I've read a lot about this sort of stuff and one inevitable conclusion you come to is that neither the government or government entities such as Health Canada or the FDA will protect your safety. They are only interested in protecting industry and profits. Read "The politics of cancer" by Dr Samuel Epstein and it will change your view forever. You can however help yourself to some degree by educating yourself and avoiding the most common toxic household products.
Plastics and food should never be together.

I'm in shock at the staggering effects of these chemicals and I'm frustrated at how little they've been tested. I appreciate your coverage of this issue. Please continue these educating documentaries.

I just watched The Disappearing Male. The content was shocking even though some of this information has been coming out in bits and pieces for several years. The film maker has done a great service by putting it all together. So as men what we are faced with is even more challenges to live long, productive and fertile lives. Just have a read of the new book titled: Why Men Die First. Maybe it's time we had more advocacy for male health in Canada.

This show scared the hell out of me. I'm thankfull I have no children yet I fear for the future anyway.
Will sanity ever rule?

enough talk... an plan of corrective action is needed. who is listening, certainly not the people with basic human interest in hand. it will be hundreds of years to reverse the damage, driven by greed for money and oil, This world as we know it will vanish, the plastic will still be in exsistance. The big bang theroy doesn't sound so bad after all?

What the heck was that all about?

What a great documentary, I was thinking.

All the way to the closing line.

How on earth was that allowed in there?
Those with the "wong genes" won't make it???

What the heck is that supposed to mean?

As far as I know, no-one in the human species was designed to process toxic chemicals and it's only a matter of time before everyone is damaged in some way. And that it is taking a threat to "manhood" for some to finally take notice of dangers we've been warned about for decades is astonishing.

But to insinuate that some people have the right or the wrong genes is shocking! and reminds me of someone called Hitler.

I am absolutely flabberghasted that line made it in as a closing statement.

I think the scientists and the editors need to revisit the content of the rest of the documentary and reconsider the final message it was meant to deliver.

Very very scary and definitely a wake up call. Forget global warming, we aren't even going to be around to worry about it. Could this also be affecting sexual orientation in males? What is it doing to the female population as they surely cannot be escaping some damaging affect as well.

The Disapearing Male was an excellent documentary. This is serious stuff.

Many of us have been calling for more enforced regulation from Government to deal with carcigins that are poisoning our world, and threatening our very survival. WE cannot rely on industry to police itself.

Look at Maple Leaf Foods.

Dangerous technologies like GM Food, and Nano Technology, which are untested, are beijng pushed by Government on the general public in our food where the human species has no protection against.

Help, Save our species!

I am a 65 year old financier who does business all over the world.

I'm horrified to see what the chemical industry is doing to human health. As a writer who has been studying the research on allergies for the past 5 years, I have to wonder: is the skyrocketing allergy rates in the first world due to our casual use of chemicals for everything from our lawns to our food got something to do with why rates are doubling here every 10 years? They are not doubling in the third world; but then, they don't have the "luxury" of using chemicals for "convenience".

We all should be writing letters to the Health Minister, Tony Clement, and our MP. Bisphenol A has been banned (though not completely), let's express our concern over phthalates.

The Honourable Tony Clement, P.C., M.P.
Health Canada
Brooke Claxton Building, Tunney's Pasture
Postal Locator: 0906C
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0K9

Wow.......I sat on my couch watching this program and was completely horrified. I hate to say this, but this is the first time I am hearing about this. But thank you so much for putting this program on last night when I just happened to be watching. It helped explain something about my son that had been concerning me for awhile. Or at least gave me a direction to go and hopefully find out what is wrong. I can't believe we have done this to ourselves. I am still sitting here in complete horror and shook.

About time!. Women and girls have been suffering from the effects of these toxic chemicals for years - Just think of women you know over 40 years who have an auto-immune disorder of some kind (lupis, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, myositis, schleroderma, etc. etc. etc.). And as we have suffered being told it is all in our head or we were being hysterical - we knew. We watched and listened as frogs were being born without genitals and male alligators were being born with micro-penises that eventually the powers-that-be would realize that their seat of power was being directly affected by the same chemicals that they made millions off of and that they thought were only affecting women. And then- and only then would someone cry out and demand something be done. So the crying has begun. Let's hope it is in time.

