Researchers have located one more anatomical organ where microplastics — of all shapes and constituents — are found: human testes. And although they can’t say for sure, they suspect the presence of these jagged bits and strands of polymers such as polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride and polystyrene could be — in part — behind a global trend in diminishing sperm quality and quantity . In 2022, a team of researchers published a paper showing that global sperm counts fell about 1.
2% per year between 1973 and 2018. From the year 2000, that rate accelerated to more than 2.6% per year.
“What I think will grab people’s attention with this study is the fact that plastic is in the testicles and potentially contributing to disarray in the function of the testicles,” said Leonardo Trasande, a pediatrician and public policy expert at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine and Wagner School of Public Service. “What should have gotten people excited all along is the fact that we’ve known that the invisible chemicals — the phthalates, the bisphenols and the PFAS that are used in plastic materials — are already known to be problems,” he said. “And so if this is what it takes to get people’s attention, I’m a bit sad.
Because we already had enough evidence that plastics were bad for testicular function.” Others, including Philip Landrigan, director of the Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good at Boston College, said the study was “co.