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New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

sustainableplastics.com

11–20 of 403 posts

Re: New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

#13
post #8
post #2

I am surprised there's no mention of male fertility. It's a very viable hypothesis in my opinion.

There's an article in American Journal of Men's Health: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9134445/ > In summary, semen quality in men has declined significantly over the last 80 years, with sperm concentration dropping to approximately one seventh of its original value. This timing coincides with the development of plastics. Not a bad hypothesis.

To be fair, “the last 80 years” coincides with a lot of stuff. The world has changed a lot since the 1940s. Isolating plastics as a cause and accounting for all other variables is next to impossible.

Re: New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

#14
post #8
post #2

I am surprised there's no mention of male fertility. It's a very viable hypothesis in my opinion.

There's an article in American Journal of Men's Health: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9134445/ > In summary, semen quality in men has declined significantly over the last 80 years, with sperm concentration dropping to approximately one seventh of its original value. This timing coincides with the development of plastics. Not a bad hypothesis.

Tbf, it also coincides with the development of many other things.

Re: New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

#15
I bought a tub of BCAA powder from Ghost and was horrified after finding a large spidery plastic blob buried in there. I went to Burger King and looked inside the burger randomly which I never do and found plastic. Theres a microplastic issue but theres also a large plastic issue in food. Often times you do even notice when you eat it.

Re: New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

#17
post #5

This is the third time this week I've seen a study related to microplastics. Should I be alarmed? If so, what can I even do? If I'm understanding these studies correctly, these microplastics are everywhere. In our bodies, in our water supplies, in our food. And we can't even get rid of them.

These are great questions. I think it's impossible to say for sure. It is at once a real problem (because they exist and cause problems) and a boogeyman because you never really know where they are and how much is going to be a problem for you. So be completely apathetic. Or always be afraid of everything and perform some purity rituals that give you some peace of mind despite not really knowing anything. Like drinking bottled water only despite that maybe having more, or installing expensive filtration systems without testing before or after for the existence of microplastics or effectiveness of the filter. Or telling your kid not to drink certain water because its not safe, despite having no actual knowledge of any risk.

Obviously we should continue to gather more information and remediate what we can but I think there is also a problem with fear-based behavior that just spreads anxiety baselessly.

Re: New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

#18
post #5

This is the third time this week I've seen a study related to microplastics. Should I be alarmed? If so, what can I even do? If I'm understanding these studies correctly, these microplastics are everywhere. In our bodies, in our water supplies, in our food. And we can't even get rid of them.

We can reduce the ingested quantity. That's about all.

[deleted]

Re: New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

#19

I looked for microplastic test services and it seems like they're all $500+. Wish it was something you could do at home. The local results are all that really matters. Would be interesting to compare bottled water vs. tap water/well water. I've heard bottled water tends to contain more.

Buy a water distiller. I've heard that the destillation coil must be from copper.

The issue is that all commercial ones have steel, which can possible leach into the distilled water + it's not antibacterial.

Re: New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

#20

I bought a tub of BCAA powder from Ghost and was horrified after finding a large spidery plastic blob buried in there. I went to Burger King and looked inside the burger randomly which I never do and found plastic. Theres a microplastic issue but theres also a large plastic issue in food. Often times you do even notice when you eat it.

There was plastic in the burger?
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