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Microplastics found in every human testicle in study
(www.theguardian.com)
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Microplastics have also recently been discovered in human blood, placentas and breast milk, indicating widespread contamination of people’s bodies.Vast amounts of plastic waste are dumped in the environment and microplastics have polluted the entire planet, from the summit of Mount Everest to the deepest oceans.
In March, doctors warned of potentially life-threatening effects after finding a substantially raised risk of stroke, heart attack and earlier death in people whose blood vessels were contaminated with microscopic plastics.
The study, published in the journal Toxicological Sciences, involved dissolving the tissue samples and then analysing the plastic that remained.
The human testes had been routinely collected by the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator and were available following a seven-year storage requirement after which the samples are usually discarded.
Recent studies in mice have reported that microplastics reduced sperm count and caused abnormalities and hormone disruptions.
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