A Review of Count Down by Shanna H. Swan, PhD

written by Charlie Razook, Founder

Count Down is a jarring wakeup call and must read. Swan explores the reasons behind men’s plummeting sperm counts. Namely, sperm counts are down 50% since 1970. Terrifying, right?

Fertility problems are so often considered women’s health issues, but that simply is not the case. Women bear the brunt of blame when couples struggle to get pregnant. Luckily, though, this is changing as we look at fertility from a men’s health perspective as well.

Spoiler alert: We are struggling to get pregnant in large part due to chemicals (often of the endocrine disrupting variety). [Ahem, part of why Jackfir exists—We are trying to minimize chemical interactions in men’s daily lives.] First, Swan differentiates between reversible (activational effects) and irreversible (organizational effects) exposures. For example, as an adult, if you quit smoking, you will likely see an increase in sperm count (activational). However, if your mother smokes while pregnant, semen quality may be permanently damaged from birth (organizational). [86]

This applies to chemicals in skincare. One man found his phthalate levels to increase from 64 to 1,410 nanograms per milliliter simply by using more scented toiletries! [114] Phthalates are considered forever chemicals in the environment. Once they leach into our water, they are there to stay. Increased phthalate exposure correlates to smaller infant testicular size as well as decreased sperm mobility and morphology.  [116] (While not the topic of this review, men, you need to decrease your stress levels too. That negatively affects your sperm counts.)

So, men are facing an unprecedented health crisis due in large part to modern world chemical interactions. How do we proactively ensure the survival of our race? When it comes to Dr. Swan’s recommendations, she by no chance says “after the kitchen, the bathroom may present the biggest opportunity in your home for exposure to [endocrine disrupting chemicals] and other potentially harmful chemicals." [186] She recommends you pay attention to labels and ingredient lists and use databases like The Environmental Working Group’s SkinDeep to check for product safety. 

 
Photo by Axel Dupeux

Jackfir is here to not add to your toxic burden that you face inevitably in the today’s society. It's no coincidence that we are EWG Verified, the highest safety rating granted by EWG. We were founded as a clean solution for men’s personal care needs.

Our products are all:

• EWG Verified.
• Contains 70% organic ingredients.
• Allergy-tested.
• Dermatologist-tested.
• Certified Vegan.
• GMO Free.
• Gluten Free.
• Certified Cruelty Free.

…and free from:

• Ammonium lauryl sulfate
• Animal testing
• Ethanolamines (MEA/DEA/TEA)
• Formaldehyde
• Formaldehyde releasing agents
• GMOs
• Methylchloroisothiazolinone (MCT)
• Methylisothiazolinone (MIT)
• Oxybenzone
• Parabens
• Phenoxyethanol
• Phthalates
• Polyethylene glycol
• SLS/SLES
• Synthetic colors and dyes
• Synthetic fragrance
  ..and more!

 Stay clean and leave no trace!

Charlie
@charlierazook