At what point do humans become more plastic than man?
Microplastics have been found in human testicles, with researchers saying the discovery might be linked to declining sperm counts in men.
The scientists tested 23 human testes, as well as 47 testes from pet dogs. They found microplastic pollution in every sample.
The human testicles had been preserved and so their sperm count could not be measured. However, the sperm count in the dogs’ testes could be assessed and was lower in samples with higher contamination with PVC. The study demonstrates a correlation but further research is needed to prove microplastics cause sperm counts to fall.
Sperm counts in men have been falling for decades, with chemical pollution such as pesticides implicated by many studies. Microplastics have also recently been discovered in human blood, placentas and breast milk, indicating widespread contamination of people’s bodies. The impact on health is as yet unknown but microplastics have been shown to cause damage to human cells in the laboratory.
Vast amounts of plastic waste are dumped in the environment and microplastics have polluted the entire planet, from the summit of Mount Everest to the deepest oceans. People are known to consume the tiny particles via food and water as well as breathing them in.
The particles could lodge in tissue and cause inflammation, as air pollution particles do, or chemicals in the plastics could cause harm. In March, doctors warned of potentially life-threatening effects after finding a substantially raised risk of stroke, heart attack and earlier death in people whose blood vessels were contaminated with microscopic plastics.
“At the beginning, I doubted whether microplastics could penetrate the reproductive system,” said Prof Xiaozhong Yu, at the University of New Mexico in the US. “When I first received the results for dogs I was surprised. I was even more surprised when I received the results for humans.”
It’s so amazing that the media is still talking about global warming, and the only place you can read about plastic and PFAS and the rest of these chemicals that are actually destroying nature and our bodies is in The Guardian.
These stories are literally not reported in the New York Times.
The Times just keeps saying eating meat is changing the weather. They have no evidence for this claim.
In a recent study, microplastics were found in 100% of placentas tested:
– In 62 placenta samples, the levels of microplastics ranged from 6.5-790mcg per gram of tissue.
– It’s currently unclear what the health impact of these levels may be, but the half-life of these plastics… pic.twitter.com/Ympv4wXux1
— Zib Atkins (@AyusWellness) March 26, 2024