Microplastics have been found in the ocean and the air, in our food and water. They have been found in a wide range of body tissues, including the heart, liver, kidneys and even testicles.
California regulators and a group of academic scientists are pressing EPA to substantially strengthen its approach to pending TSCA evaluations for a pair of phthalates, arguing that draft analyses for the chemicals underestimate health risks, fail to use the best available science and violate the agency’s just-finalized rule governing such reviews.
Plastics and the long-lasting chemicals they're made of are accumulating in our oceans, leaching into our farm fields and piling up in landfills. Plastic is floating in the air and falling from the sky. It's also turning up in remote, isolated caves … so even if you have been living under a rock, you might have cause for concern.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably picked up on a growing anxiety around plastic pollution. Plastics and the long-lasting chemicals they’re made of are accumulating in our oceans, leaching into our farm fields and piling up in landfills. Plastic is floating in the air and falling from the sky. It’s also turning up in remote, isolated caves … so even if you have been living under a rock, you might have cause for concern.
Pregnancy doesn't always leave you glowing, especially when it comes to your skin. Thanks to your changing hormones and increased hydration needs, pregnancy can lead to things like melasma (dark patches on the face), eczema, acne, and increased skin sensitivity, not to mention a belly that's itchy and developing stretch marks.
Male infertility remains a global issue, with its causes often not well understood. Given the growing evidence of microplastics infiltrating various biological systems, such as blood and lungs, researchers are now exploring their potential effects on reproductive systems.
Matthew Campen, a toxicologist at the University of New Mexico, wasn’t surprised when his team found microplastics in human testicles during a new study. The tiny particles had already been found in human breast milk, lungs and blood. At this point, Dr. Campen said, he expects to find them in every part of the body.
Microplastics have been found on the top of Mount Everest, at the bottom of the ocean and now in human semen. Scientists discovered eight types of the tiny, cancer-causing plastics in all 36 men tested in the new study - including those used in Styrofoam and pipes. Semen samples found with particles used in piping had less mobile sperm, which the team suggested may link microplastics to the global decrease in fertility rates.
Microplastics and nanoplastics are everywhere.
The teeny tiny pieces of plastic have been found in everything from drinking water to chicken nuggets, apples, and broccoli.
Recent studies have linked these pollutants to heart disease, lung disorders, and more worrying health issues.
But unfortunately, microplastics are now so pervasive that they’re nearly impossible to avoid.
A draft EPA analysis that ultimately will determine whether formaldehyde is regulated should examine more ways people can be exposed to the chemical and better estimate what their total exposures could be, agency advisers said during a four-day meeting that concluded Thursday.
Environmentalists and a scientist with a prominent academic center argued that EPA’s draft TSCA evaluation of formaldehyde “set dangerous precedent” by underestimating the ubiquitous chemical’s health risks during an ongoing peer review meeting for the document, pressing the agency’s science advisors to address their concerns during that process.
Human testicles may contain high concentrations of microplastics and nanoplastics, substances that can interfere with the reproductive system, a new study suggests. For the study, scientists tested levels of 12 different types of plastic in 23 testes taken from male cadavers that ranged in age from 16 to 88 years old at the time of death. They also tested for the same plastics in 47 testes taken from neutered dogs.
Microplastics are everywhere. These tiny polymers, shed by the 400 million-some metric tons of plastic that humans produce each year, are in the food we eat and the water we drink—and therefore our body. While microplastics’ impacts on human health have not yet been fully established, evidence suggests chemicals in some plastics can disrupt hormone signaling, potentially leading to a wide array of health effects.
You go to the gym, eat healthy and walk as much as possible. You wash your hands and get vaccinated. You control your health. This is a common story we tell ourselves. Unfortunately, it’s not quite true.