Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/06/11/microplastics-found-in-every-semen-test-sample-in-study.html
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Hrm… I drink a lot of Crystal Light (or generic version of) in water bottles I reuse. Should I stop doing that? But then again, I also don’t plan to have any more kids.
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It’s interesting that the realization that microplastics are ubiquitous finally spurred some research that it’s not good for us - really, really not good for us. I tend to be sanguine about it, because there’s really nothing either I can do about it on a personal level, or we can do about it on a societal level that will benefit even the next generations. I was already avoiding plastic because it’s not recycled (and I was reading research many years ago that suggested the microplastics issue was scary), but I know whatever I do, I’m full of it, and it’s one of a number of environmental contaminants we can’t avoid, anywhere on the planet, that seem to have serious health impacts.
Different types of plastic (and how they’re used) will shed microplastics at different rates, but you can’t avoid it - it’s in rainwater at this point - so it’s a matter of making choices that reduce it a bit. But keep in mind it’s not just food containers - a big source of environmental microplastics is clothing made from synthetic fiber, for example.
It’s also not just a reproductive issue. Microplastics seem to cause inflammation, and that’s associated with all manner of diseases (e.g. heart disease, cancer, dementia), and the microplastics get into every part of the body, even getting past the blood-brain barrier. Human health is just sort of generally fucked by microplastics that are unavoidable and will persist in the environment even if we banned all plastic.
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I expect not just human semen is affected. Humans as a race will survive. Some other species already with low populations might not survive.
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WTF? No, there is nothing you can do personally, but there is a metric fuck-ton of improvements that society can make that will drastically impact the health of future generations
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I was throwing dryer lint in the compost, figuring it’s mostly cotton, them realized there are probably microplastics in it from whatever synthetic fabrics went thru the laundry. So instead, I’m throwing it in the garbage, because that way it… goes right into the ground, anyway? (Somehow I figure the particles will sit in the landfill much longer than they’ll be churned into the compost, but, yeah…)
It was already a problem (in general) for other species, just not our own scrota, until recently.
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I’m relaxed about the negative health impacts it’s having on me, because whatever we do won’t make any difference to our health (nor even that of immediate generations). Obviously, long-term, things have to change.
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Future generations of children are going to look like the cowboys in that old Primus video.
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I look at all the stuff at the grocery store etc, and so much of it does NOT need to be plastic. Remember cardboard boxes? Wax paper? Glass bottles? Actual cellophane? Make aluminum cans or glass bottles the default, not plastic bottles.
Same with a lot of other packaging.
Of course shifting to aluminum, cardboard, and glass will tax those resources in other ways, but at least you can plant more trees or hemp to create more cardboard, and they are all actually recyclable.
The other thing I thought about - reusable plastics.
So like for your various frozen dinners. Instead of 101 different plastic dishes, come up with 3 or 4 foot prints that all manufacturers use, made of a sturdy plastic, that people wash and return to the store for like a .50 deposit return. Like they do with milk bottles.
They then could be sterilized and reused for more dinners.
Of course there is no reason to do that, because making a new 1 cent tray from virgin plastic is cheaper than a reusable tray.
And the other materials that could be recycled are more expensive than plastics.
It would require legislature to 1) ban their use in some instances and/or 2) subsidize programs that encourage using a more expensive packaging material.
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@mister44 I think we are breathing it in with the brake dust. Enjoy the Crystal Lite. I’m going to go have some Tang.
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I thought that was asbestos?
apropos,
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TRANSHUMANISM EVOLUTION or something
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I’m less worried about micro plastics in my junk than I am about it in blood stream. Seems like just another thing to cause cardiovascular disease. Unless I can convince my body to some how repurpose this new resource into a heart stint or an exoskeleton or something useful.
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Hey, maybe we can coat our blood vessels with Teflon so plaque won’t stick!
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Yup, finally going to give up polar fleece, and try for only natural materials from now on.
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@mister44 yes, in my understanding brake pads used to be made of asbestos but I think nowadays they are not. Hmm…I just went and searched and perhaps they still do contain asbestos. So yes. I thought that had been all cleaned up, but I was wrong.
I live in LA, and realized yesterday that the gritty dust that remains on my front stoop is the fine fine dust that is likely toxic. It’s coming off the roof when it rains. We live right near the freeway and major roads,
I took the picture. The dirt is located where water pools when it drips from the roof. I hope this is not off topic. Maybe this is microplastics. (back on topic)
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