Today has been very special for me professional-wise!

I carried out a press conference in order to present the results of a study that was published in Revista Internacional de Andrología.

We analyzed and compared the concentration of 38 toxic substances in the maternal milk of both catalan and galician women in order to try to prove that the great difference in sperm quality between both geographical areas is due to their different levels of pollution.

These toxics are known as endocrine disruptors, a long compound listing that act as estrogens in women’s organisms.

These substances pile up in fat, which is why we have studied them in maternal milk as it’s technically easier, since the concentration of these in it equals the amount that get to the embryo through the placenta.

A couple of months ago, we also published a study on the presence of toxics in three different brands of commercial milk and two of cereal.

It has been a really difficult task, not only because of the technical matters, but due to the possible social repercussion our findings could have. I have counted with the absolute colaboration of Damiá Barceló and Marinela Farré, both CSIC researchers, Prof. Juan Alvarez, Dr. Ferrán García, and Dr. Temprano (from la Coruña). I also want to thank Revista Internacional de Andrología.

It has been both tough and surprising to see the number of coward professionals who have rather avoided the possible social alarms or economic repercussions caused by the study than informed about the truth.

Here is the text that corresponds to the press release on “poor sperm quality is related to the transmission of toxic substances during pregnancy and lactation.”(PDF)