The Disappearing Male

This Canadian Broadcasting Corporation production expresses alarm over the impact of certain synthetic chemicals on men's health, particularly in terms of reproduction. The substances in question are ubiquitous and seemingly innocuous—such as the plastics used for food storage and baby bottles—but the film argues that these are “endocrine disrupting” chemicals that have produced, over the years, severe risks, including a steady decline in the male birth rate in more than 20 industrialized countries. The documentary notes that the majority of these substances were never tested to determine any effects on the human body—which is shocking in itself—but the insistence here that these chemicals are directly responsible for rising levels of testicular cancer and declining sperm quality is never confirmed with any conclusive findings, and none of the various researchers interviewed offers a cogent explanation for why only men are suffering the ill health effects. While The Disappearing Male raises worthwhile concerns about the potential harm lurking in seemingly benign items, the theories presented here lack convincing support. Not a necessary purchase. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)