I knew about some of these problems from my sister, who is a very vigilant mother of three. But I haven't paid heed to her warnings about products I use everyday such as lipstick, moisturizer, deodorants and shampoo. Can an expectant mother do anything to save her child from these problems? Will my personal efforts to avoid some of these bad products even make a difference, since the chemicals have been in my body since birth? I'm terrified and so angry.

Thank you for this episode. The truth is hard to swallow, but it's much better knowing than feeling guilty for destroying someone's life further down the line.
I'm a 26/m and this is one of this prime reasons why i would never have children. The comment about the "wrong genes" was the perfect D'enouement for this piece as it almost captures the true cynicism (evil? greed?) of the fine people who brought us wonderful inventions like bisphenol-A.
Actually, if this heralds the beginning of the end of our species then i say good riddens! To destroy ourselves over the convenience of soft plastics, and the ease with which to kill pests? Please. It's the simplest choice in the world to stop consuming most of these products, one i made years ago.

After further reflection on the scene about the First Nations reserve near Sarnia, Ontario where there is clear evidence of the impact of airborne chemicals on the population; I remembered that it was several decades ago that First Nations people were poisoned by murcury in fish. The First Nations people really are the canary in the coal mine. They have every right to be fuming about what has been done to the environment in the name of progress!

My husband and I have been trying to conceive for about a year now and we have just found out that both he and myself have reproductive problems. I don't know if they are directly connected to the environment we live in but after watching that film it makes me really think about what we should be doing to reduce the chance of our health and the health of our children from being ill effected by our environment. I know its impossible to live completly chemical free but there is so much we CAN do.

Kevin in NB writes: "neither the government or government entities such as Health Canada or the FDA will protect your safety. They are only interested in protecting industry and profits."

The only insight I have into any regulatory entity is from an editors choice podcast (http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/index.html?newsandcurrent#editorschoice , from Sept 23. Not sure if it's still available).

It features an interview with somebody who works on a committee that considers the costs of drugs, whether it's worth it or if there's a more effective drug on the market. I remember the interviewee told a story of how he lost sleep over a tough decision, which gives me some hope that there ARE people who care out there.

On the other hand, there was also a bit about how they figure there are deals that go on behind closed doors to push a drug onto the market.

It makes me think of any occupation, how there are people who care about what they do, and others who care more about the dollar.

The Disappearing Male basically confirmed for me what I've been noticing for several years now--there are more girls being born than boys. It's a disturbing thing to see, but I don't know how far governments are willing to go in making our everyday lives safer.

Banning BPA baby bottles was a good start, but what about the inside linings of tin cans? The petroleum that's in almost every drugstore lotion or cream? The clothes that claim to be wrinkle or spill-resistant all because they've been sprayed with one or more chemicals? Will the Canadian government ban the chemicals in these products? Are they even willing to do an investigation on their effects on human health?

Although we are capable of being pro-active in avoiding these dangerous products, it all comes at a cost. Personal products that are paraben- and fragrance-free are more expensive than ones you'll find in your neighbourhood drugstore. Just step inside Whole Foods or any other health food store. There's also organic pillows and comforters that sell in the triple-digit range. I don't think every Canadian can afford to make a complete switch to greener products. It's not only a health issue, but a class issue. I would love to see the Canadian government lower the prices of green/organic products, but I don't see that happening in my lifetime.

Off-topic: When seeing the toddler walk through the maze of plastic containers in the documentary, did anyone else think of the "Fake Plastic Trees" music video from Radiohead? There's also a toddler walking along a wall of plastic bottles near the end of the video. This song could be used as the soundtrack of the declining male birthrate issue. Just listen to or google the lyrics.

Can you still save your child from prostate cancer on infertility?

Is there any website we should be checking for homeopath options?

