SOLUTIONS TO INFERTILITY: PROTECTING YOURSELF AGAINST OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS AT WORK
Posted by adminYou or your partner may be in a job that regularly exposes you to hazards and you will need to think about whether the risk can be minimized or whether you may have to change your occupation.
For example, working with lead (used to make storage batteries), radiation, pesticides and solvents can be a problem. If you work in a dry cleaners or hairdressers you are likely to come into contact with many different chemicals.
Visual Display Units
Research on the risks of radiation from VDUs is still in its early stages. However, you can reduce the risk if you:
• Keep the time spent on the VDU to a minimum, with the most being four hours per day.
• Ask your employer if it’s possible to give you other, non-computer work for at least the first three months of pregnancy.
• Use houseplants to stop the air becoming too dry. (Some plants are able to absorb a certain amount of radiation and to act as air purifiers, according to a NASA space project, which showed that the plants could remove toxic substances like carbon monoxide from the air. The most beneficial plants are the tropical ones such as lady palm (Rhapis), bamboo, parlour palm (Chaemaedorea), ficus, peace lily (Spathiphyllum) and spider plants.)
Occupational Hazards for Your Partner
The male organs are on the outside of the body for a good reason. The testes need to be several degrees cooler than body temperature because sperm production can only take place at 32°C (89°F). And our normal body temperature is 37°C (98.4°F). Anything that brings the testes closer to the body, and so raises their temperature, may affect the sperm count. An increased temperature of only 1°C has been shown to decrease the sperm count by about 14 per cent.
A number of studies on drivers have found that men who spend more than three hours a day in a car or lorry are less fertile. When men drive they are not only sitting for a long time but are getting the vibrations from the vehicle. So they are literally ‘in the hot seat’.
The same research showed that men who are exposed to heat during their work are four times less likely to make their partner pregnant within three months. This might apply to a range of occupations – including anyone working with boilers or welding. One man I saw, who is a baker, was getting great blasts of heat directly on his genital area every time he opened an oven door.
What He Can Do
• Avoid crossing his legs when sitting down.
• Take regular breaks to move around.
• Avoid wearing tight trousers or underpants which constrict the testes.
• Avoid hot baths – he should shower instead.
• Shower his genitals with cold water to lower their temperature and improve circulation.
• Avoid using electric blankets – particularly once he is in bed.
Exercise
It is important to have a good level of physical activity because it improves heart function, controls cholesterol, reduces blood pressure, reduces excess weight and generally optimizes health. But it is also important to keep a balance and some sports may compromise male fertility.
If a man exercises excessively it can lower his sperm count. Long hours of training for a marathon, for instance, could therefore be a problem.
Very vigorous sports, like squash or running, may not be advisable because of the knocking effect of the testes against the thighs as the man runs.
Likewise tight-fitting nylon shorts, either worn on their own for running or under shorts in the gym, may contribute to male fertility problems.
Finally, men who regularly go for long bike trips, especially on a racing bike, may spend a lot of time bent over, bringing the testes quite close to the body and crushing them against the seat of the bike, causing overheating and constriction.
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