Environmental Toxins and Mutations in DNA due to aging add up over time

GenNext may suffer from physical deformities

GP Varma
Kanpur, October 28, 2006

First Published: 00:00 IST(13/1/2007)
Last Updated: 00:54 IST(29/10/2006)

SCIENTISTS APPREHEND poor life quality of human beings in the coming years. A large number of children may fall prey to physical deformities, behavioural abnormalities and mental retardation.

This was stated by an eminent scientist and deputy director at the Regional Occupational Health Centre, Kolkata, a wing of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Dr Amal Roy Chowdhury, while talking to Hindustan Times. He was here to address a symposium at the DAV College on “Male reproductive toxicology — A new challenge”.

Dr Amal has been engaged in carrying out extensive researches on the male reproductive toxicology. During some of his studies he has found that men living in urban areas especially in metropolitan towns and working amidst highly polluted environment suffered from declining sperm count.

He said that besides low sperm count the polluted environment has also found to have caused loss of functional competence of spermatozoa, developed defects in acrosomol enzymes and led to the disintegration of sperm nucleus. Over all the exposure to chemicals either from natural sources or from manmade processes has caused harmful effects on male reproduction.