I blame the environmentalists for blowing global warming out of proportion and eclipsing the much more serious to human survival and quality of life issue of pollution. The greens have their priorities backwards!

I watched this documentary at 1:30 in the morning, even though I have 10 month old twins and a three year old. The program was riveting and a big eye opener. My twins were in the NICU and now I'm worried like heck about their fertility. On Monday I'm going to speak to the doctors to see what's in the tubes. I'm also going to write to Health Canada. Thanks so much Shannon for the address. We all need to write Health Canada otherwise nothing will be done. I also agree with the last line as I've struggled to have children and agree completely agree that some genes will completely disappear. I was kept up for hours and I'm not sad I'm mad. Thank you CBC for putting this enlighting program on. You need to air it again. After watching this program a light bulb moment went through my head. Something inside me told me this is what causes AUTISM and other health related problems. It became so apparent.

I even wrote into Oprah and begged her to have a program on "The Dissappearing Man." She has millions of viewers compared to the CBC and this must be heard. I'm hoping Oprah will help spread the word because it needs to be done. Without men our planet will be nothing!!!

The story talks about since the 1970's. However, Klinefelter's Syndrome which only affects males, was identified in the 1940's.
Males being born with an extra "X" chromosome, (and in far rarer cases, more Xes).
Apparenty no one knows what cause 47, xxy to occur . These males on their own produce very little testosterone. The degree of incedence varies but could be 1 in 500-1000 live male births.
Men with this condition cannot reproduce.
Horomone Replacement Therapy using this male sex hormone is prescribed to help us be more male, But we still can't reproduce.
Not every man who has the extra X, knows he has it. A thorough physical examination can lead one to suspect this, but karyotyping should be done.
Anyway, I thought it was important to mention this.

I have been studying and researching this topic for the past number of years and I am so happy to see, finally, accountability on behalf of our leaders. Meanwhile, we need to take matters in our own hands and protect our own health and the wellbeing of our family and friends. There are some amazing products in helping to clean toxins in our home from water treatment systems, air purifiers, infrared saunas (amazing), and chemical free cleaners. Protect your family in a wellness environment.

I can't say that I learned all that much from this. I already knew much about what they were saying. I was hoping to hear more about pharmaceuticals in our water supplies, especially birth control pills. I'm glad that some people learned and were shocked by this, but I know that many don't care, even when you explain it to them.

In response to linda sepp's comment on the closing line. The fact of the matter is that we are all genetically different and that some people will naturally be more fertile and/or more resistant to these chemicals (or avoid them more than others), so they will be more evolutionarily fit and survive more than others. If your genes were programmed so that you were born to have lower sperm counts for example, the effects of these chemicals could push you into "negative" territory and make you infertile. If your genes dictate you have a high count, then your count might be lowered, but you still have the ability to reproduce.

The clock is reset with each generation(unless these chemicals are changing the DNA of sperm before it fertilizes the egg). If your parents were fertile/high sperm count, your genes will be such as well (usually). The environmental factor will lower your count, but you will still be able to reproduce. Eventually the only ones reproducing will be the ones who are born with the genes for higher sperm counts. So yes, those with the "wrong" genes in this case will be evolutionary failures as they will leave no genetic descendants and go extinct. .

Perhaps that is what the writers/producers were looking for - that shock factor to spur people to action on this issue.

Of course this problem is under-publicized, just like any condition that affects only males. For some reason, that's the way our media works. Look at cancer, for instance. Prostate cancer kills as many men (if not more) than breast cancer kills women. But breast cancer gets about 500% more publicity and research dollars. Ever hear or a "walk" or a "ribbon" for prostate cancer?

Thank you for opening our eyes to this issue.

As reality makes it we are likely too late to solve this, same as many other issues that effect our lives. I guess that this is nature’s revenge for our actions, but effect on human reproduction is not my fear!

What about our food supply? Many of our species rely on meat for a portion of our diet.

We see the decline of wildlife, what is causing that? Elephants, wild cats, fish, frogs, whales, and birds; we will see many extinctions in the natural world is this to blame?

