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It turns out that we're all eating tiny bits of plastic in our food. Yes, teeny tiny bits of plastic that are smaller than 5 mm and are called microplastics. Why are there tiny plastic pieces in our food? Is it doing anything to us, to our health? What can we do about it? After ...continue reading "We Are All Eating Microplastics"

There's a microbial, particulate, and chemical cloud surrounding each one of us that is like the one around Pig Pen in the Peanuts comics. It's called the exposome. Researchers from the Stanford University of Medicine found that we each have our own distinct  personal cloud - which is everything we're exposed to both indoors and ...continue reading "There Is A Personal Cloud Around Each Person"

Most people have heard about the three huge "garbage patches" in the ocean - where tiny pieces of plastic are floating and unfortunately also being eaten by fish and birds. But the story doesn't end there - we, all humans, are also ingesting tiny pieces of plastic, for example when we breathe and eat food (e.g ...continue reading "We Are Eating and Breathing In Tiny Plastic Particles?"

Wondering which fruits and vegetables have the most pesticide residues? The annual Dirty Dozen List of produce with the most pesticide residues has once again been published by the Environmental Working Group (EWG). They suggest that these fruits and vegetables are good candidates for buying organic. Why organic? Because while almost 70 % of the ...continue reading "Fruits, Vegetables, and Pesticide Residues"

New research published in The Lancet estimates that lead exposure results in about 400,000 deaths every year in the USA - which includes about 250,000 deaths from cardiovascular disease. The study looked at "historical exposure" to lead, which means they looked at a person's lead exposure years ago (which could have been from many sources, such as breathing lead ...continue reading "Even Low Level Lead Exposure Is Linked to Later Health Problems"

The words and phrases science-based, evidence-based, fetus, and vulnerable are all important words in science and medicine, and are frequently used on this site when I post about new health studies. Medical treatment is based on science, and it is evidence-based (that's why studies are done - to test hypotheses, and to see what the evidence ...continue reading "Fetus, Science, Evidence"

This is part 2 of posts about tiny particles of plastic (microfibers) in our water - which is a form of water pollution. These plastic fibers are smaller than 5 mm, and are found in water (drinking water, rivers, oceans) throughout the world. An investigative study by Orb Media (done by research scientists) took numerous ...continue reading "Plastic Microfibers Are In Our Drinking Water"

You may not think of your clothes as pollutants, but tiny plastic fibers from synthetic textiles (microfibers) are big contributors to water pollution. Clothes and fabrics made with synthetic fibers are using plastic fibers (e.g. polyester, nylon, acrylic, fleece and athletic clothing). When they are washed, they break apart in the washing machine, and so ...continue reading "Our Clothes Are Shedding Microfibers And Polluting the Water"

 The last post discussed the steep ongoing decline in sperm counts and sperm concentration in men from North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. It mentioned a number of environmental causes that could be contributing to this, including the huge increase of chemicals, especially endocrine disruptors (chemicals that disrupt our hormones) over the past few ...continue reading "Is Male Fertility Plunging Downward?"

Once again a study (this time a review and meta-analysis of other studies) found an alarming and steep decline in sperm counts in men from Western countries over a 40 year period. This steep decline for both sperm concentration (SC) and total sperm count (TSC) is for men in North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. ...continue reading "Steep Decline In Sperm Counts In Western Men"