Microplastics Now Detected in Human Testicles, “Might Impact Male Fertility”
May 20th, 2024Via: Science Alert:
We can now add testicles to the list of places where microplastics have managed to spread – alongside human placentas, ancient rocks, clogged arteries, blue whales, baby poop, the wilderness of Antarctica, near the peak of Mount Everest, and the bottom of the ocean.
Research led by the University of New Mexico looked at testicular tissue taken from both dogs and humans, finding microplastics in every sample, with an abundance almost three times higher in humans than in dogs.
The team found an average 122.63 micrograms of microplastics per gram of tissue in canines, and 329.44 micrograms per gram in people.
Besides giving us another sobering reminder of how plastic pollution is penetrating every part of our bodies, the study raises some concerning questions in regards to how these microscopic fragments might impact male fertility.
“At the beginning, I doubted whether microplastics could penetrate the reproductive system,” says environmental health scientist Xiaozhong Yu from the University of New Mexico.
“When I first received the results for dogs I was surprised. I was even more surprised when I received the results for humans.”
Among the 12 different types of microplastics identified, the plastic polymer the researchers found the most of, in both dogs and humans, was polyethylene (PE) – used in the manufacture of plastic bags and plastic bottles, and a major contributor to our plastic pollution problem.
While the human tissue couldn’t be tested for sperm count, the researchers did do this for the canine samples. They found higher levels of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic correlated to a lower sperm count in the animals.