Are the fish stocks being over fished or are they just not breading as they were, or both?

BPA today, what will we look at next perchlorates, hydrocarbons, etc.

One note, we should not accept any industry testing of any chemicals, foods, or drugs as proof as to its safety, period.

Doug Henning wrote:"Of course this problem is under-publicized, just like any condition that affects only males. For some reason, that's the way our media works.... Prostate cancer kills as many men (if not more) than breast cancer kills women. But breast cancer gets about 500% more publicity and research dollars. Ever hear or a "walk" or a "ribbon" for prostate cancer?"

There is a whole marketing industry around breast cancer, and this may be unfortunate. Many cancers are neglected, including lung cancer which kills more women then breast cancer. However, breast cancer kills slightly more people than prostate cancer (see recent cancer statistics).. Additionally breast cancer tends to strike younger people than prostate cancer and so causes more loss of years of life.

Borislav Trifonov wrote:"I blame the environmentalists for blowing global warming out of proportion and eclipsing the much more serious to human survival and quality of life issue of pollution."

Are you serious? That is the biggest stretch I have ever seen. There is so much that I could say about this but I'm pretty sure just about anyone can see it's silly. There is more than one environmental issue. Welcome to earth where things are complex. You'll hate it here.

Mark's explanation of the natural selection implications (which seem to me to be totally irrelevant) are about right.

Pheebs wrote:"The Disappearing Male basically confirmed for me what I've been noticing for several years now--there are more girls being born than boys."

Um, I don't know if you have experienced some sort of sampling error but there are, and have probably always been, slightly more boys then girls born. There has been a slight decline but males still make up > 50% of births.

Monique Attinger" As a writer who has been studying the research on allergies for the past 5 years, I have to wonder: is the skyrocketing allergy rates in the first world due to our casual use of chemicals ...They are not doubling in the third world; but then, they don't have the "luxury" of using chemicals for "convenience"."

I think you should do more studying. Most of the third world has much laxer environmental standards and pesticide controls (witness continued use of DDT). It is wrong to assume that just because something is increasing means that it must be caused by pollution. A much more likely explanation is the hygiene hypothosis. Also for a snarkier discussion on the hygiene hypothesis vs contaminants see this

From what I've read, the main problem is that chemicals have been tested for carcinogenicity etc for a long time but endocrine disruption is just now getting onto the regulatory radar screen. Of course physiologists and environmental toxicologists who work with wild populations have been worried about this for decades because of such examples as the Lake Apopka alligators and reproductive abnormalities of fish downstream of pulp and paper mills.

This "debate" cast about by the chemical industry regarding the safety of its products is reminiscent of the lead industry promotion of its lead paint. Philip Landrigan sums it up nicely in this interview excerpt with Bill Moyers:
----
The Public Broadcasting System (PBS) broadcast a program, "Trade Secrets: A Moyers Report," on the chemical industry in early 2001. It revealed for the general public how chemical companies have routinely hidden the dangers of their products to both consumers and workers.

The following is an excerpt of an interview with Dr. Philip Landrigan, director of the Mt. Sinai Hospital's occupational health program in New York City and prominent researcher of environmental and occupational hazards.

MOYERS: Have you come to any insight into industry-sponsored science?

LANDRIGAN: About 15 years ago, a colleague and I did an analysis of studies in the medical literature that looked at the impact of lead on the brains of children. The question that all of these studies were trying to answer was whether low-level exposure to lead could cause loss of IQ, change of behavior in children. We had about 40 studies to examine.
What we found was that of 20 studies supported by the industry, every one of those 20 studies claimed that there was no relationship between low-level lead exposure and loss of IQ. Of the 20 or so studies that had come from university groups, all but one found that there was a connection between exposure to lead and loss of intelligence in children. Then, when we looked a bit deeper, we found that the one academic study that failed to find a connection was, in fact, a study that had been sponsored by the industry. So we wrote that up. We published it as a letter to the editor in Lancet, which is a medical journal published in England.

MOYERS: What did you learn from that?

LANDRIGAN: The conclusion is that the piper pays the tune.

