Plasticene Predicament: The Deadly Dance of Plastics and Sperm
Does throw-away civilization pay too high a price?
Sometimes the AHA of discovery is a shout of sheer joy. But other times, it' an OH CRAP. At those moments of horror like this one for me, we see suddenly that we deserve both a Dope Slap and a Darwin Award for our self-destructive obstinacy and ignorance. This short piece records a moment of full personal realization of self-inflicted harm.
I may have had the lights come on suddenly, but the truth of this morbid evolution of functional chemistry has been unfolding for a generation. What has taken us so very long to wake up to the Plasticene Predicament?
The incubus and the nightmare dance in this conundrum are plastics and sperm. As one rises, the other falls. That is the story. Or at least the headlines. Let's look briefly at these twin demons as they have slithered into the light.
A significant and very recent beam of light has been shed by the February 2021 publication of a new book called Countdown, by the same author, Dr. Shanna Swan, who caused a stir in 2017—its impact quickly blurred by the domestic anti-science governmental clusterpluck of the news cycle.
Dr. Swan as senior author published a widely-quoted scholarly work of 2017 regarding the rapid decline in human sperm count, but also reported other anatomical and biochemical derangements both in people and other animals creating a reproductive shock around the world. Her recent work only adds credibility to that first alarm.
The culprit in this tale: endocrine disruptors-- prominently among them, a group of chemicals called phthalates. And they are every where, and have been everywhere since the 60s. Think: The Graduate. But I digress.
How bad is it? I suppose that answer depends on whether irreversible infertility and the future of babies matters. Hmmm….Could it be that the human universe ends in a whimper and not a bang?
"The data worldwide are so clear and so consistent, Swan noted on a webinar hosted by Plastic Pollution Coalition Wednesday, that the trend is unmistakable: by 2045 median sperm counts in men are headed toward zero.
"This means that half the men would have zero" viable sperm, Swan said, "and the rest would have very close to zero." link
Evidence also shows: Declining male testosterone with erectile dysfunction on the rise; changes in the genitals and reproductive behavior of humans and a wide swath of land and aquatic animals alike; earlier periods and more miscarriages in females; and potential decrease in IQ of exposed fetuses. That's the short list. And phthalates is just ONE challenge to reproductive health. Heck, we knew of the gender-altering effect of the herbicide, atrazine, decades ago. So what, we said. Big Ag told us we’d be fine.
The current state of our "failure on fertility" is well summarized in a thorough article by Peter Myers from the Environmental Health Network. link
Phthalates are everywhere and in everything because they leach from plastics, Benjamin, and plastics have become tissue and gristle of our lives, cradle to grave. We can’t get enough of it.
Plastic’s leaching chemicals end up in oceans and soil, fish and milk, clothing and carpets, toothbrushes and straws and baby bottles. What. Have. We. Done? The problem of plastic waste is far worse than the six-o-clock news macro-level matter of sea birds snared in six-pack holders, as horrendous as that is. We’re still learning. The term “microplastics” was not even a word until 2004.
Once again, I recommend you let Peter Myers give you the full picture of the very bad news, and insights on how we got into this mess (follow the money) in the first place. Read How plastics damage our lives and the environment—and why recycling is not the answer. Can you imagine that the petro-plastics industries would mis-direct us?
So where does this leave you and me? What can be done?
First, we avoid the health impact of plastic chemicals by avoiding them by our consumer choices. You can find specific recommendations, and by avoiding the use of plastics, we avoid the waste and the resulting microbeads that result. link
See also: BPA and Phthalates | Chemicals found in our homes | Information and Tips
Then, we need different materials that do not leach phthalates and do not require fossil fuel in their manufacture. Aye, the rub: The Plastics and petroleum Industries Push-Back.
Meanwhile: "plastic was the only segment of the U.S. chemistry industry, which includes everything from fertilizer to synthetic rubber, to expand last year (2020), according to a year-end report by the American Chemistry Council. The report projects that plastics will be the fastest-growing part of the industry through 2030, factoring in economic recovery, the anticipated end of the pandemic and other variables. link
So here we are, living through Spermageddon on a plastic spoon: an intertwined, chronic, insidious conundrum, with those plastic properties in the clothes and the room you're in right now promising not one but two blows to humanity:
1.) Plastic chemistry is a near threat to your personal environment and health today.
2.) Then those items in the waste stream become a sustaining injury to the commons and future creatures for centuries to come. What’s not to love?
The threat is sufficiently clear that the United Nations has recently declared that plastics are “the second most ominous threat to the global environment, after climate change.” link
I just didn’t look in the right place. I looked below the picture rather than above. The comment button is there
On my screen it says leave a comment just before comments and write a comment above the baby pictures. Good report too.