A Cause of Erectile Dysfunction That We Are Ignoring

July 15, 2025

Marianne Brandon Ph.D.
The Future of Intimacy

ENVIRONMENT

A hidden harm to workers that we may not want to face.

KEY POINTS

Spraying pesticides for a living increases the risk of erectile dysfunction.
Our denial of this fact may mask a deeper fear: pesticides can harm us all, not just workers.
Recognizing this discomfort is the first step to transforming future intimacy and public health.

A Cause of Erectile Dysfunction That We Are Ignoring

Source: AI generated image/Shutterstock

When you see someone spraying the perimeter of your house for bugs or treating your lawn for weeds, you probably don’t think twice. We love green lawns and bug-free homes – I certainly do. But the men doing this work, whether on massive farms or suburban lawns, face a hidden cost. Recent research suggests that men who work with pesticides are at a higher risk for erectile dysfunction (ED) (Glover et al., 2024; Yang et al., 2022). Why are we largely ignore this reality? The answer may stretch deep into our collective psyche, exposing unsettling questions about denial, avoidance, and the price of comfort.

Real Lives, Real Consequences

Pesticides are designed to disrupt biological systems, but they don’t stop at pests. They can cause hormone disruption, nerve damage, and blood flow blockage in humans. Research is increasingly demonstrating that men working with pesticides are at risk for developing sexual dysfunction. Chlorpyrifos, a common pesticide used in both agriculture and pest control, has been linked to a significantly higher risk of erectile dysfunction (ED) in men, and the risk increases with greater exposure. This issue is not limited to older men; even younger men who work with pesticides or are exposed to high levels and can show increased rates of ED. Supporting this, animal studies have found that rats exposed to these chemicals experience lower testosterone levels, testicular damage, and disrupted sexual function, closely mirroring the effects observed in humans (Mohamed & El-Rahman, 2025).

This means that every time someone sprays pesticides around our homes, in our neighborhoods, or across miles of farmland, their risk grows. Yet the conversation about the men’s sexual health risk involved in this job barely makes a ripple in the mainstream. Why? This silence isn’t just apathy; maybe it’s psychological self-protection.

Denial as Defense

Maybe in part, we ignore this issue because we don’t like discussing sexual dysfunction. But I suspect that at the heart of this denial is an unwillingness to admit the harm our lifestyles can indirectly inflict on ourselves and others. Acknowledging that pesticide exposure can damage someone’s health and sexuality forces us to question our role as beneficiaries of an unsafe system. It’s uncomfortable to admit that our demand for flawless produce and pest-free lives puts real people, often working-class men, at risk of bodily harm and sexual suffering. Denial serves as a defensive shield: if we don’t acknowledge it, we don’t feel implicated.

Part of the problem is “psychological distancing.” It’s easier to believe ED is just a private issue than a public health matter amplified by environmental toxins. This way, we keep uncomfortable truths outside our daily narrative and avoid internal conflict. If our comforts depend on someone else’s suffering, we’d rather not know.

Let’s Protect the Men Who Protect Us

The men who keep our crops healthy and our homes bug-free are risking more than we realize. I become increasingly frustrated when, as a society, we focus on something as extraordinarily health-promoting as measles vaccines, yet ignore the very real impact of the poisons we use regularly on a subset of our population. If we intend to make America healthy, this must be addressed. There is much we can do about the risks these men must face: increased public awareness, stronger regulations, and increased workplace protections are a great start. Let’s make the future of intimacy mean moving beyond our silence and demanding a safer, more compassionate world for all.

References
Glover, F., Mehta, A., Richardson, M. et al (2024). Investigating the prevalence of erectile dysfunction among men exposed to organophosphate insecticides. J Endocrinol Invest 47, 389–399. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40618-023-02155-8

Mohamed RA, El-Rahman HAA. (2025). The effect of an organophosphorus pesticide, chlorpyrifos (from different local sources), on the testicular tissue in adult male albino rats. Environ Anal Health Toxicol. 2025 Mar; 40(1):e2025010-0. doi: 10.5620/eaht.2025010.

Yang Z, Wang W, Lin L, Xiao K, Peng L, Gao X, Zhou L. (2022). The association between urinary organophosphate insecticide metabolites and erectile dysfunction in the United States. Int J Impot Res. 2024 May;36(3):226-231. doi: 10.1038/s41443-022-00655-4.