Ladies, Avoid This Popular Beauty Product If You’re Trying To Conceive!
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Over the last 50 years, fertility rates have drastically fallen worldwide, and science has long suspected the chemicals found in our everyday products for causing it. Recently, they found a very likely suspect – your sunscreen.
A team of researchers from the University of Copenhagen discovered that certain ingredients commonly used in run-of-the-mill sunscreens to absorb harmful UV rays could actually be affecting a man’s fertility by hindering his sperm’s normal functioning (1).
According to the lead researcher, Neils Skakkebaek, an endocrinologist from the University of Copenhagen’s hospital unit, “Globally, we see that semen quality is generally very poor.” Skakkebaek and her team endeavored to test the “filter” ingredients found in commercially available sunscreens and their effects on sperm function. These filters, known as endocrine disruptors, have a range of harmful effects on our health, one of which happens to be infertility (2), (3), (4).
Wait, Is Sunscreen Killing My Man’s Sperm?
No, they aren’t outright murdering sperm, they’re just sort of rendering them handicapped and unable to perform their function. Which, in my opinion, is nearly as bad.
The team of researchers ran tests on 29 of the 31 available UV filters approved by the governments of Europe and the United States for public use. They dissolved and applied the sunscreen filters to sperm samples from healthy male volunteers.
Close to a whopping 50% of the filters they tested were revealed to turn sperm dysfunctional, thereby preventing it from successfully performing its function of fertilizing an egg.
“These results are of concern and might explain in part why unexplained infertility is so prevalent,” says Skakkebaek. Yeah, no kidding.
Skakkebaek and her team had conducted a previous study that discovered a wide variety of endocrine disruptors that could have an impact on the functioning of human sperm, UV filters being one of them (5).
Right, But I’m Applying It On My Skin. How Is It Affecting The Sperm?
You don’t need to be smothering your partner’s male bits with sunscreen to cripple his sperm. According to Skakkebaek, “When you put sunscreen on the skin, some of the UV filters can penetrate the skin and go into the bloodstream.”
And once it hits the blood, that’s when the trouble starts.
A testimony to our body’s absorption of the UV filters, studies indicate that these chemicals were found in up to 95% of urine samples. This clearly indicates that not only does the body absorb the filters, but it also processes it (6).
You Said It Harms Sperm, Please Explain?
The filters found in sunscreen happen to mimic the effects of a female hormone called progesterone. This hormone can alter the messaging that occurs inside sperm cells, essentially causing their dysfunction.
“If chemicals can work like progesterone, they can potentially affect the sperm function,” confirms Skakkebaek.
Progesterone can help a sperm cell find its way to the egg in a woman’s body. It also aids a sperm cell’s ability to penetrate the barriers shielding the egg. When progesterone binds to a sperm cell, it basically alters the calcium concentration (read: signaling method) inside the sperm cell. However, when UV filters mimic these effects, they can wreak chaos inside the sperm.
The researchers also discovered that UV filters were toxic to sperm even at low quantities! They were found to have an ‘additive effect’ on sperm, which meant that despite being present in low amounts in the blood, when combined with any of the other 30 UV filters found in sunscreens, they were still able to damage sperm cells.
So, Now What? No Sunscreen? Hello, I Could Die From Skin Cancer!
Well, nobody is denying that we must always seek protection against the harmful damage that UV rays can wreak on our bodies. However, there are other ways to minimize your risks of sun damage, such as reducing your sun exposure.
A Professor of Andrology from the University of Sheffield, Allan Pacey, actually advises men to continue wearing sunscreen as skin cancer is a more dangerous threat.
“The risks of skin cancer are far better understood, and until more data is available, I think it’s more important that men continue to use sun protection creams as appropriate,” says Pacey.
However, Russ Hauser, a Professor of Reproductive Physiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, suggests other precautions for couples that are actively trying to conceive.
“My advice would be to minimize sun exposure by reducing exposure during midday hours, wear hats and clothing to cover skin,” says Hauser.
It is also important for couples that are hoping to conceive to avoid other known factors responsible for the decline of sperm quality worldwide, such as smoking, obesity, excessive alcohol, and marijuana (7), (8), (9).
Fertility is a tricky business, and sometimes, the repeated trials and failure can be rather disheartening for couples. Hence, it’s always best to stack the odds in your favor to best of your ability. Best of luck!
