Microsoft word - maraton north pole_en.doc

The only Spanish participating in this great challenge A 42km race in the North Pole to condemn * Should withstand temperatures of -30 degrees and carry a microchip to
record one’s body's adaptation to extreme conditions.
* This feat is meant to arouse attention to the environmental toxins effects on
reproduction health.

Barcelona, April 29, 2010

Temperatures of -30 degrees, great difficulty to breath, risk of freezing and three-
dimensional disorientation are some of the extreme and freezing conditions that
Lluís Pallarés, the first Catalan and the only Spanish participating in the 8th edition
of the North Pole Marathon, will endure from April, the 7th.
Lluís Pallarés participates in this important event with the support of Instituto
Marqués, a clinic of global reference in assisted reproduction. The aim of this
initiative is to raise awareness of the effects of industrial pollution on male fertility.
According to it’s director, Dr. Marisa López-Teijón, "even in a place, seemingly
untouched, as the Arctic the effects of pollution are tangible, so much that it has
become the planet toxic waste dump”.

Dressed up as a spermatozoon to condemn the threat to fertility.

All participants in the marathon have to be equipped with three layers of clothes on
their bodies and two layers over their legs, gloves and down-filled mittens,
balaclavas, antifreeze and thermal socks, membrane shoes and gaiters to keep the
snow out of the shoes, snowshoes, blizzard protecting glasses whose design
prevents freezing caused by the humidity of the breath and a special mask that
avoids you from breathing too cold air. Moreover, it is advised to not use cotton
underwear given the fact that it would become a shell of ice.
Besides these protections, Lluís Pallarés will be dressed up as a spermatozoon.
The costume has been specifically created to resist freezing temperatures but is
light enough to be transported and taken with him to the North Pole bearing in mind
the usual luggage restrictions for these kind of events, whose last part will be
accomplished on board of a Russian helicopter.
During these months, Lluís has been prepared in the High Performance Center for
elite athletes in Sant Cugat del Vallés (Barcelona). According to it’s Head of the
Physiology Department, Franchek Drobnic "This experience will give us information
about the temperature adaptation pattern when making exercise under extreme
conditions.
This is the reason the night before the race, Lluís will ingest a capsule with a
thermal sensor which reaches the small intestine and from there sends signals to a
small receiver. This item will record every little change in his body provoked by the
atmospheric conditions.
The Arctic: the planet toxic waste dump.
The report "The tip of the iceberg: Chemical contamination in the Arctic" highlights
the potentially presence of toxic chemical substances in the Arctic produced in
Europe and North America. These chemical, industrial and agricultural products are
carried up to the Arctic by atmospheric, river and ocean currents as well as by ice
blocks adrift and animal migratory routes. The Polar ice absorbs these chemical
residues which are gradually released during melting periods. This process could
drag on for many years.
The Arctic animals are at particular risk of contamination since their layers of fat
resist such low temperatures are like a magnet for chemical substances. Recent
researches confirm chemical residues are affecting the thyroids, immune and
reproductive systems of polar bears. Other scientific studies have proven the
presence of toxic substances in whales, foxes, seals, walrus, fish and birds in the
area. For the last two decades, the Inuit, Arctic native, have showed diseases
caused by chemical pollution due to consumption of large quantities of fish, whale
and seal meat whose fat contains toxic substances.
The effects of pollution on male fertility
Lluís Pallarés is sponsored by Instituto Marqués, a clinic of global reference in male
infertility. In the last few years, Instituto Marqués has carried out three different
studies on sperm quality published in outstanding scientific journals. These
researches focused efforts on raising awareness on male fertility deterioration
which could be mainly due to environmental pollution and, therefore, show several
geographic variabilities. According to Dr. Lopez-Teijón, "if a pregnant woman is
exposed to environmental pollution, the fetus’ reproductive system can be affected
and cause the so-called gonadal dysgenesis syndrome, that is to say, poor semen
quality, genital malformations at birth and testicle cancer.
Environmental toxins, commonly used in industry, agriculture and home,
contaminate the water and the soil and, thus, pass through to the food chain. They
are known as endocrine or estrogenic disruptors because they act in the woman’s
body as false estrogens. “The result is that a woman might deliver, through
breastfeeding, an excessive level of female hormone to her male fetus during the
pregnancy and lactation period”, states Dr. Lopez-Teijón.
"We are delighted to support this great adventure at the North Pole to highlight that male fertility deterioration may be caused by environmental pollution. We all should reconsider if the price we are paying is really worth it”, concludes the specialist. For further information, www.institutomarques.com www.northpolemarathon.com

Source: http://www.institutmarques.it/pdf/polo_norte.pdf