A new report which collated research done since 1973 and involved roughly 43,000 men has found that men’s sperm counts have dropped drastically and quickly — by about 52.4 percent — over that period.

Published in the journal Human Reproduction Update, researchers told the Guardian that the results are “shocking,” and the reasons for the declines are unclear, mostly because male infertility is under-studied. The studies found these declines in North America, Europe, and Australia. Corresponding declines were not found in other continents, but researchers warned that far fewer studies on male sperm count have been conducted there.

“This is a classic under the radar huge public health problem that is really neglected,” author of the study Hagai Levine from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem said.

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