Chemicals in Soy, Beer, Cleaning Products Can Damage Sperm

So much for my soy milk-beer-windex cocktail tonight.

Professor Fraser and her team tested combinations of three chemicals:
genistein; 8-prenylnaringenin, which is found in hops; and nonylphenol,
which is found in such industrial products as paints, herbicides and
pesticides, as well as in cleaning products and in the production of
pulp paper and textiles. The researchers investigated the effects the
chemicals had on capacitation, the stage when a sperm acquires the
ability to fertilize an egg.

“We found that combinations of small quantities of these three
xenobiotics stimulated sperm far more than when used individually,” she
said. In particular, the chemicals stimulated the sperm to undergo an
acrosome reaction. This is when the cap on the head of the sperm
ruptures and releases enzymes that enable the sperm to penetrate the
coverings of the egg.

What's this all mean? Beats me but any article that mentions beer and sperm is too hard to pass up.

Link: Daily News Central