The tiny plastic particles were found in all 23 human testes in a new study, and all 47 testes from pet dogs.

Microplastics have crossed so many boundaries it is hard to keep track.

The ‘red flag’ of our consumptive lifestyles, they have reached the limits of the Earth - from the Mariana Trench to the tip of Mount Everest. These tiny particles of decomposed plastic have seeped into clouds, and been found buried in archaeological remains believed to be ‘pristine’.

They have challenged our ideas of bodily inviolability too, infiltrating every organ. What might have been considered the ‘purest’ parts of human life - placentas, babies, breast milk - contain microplastics.

So it comes as little surprise that human testicles have them too, as the most comprehensive study yet on microplastics and the scrotum confirms.

Less is known about what microplastics are doing to our bodies. But in the case of testicles, the new research suggests they could be lowering sperm count.

    • Optional@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Ans let’s remember our friends at McDonnell-Douglas and Raytheon, huh? Record profits, people! Unprecedented geopolitical instability market opportunities!

      So go on, get those microplastics in yer junk! Get ‘em in there! That’s right! We got maybe six years tops before this whole planet goes tits up, let’s move! Always Be Closing!

    • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
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      7 months ago

      Personally, I buy my microplastics at my local spice market. It’s more aromatic and flavorful for a quarter of the price of McCormick’s shit. But hey, if you want shitty flavorless plastic in your dishes that’s your choice.

  • Optional@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Headline: “Could it be microplastics?”

    Story: “oh definitely. 100%. I mean, c’mon. Seriously, it’s SO microplastics it’s insane.”

  • SolidGrue@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Seeing the numbers of testes cited here as being an odd number makes me feel uncomfortable.

  • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
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    7 months ago

    But Jordan Peterson told me Soy milk made me a girl, who am I supposed to believe! /s

    (Obviously not Jordan Peterson or manosphere bullshit)

  • Fedizen@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    petroleum derived microplastics are stored in the balls. Big Oil is sneaking into deez nutz

  • vinniep@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    The Guardian’s story on this has more of the important details

    The human testicles had been preserved and so their sperm count could not be measured. However, the sperm count in the dogs’ testes could be assessed and was lower in samples with higher contamination with PVC. The study demonstrates a correlation but further research is needed to prove microplastics cause sperm counts to fall.

    The testes analysed were obtained from postmortems in 2016, with the men ranging in age from 16 to 88 when they died. “The impact on the younger generation might be more concerning” now that there is more plastic than ever in the environment, Yu said.

    The study, published in the journal Toxicological Sciences, involved dissolving the tissue samples and then analysing the plastic that remained. The dogs’ testes were obtained from veterinary practices that conducted neutering operations.

    The human testicles had a plastic concentration almost three times higher than that found in the dog testes: 330 micrograms per gram of tissue compared with 123 micrograms. Polyethylene, used in plastic bags and bottles, was the most common microplastic found, followed by PVC.

    • Spedwell@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      330 micrograms per gram

      That seems like… a lot. Way more than I expected or am comfortable thinking about.

      • DarkThoughts@fedia.io
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        7 months ago

        Just to clarify, 1 microgram is 0.001 milligrams, so 330 micrograms are 0.33 milligrams and 1 gram is made out of 1000 milligrams.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    7 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    The ‘red flag’ of our consumptive lifestyles, they have reached the limits of the Earth - from the Mariana Trench to the tip of Mount Everest.

    These tiny particles of decomposed plastic have seeped into clouds, and been found buried in archaeological remains believed to be ‘pristine’.

    “The ubiquitous existence of microplastics and nanoplastics raises concerns about their potential impact on the human reproductive system,” the study, published in the journal Toxicological Sciences, states.

    Sperm counts in western men have more than halved in the last few decades, with air pollution and exposure to pesticides frequently cited as factors.

    “At the beginning, I doubted whether microplastics could penetrate the reproductive system,” Prof Xiaozhong Yu, one of the authors of the new study told the UK’s Guardian newspaper.

    A smaller study in China last year also found microplastics in six human testes and 30 semen samples.


    The original article contains 544 words, the summary contains 145 words. Saved 73%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!