“Scrotal Temperature is Increased in Disposables”

Excess heat in the groin area of boy babies wearing disposable diapers may be a cause of the reduced sperm count among males in recent years…at least a 25% reduction worldwide…and could also affect the future testicular health of males in years to come.

It is thought that disposable diapers heat up baby boys’ testicles to such a degree that it stops them from developing normally. Diapers lined with plastic raise the temperature of the scrotum far above body temperature and can lead to a total breakdown of normal cooling mechanisms, according to the study published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

Doctors in Kiel, Germany, started the study after being alarmed at the temperature of the testicles of infant boys who were brought into the hospital with an infection. Dr. Wolfgang Sippell, professor of pediatrics at the University of Kiel, monitored the scrotal temperature of 48 healthy boys, from birth up to 4 years old, using a tiny thermal probe. His team tested the temperatures when boys wore disposable diapers and when they wore reusable cotton diapers, both during waking and sleeping hours. The temperature was consistently higher when the disposable diapers were worn, with the highest temperatures recorded in the youngest babies. Scrotal temperatures were the same as rectal temperatures when cotton diapers were worn, but far higher when disposable diapers were worn.

The cells supporting sperm production are laid down in the first two years of life. However, their development and sperm production in later life is very dependent on temperature. Testicles need to be cooler than the rest of the body, which is why they are external. Boys whose testicles descend too late in adolescence are often infertile because they have been kept warm for too long. In adults, exposure to high temperatures, during a fever or while in a sauna, can dramatically reduce sperm count.

The complete Kiel study can be found at www.archdischild.com.