MOYERS: And gets the melody the piper wants?

LANDRIGAN: Yeah.

MOYERS: Do you think the public understands that science can be manipulated?

LANDRIGAN: No. I don't think that the general public understands that at all. I think the public has an image of scientists as a disembodied people in white coats, such as the coat I am wearing today, who are doing honest work in laboratories. Most folks don't understand that science is a profoundly human activity, that scientists have feelings and temptations and strengths and failures like everybody else. And they don't understand that science can be bought and paid for.

MOYERS: That you can get the results you want if you determine in advance what results you want?

LANDRIGAN: Unfortunately, yes.

MOYERS: Don't you think that journalists like the one sitting in front of you, when we interview scientists, should we inform the public of the scientist's affiliation, as you are now doing in your magazine?

LANDRIGAN: I think it's good honest journalistic practice to always get both sides of a story. Journalists do it all the time, and that's good. But I think when journalists do that and when they interview scientists, it is really incumbent upon them to identify the sources of support for the scientist whom they are interviewing.
MOYERS: What would we know? What could we know if there were more independent science? Would we know sooner rather than later what some of these dangers are? Would we save lives?

LANDRIGAN: I think if there were more independent science, we would undoubtedly save lives, and we would also prevent disease that is not necessarily fatal. For example, for 50 years in this country, we were putting thousands of tons of lead out the tailpipe of automobiles, because we were using tetraethyl lead as an anti-knock agent in gasoline.
In the mid-1970's when the use of tetraethyl lead was at its peak, we were putting 200,000 tons of lead particles into the air in this country every year. Finally, in 1976, we began the lead phase- down. In the 20 years since the lead phase-down began, we have reduced the average blood-lead level in American children by 93 percent. As a result of that, we have raised the average IQ of American children by 3 or 4 points. That is an enormous increase in the national intelligence that has occurred over this time.

MOYERS: And you are sure that the lead was causing this adverse impact on children's intelligence?

LANDRIGAN: Absolutely sure. The independent science that was done in the '50s and the '60s and the '70s and the '80s showed beyond any shadow of a doubt that lead was reducing children's intelligence. But if we had known that 30 years sooner, we could have prevented the whole tragedy.

MOYERS: So getting the science right is obviously very important. What else should we do?

LANDRIGAN: I think the first requirement is to get the science right. We have to separate science from industry funding. The more industry funds science, the more science is going to be bent. And there is a profound ethical dimension. Scientists have to understand that the highest goal is truth. Physicians have to understand that the first principle, the bedrock of the Hippocratic Oath, is to do no harm.

MOYERS: And that is an ethical and moral matter.

LANDRIGAN: It is absolutely ethical, and it's totally moral.

Thank you CBC for making this doc available online as I'm sending this to all my friends who are about to start families. While I've always known all the chemicals we rely on are 'bad'. I've never heard of it's effects on males specifically. Oh my how money and greed has ruled our society only to hurt us in the long run. Sure this may be the first sign of our extinction to come as there is "a time to be born and a time to die" for everything, but one must wonder, ' if I have children, what will there life be like?" Who knows what the future will bring, but is it a future I want to bring children into?

After watching this eye opener I am thankful we chose not to have children.

Every lobbyist, researcher and politician who has put the interests of their corporate pay cheques, research grants and egos before the health and survival of the human race should be more than ashamed.

The demise of the human race is the best outcome for all the rest of the species here.

Did Jean Chretien use the same values of criminal negligence to regulate the chemical and carbon spewing corporations that they used in the US to regulate the financial corporations. We need an international criminal court for environmental crimes against humanity for scientific accounting fraud. Approving a chemical which out requiring it be assessed as to it impact on children development is criminal negligence. What do our politicians think it is? Good capitalist value.

This documentary is an clear argument for using the Precautionary Principle (PP) when developing new synthetic chemicals for use in consumer products.

The filmmakers present an emotionally charged and convincing case to the viewer, arguing that it should be the responsibility of the chemical industry to establish that the new material will not (or is very unlikely to) result in significant harm. An admirable and common-sensical position to take, to always err on the safe side, but this is a new idea and I believe that these were completely unforeseen side-effects.

