Polluted Environment Triggers Lower Birth Rates

Can pollution really affect fertility this much? That seems to be the question people are asking at the small island village of Bahraini, located in the Persian Gulf.

In the past two decades their environment has been subjected to major upheavals caused, in large part, by the Gulf War in the early 1990’s.

Directly due to the Gulf War, the sea and land surrounding the area were badly contaminated. First, the military forces of Iraq, stationed in Kuwait opened the valves at the Sea Island oil terminal near Kuwait City. They discharged huge amounts of crude oil into the Gulf, thus polluting the waters. Then, on top of that,the many uranium-enriched bombs dropped by the U.S. contaminated both the surrounding waters and land further.

Today, almost 20 years later, it appears that Bahraini men in their early twenties and thirties are experiencing conception problems with their wives.

And now, Dr. Isa Amin, a Bahraini urologist, has come forward with data showing that the number of his male patients who are experiencing infertility has risen drastically. From the average of two cases per month a decade ago, he is now seeing an average of 11 patients per month with fertility problems.

Infertility can be caused by a number of things. Heredity, disease, accidents, bodily defects, and more. But with such a major change in the environment, it’s not a huge leap to suspect it of being the main culprit.

The doctor’s suspicions were first aroused when he observed an unusually large percentage of his male patients showing zero percent semen after being tested. It’s now recognized in the scientific community that exposure to certain chemicals that are present in the home, diet, and general environment can affect the fertility of a person.

The options available to the community are not many. Uranium contaminated water on this scale is hard to remove. And even though, based on his patient’s results, Dr. Amin is calling for more research into the effects of environmental pollution on fertility rates in his community, it’s unlikely that enough could be done to affect the welfare of his current patients.

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