Count Down

“An important book for anyone concerned about the environment, pollution, successful childbearing or declining health of the human species.” —TheNew York Times Book Review

In 2017, renowned epidemiologist Shanna Swan and her team of researchers found that over the past four decades, sperm levels among men in Western countries have dropped by more than fifty percent. They came to this conclusion after examining 185 studies involving close to 45,000 healthy men. The result sent shockwaves around the globe—but the story didn’t end there. It turns out our sexual development is changing in broader ways, for both men and women and even other species, and that the modern world is on pace to become an infertile one.

How and why could this happen? What is hijacking our fertility and our health? Count Down unpacks these questions, revealing what Swan and other researchers have learned about how both lifestyle and chemical exposures are affecting our fertility, sexual development—potentially including the increase in gender fluidity—and general health as a species. Engagingly explaining the science and repercussions of these worldwide threats and providing simple and practical guidelines for effectively avoiding chemical goods, Count Down is “staggering in its findings” (Erin Brockovich, The Guardian) and “will serve as an awakening” (The New York Times Book Review).

Longlisted for the 2022 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award

New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice

“An eye-opening, disturbing, empowering, and essential text.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“A convincing plea.” —Booklist, starred review

“If you dream of children, grandchildren and generations beyond, you must read this book.” —Pete Myers, PhD, co-author of Our Stolen Future