Wednesday, September 16th, 7-9 pm. Doors open at 6:30 pm.

Dentistry Building, Room 3156
Dalhousie University
5981 University Avenue, Halifax
Refreshments provided

Space is limited. Please RSVP to Monica Penner at ea-igh@exchange.ubc.ca by Wednesday, September 9, 2009.

The Institute of Population and Public Health (IPPH) and the Institute of Gender and Health (IGH) are co-hosting a screening of the film The Disappearing Male and a panel discussion the evening of September 16th at Dalhousie University from 7-9 pm.

The format of the panel will involve informal 7-10 minute presentations by each of the three panellists, followed by a facilitated discussion in which each panellist will have an opportunity to comment on issues raised by the audience.

The Disappearing Male is about an important but little publicized issue facing the human species: the toxic threat to the male reproductive system. The last few decades have seen steady and dramatic increases in the incidence of boys and young men suffering from genital deformities, low sperm count, sperm abnormalities and testicular cancer, and some researchers say that declining male fertility rates could be the first sign of extinction.

The Disappearing Male takes a close and disturbing look at what many doctors and researchers now suspect are responsible for many reproductive issues and other health concerns for males: a class of common chemicals that are ubiquitous in our world. Found in everything from shampoo, sunglasses, meat and dairy products, carpet, cosmetics and baby bottles, they are called "hormone mimicking" or "endocrine disrupting" chemicals and they may be starting to damage the most basic building blocks of human development.

Panelists:

Dr. Françoise Baylis, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Bioethics and Philosophy, Dalhousie University

Dr. Linda Dodds, Professor and Director of Research in the Perinatal Epidemiology Research Unit at Dalhousie University