Turns out, pollution is not only killing the environment, it’s also harming us in the most unimaginable ways. 

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An environmental scientist named Dr Shanna Swan has claimed that the size of the penises are shrinking and human genitals are becoming malformed due to increased pollution. 

Dr Swan is a professor in environmental medicine and public health at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. 

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In her new book called Countdown, Dr Swan states that humans are facing an “existential crisis” in fertility rates as a result of phthalates. 

To give you a better understanding, phthalates is a chemical used for manufacturing plastics which apparently impacts the hormone-producing endocrine system.

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This chemical is generally used to increase the flexibility of a substance and it can be found in toys, food packaging, detergents and cosmetics to name a few. 

Through research, it was found that this chemical is largely responsible for affecting fertility and even reducing the sex drive.

Though, scientists believe that pollution is not only shrinking the size of men’s penises, it is also lowering sperm count and fertility in women to a large extent.

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While exploring the reasons for the declining rates and shrinking genitalia, Dr Swan found that the sperm count fell dramatically between 1973 and 2011. In her book she wrote:

Chemicals in our environment and unhealthy lifestyle practices in our modern world are disrupting our hormonal balance, causing various degrees of reproductive havoc.

She also wrote about how a woman in her 20s in today’s time is less fertile than her grandmother at 35. She said:

In some parts of the world, the average twenty-something today is less fertile than her grandmother was at 35. 

Here’s how netizens are reacting to this piece of information. 

So, the only way to deal with this ‘existential crisis’ is by taking measures to reduce pollution levels in the environment before it’s too late. 

Because if things don’t change for the better, Dr Swan claims that most men will be unable to produce viable sperm by 2045.