ABQ Times

It’s (Probably Not) Rocket Science (IPNRS) has launched its second season with a focus on microplastics. The episode, titled “Everything You Should Know About Microplastics,” discusses recent research from The University of New Mexico, revealing significant findings about microplastics in the human body.

Dr. Matthew Campen, Distinguished Regents Professor in the UNM Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the UNM Health Sciences Center, leads this research. "We've spent 50 or more years trying to put plastics out of our minds," said Campen. "Let's stop pretending that these aren't going to come back and haunt us. Let's actually take care of it."

Earlier this year, Campen published research identifying high levels of microplastics in placentas. This work utilized pyrolysis gas spectrometry to measure plastic content in human tissue, in collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine's database of 5,000 mothers. Although difficult to pinpoint specific causes, Campen suggests that race, ethnicity, and age could influence the presence of microplastics.

The placenta study prompted further research with Jamie Hu, Xiao Zhang, and John Yu from the UNM College of Nursing. They discovered high levels of microplastics in both dogs and human testicles. Chemical analysis showed humans have three times the concentration found in dogs' testicles. This may relate to declining global sperm counts over the past 50 years.

"Over the past 50 years, sperm counts have gone down globally," noted Campen. "Nobody knows what's going on, but certainly modern chemicals, modern contaminants like plastics could potentially have a role in that."

Campen also reported finding high levels of microplastics in the brain—an area highly protected against contaminants. In an interview with CBS, he stated that an average brain contains seven grams of plastic—equivalent to one and a half plastic spoons.

Regarding ingestion sources and types of plastics found, Campen identified polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene, and nylon as common culprits present in everyday products like water bottles and IV drip bags. These items degrade over time and enter water supplies used for crops and livestock.

Campen suggested that diet might influence plastic ingestion since plastics tend to bond with fats. However, simply reducing daily plastic use is insufficient due to long-standing environmental contamination.

"We suspect that most of what we get into our body is like 30, 40, 50 years old," said Campen.

He described this as a “backlog of plastics” contributing to global contamination issues: "I think we need to look at the waste we've created more than the new products."

Despite alarming findings about plastic accumulation doubling every decade or so since the 1950s, Campen advises against panic given current high life expectancies.

“We live into our 80s, 90s, and 100s," he stated. "Humanity has never known a period of greater longevity across the planet.”

Nonetheless, he encourages reconsideration of plastic use: "As much as we're seeing these trends right now, we have to accept the fact that there's no easy way to extract plastics from our lives."

The episode “Everything You Should Know About Microplastics” is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or other podcast platforms.

For more information about It’s (Probably Not) Rocket Science visit podcast.unm.edu or follow them on Instagram and TikTok.