The Entire Planet is Swimming in Plastic. This reality has been highlighted by a study published in the journal Science of the Total Environment. Scientists captured images of human sperm swimming alongside microplastic particles that are twice their size.
Notably, these microplastic particles can release chemicals that affect human hormones and reproductive capabilities.
With the presence of microplastics, sperm exhibit a range of abnormal characteristics, such as being shorter, having misshapen heads, and irregular tails. The motility of sperm swimming near microplastics also decreases, with some sperm showing poor swimming abilities, curled tails, or even coiling in place.
These observations once again raise concerns about the consequences of microplastic exposure on human health.
Using Raman spectroscopy, scientists captured images of 8 types of microplastics in human semen samples.
The Study Found 100% of Sperm Samples Contained Microplastics
The research was conducted by scientists from China. They collected 36 semen samples from men who underwent routine pre-marital health checks at random.
Utilizing a modern microscopy technique called Raman spectroscopy, the scientists observed the presence of microplastics in 100% of the semen samples.
On average, each semen sample contained at least 2 microplastic particles. The size of these microplastics ranged from 0.72 to 6.46 μm, whereas the average size of the human sperm head is about 3 μm.
This means that some human sperm are swimming alongside microplastic particles that are twice the size of their heads.
The microplastics found in human sperm belong to 8 different types of plastics, with polystyrene (PS) being the most common, a component found in food containers, followed by polyethylene (PE) used for plastic bags, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a component of plumbing pipes.
Proportion of microplastic types found in 36/36 collected semen samples.
Identifying sperm defects while swimming alongside microplastic particles.
The researchers also noted a spectrum of abnormal sperm cells swimming in the semen along with microplastic fragments. Alarmingly, many sperm cells were found to be short, curved, coiled, or featuring irregular tails, with some appearing to struggle with normal movement.
“While these observations are compelling, establishing a direct causal link between microplastic exposure and the abnormalities of sperm has yet to be determined,” the researchers remained cautious.
Nevertheless, we have valid reasons to be concerned.
Microplastics Found in Women’s Uteruses
A new study published earlier in June by scientists from Peking University, China, also discovered microplastics within women’s uteruses. Thus, it is not an exaggeration to say that if humans want to compete reproductively in this era, their sperm are swimming alongside microplastics.
The study showed that in women with infertility issues, their endometrial tissue also contained various types of microplastics, primarily including polyamide (PA), polyurethane (PU), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), and polyethylene (PE).
Microplastics are believed to release more than 2,400 chemicals harmful to human health. Many of these can affect reproductive hormones in both males and females.
Microplastic particles. (Illustration).
For instance, Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical added to plastics to enhance their rigidity, can mimic the female sex hormone estrogen when it enters the body, leading to decreased libido, erectile dysfunction, and reduced sperm count.
For women, exposure to BPA from plastics can reduce egg quality, disrupt menstrual cycles, and even increase the risk of miscarriage.
In 2020, a study by the University of New Mexico also found microplastics could infiltrate human placentas. These particles ranged in size from 6.5 to 790 micrograms, with an average density of 128.6 micrograms per gram of placenta from 61 women who donated them.
At these concentrations, scientists are concerned that microplastic exposure could affect fetal development, leading to premature birth, low birth weight, and even cognitive decline issues.
Illustration.
The Entire Planet is Swimming in Plastic
The fact that human sperm are swimming next to microplastic particles reflects a reality occurring on a planetary scale, with marine fish swimming beside plastic bottles, turtles getting entangled in fishing nets, birds with stomachs full of plastic waste, and plastic bags causing intestinal blockages in pets.
Plastic is flooding our oceans, land, atmosphere, and even our bodies. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates that humans are producing over 450 million tons of plastic each year. Since the advent of extracting oil from the earth and using it to produce plastics, humanity has created over 8 billion tons of this non-biodegradable material.
The majority of plastic is discarded into the ocean, where it cannot degrade but only breaks down into smaller and smaller particles. When plastic particles become small enough to be invisible to the naked eye, they are termed microplastics.
A 2019 study estimated that the surface layer of the oceans alone contains 358,000,000,000,000 (358 trillion) microplastic particles, saturating the microplastic concentration and returning to land.
Sea breezes can blow 10 trillion of these microplastic particles back to land each year. As a result, each of us is inhaling over 270 microplastic particles daily, equating to 100,000 particles per year.
Once they get past the lungs, microplastics enter the bloodstream and accumulate in our internal organs. In 2020, a study published in the journal of the American Chemical Society (ACS) found microplastics in 7 human internal organs, including the lungs, liver, spleen, and kidneys.
How microplastics cross the blood barrier of the testes.
Last month, a study by American scientists also found microplastics in 100% of human testicular samples. The scientists noted that the plastic particles are currently fragmented into nanoscale sizes, allowing them to easily pass through the blood barrier in the testes.
Therefore, it is not difficult to imagine the inevitable reality that human sperm are now swimming alongside microplastics.
“This underscores the need for further research on how microplastics affect male reproductive capabilities, especially considering their widespread presence and potential reproductive toxicity,” the researchers wrote in the conclusion of their paper published in the journal Science of the Total Environment.
