Men's sperm count is falling at an accelerated rate after halving over the last 40 years, according to a new study.
The research which came under scrutiny for only including North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand has been updated.
It is the largest meta-analysis ever conducted on the subject and includes data from more than 57,000 men.
Sperm counts have halved over the last four decades with the addition of new countries.
The study found that the concentration of sperm in men who weren't infertile fell from 101.2 million to 49 million sperm per liter of semen.
Data shows that the worldwide decline is continuing at an accelerated pace in the 21st century.
The research found that sperm counts are dropping at a rate of around 1% a year.
There is urgent need for more action and research to prevent further disruptions of male reproductive health.
Speed of sperm movement, which was not measured in the study, is one of the factors that affects fertility.
The World Health Organization considers the sperm concentration to be between 15 million and 200 million sperm per liter.
Sarah Martins da Silva said that the rate of decline in sperm count has doubled since 2000.
We do not know why.
Exposure to pollution, plastics, smoking, drugs, and prescribed medication, as well as lifestyle, such as Obesity and poor diet, have all been suggested to be contributory factors.
The new study did not resolve their doubts.
"I am concerned about the quality of the data in the papers that were published, particularly in the far past, on which the analysis is based."
While hailing the "very elegant meta-analysis", Pacey said he believed we have "simply gotten better" at the difficult task of counting sperm.
The numbers and consistent findings are difficult to ignore according to Martins da Silva.
Agence France- Presse.
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