Pointing the finger at the chemical manufacturers serves no useful purpose. Looking back 50 and 60 years when these compounds were introduced, these substances were considered miraculous - but the scientific community knew practically nothing about the structure-activity relationships that cause endocrine disruption.

On the other hand, the study of endocrine disruption is a very recent scientific endeavor. Toxicology studies would have been much more limited than what we expect today, not because the manufacturers knew something and wanted to hide it, but because no one had the slightest idea that this was possible.

It's basically like asking, "why didn't you know 50 years ago, what we are just beginning to figure out now?"

I get it though. The chemical industry is an easy target. Union Carbide in Bhopal, GE dumping PCBs in the Hudson, DDT driving condors almost to extinction, and so on. We have negative associations with the word "chemical" but we never stop to think about the 99.999% of the chemical products that have improved our lives.

We're humans and we're still learning. If you want to make a difference, move on and ask how we can prevent this in the future.

Oh ya, we knew about this many years ago - I heard the warnings in the 1970s, and by the 1980s there was solid science. To Wit: "environmentalists".

As the program stated, these endocrine disrupting toxins are primarily derived from petroleum bases. Fossil fuels are going to make fossils of us... but we were not all "fossil fools". The oil people kept things in doubt with their lies and political powers.

Chemicals that do the same jobs could be derived from less toxic sources, but the most profits are in hydrocarbon sources because they are inexpensive and in great abundance.

Four reasons to stop using fossil fuels as soon as possible:
- global warming
- toxins
- resource conflict
- economics {renewable energy is actually cheaper over a 10 year span, and electric cars would be cheaper right away, if we were allowed to have them; hydrocarbons are only better for the oil people}

We have been mislead!!

Since watching the program I have found studies that say that phthalates (endocrine disruptors) are the cause of hypospadias. My son was born with hypospadias in 1990.

just wondering if there is anyway to find out if this pattern has been observed in wild animals

well....I must say that this deserves a lot more exposure than what its getting. We wont have to worry so much about these other 'high profile' health issues like breast cancer, MS, and the like....if we can't reproduce then those diseases simply will cease to exist, as will we all. You're welcome for pointing out the blinding obviousness of this truth.
I hate dwelling on conspiracy theories, but this reeks of money grubbing as*es that manipulate and influence organizations like the WHO, and governments who are content to collect their fat pig retirement packages from their respective industry lobbyists, just to keep this sh*t quiet.

The human race needs to endure a self-induced cataclysmic event to wake it the hell up...maybe this is going to be the form it takes. We just stop reproducing and fade off into oblivion...

As a senoir I feel I should show this program to as many people as is possible. What are the technical difficulties in putting this on a dvd & showing it to seniors in community hall, adult recreational parks etc so that they know what is happening to THEIR loving grandchildren.
Thank you
Peter

Thank you for re-running this presentation on Saturday. It is the first substantive, plausible explanation of perhaps why I grew up with no testicles more than 55 years ago.

Karen, I am not sure where to look specifically, but search for studies on aquatic animals such as fish because they are being affected first. Seems everything washes into the rivers and lakes.

The tobacco Industry said: prove it...
The Taser Company said: prove it...
The Chemical Industry said: prove it...

The burden of proof is on the innocent.
The criminals get away with murder.
The ways of the Devil runs deep in this country.
The Legal and Medical profession are Disciples.

If we have any doubts about the safety of a thing... we should have it banned.... period.

I was born with Klinefelter's Syndrome. I never knew this until I hit the age of 18. Boy was I ever scared, I still battle with my mind if I am either a male or female. I'm looking for alot of support with this. I'm scared that I'm going to go down the wrong path & get severely hurt or even killed over this. I haven't met anybody with this & I live in the heart of Vancouver!

In about 100 years from now there will be 500 or more boys born every month if we don't act soon about this issue. It's kinda scary to think that male population is decreasing as we talk right now.