the chances for exposure are high because the chemicals have permeated our world. For example, the [US Environmental Protection Agency] EPA says that about one-third of the nation’s lakes and one-quarter of its rivers are polluted.”

Veeramachaneni’s findings span the globe and cut across species, from humans to horses, wildlife to frogs.

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