Let's talk about polyester (plastic in textile form) and microplastic risks on our health.
MEN, let's start with you. If you're interested in pro-creating, don't wear polyester underpants. Turns out "...fertile men can be rendered azoospermic [aka no sperm] by wearing the polyester sling."(source) It appears reversible in this study but other studies in dogs wearing polyester underpants 😂 show it produced significant decrease in sperm count and motile sperms, with an increase in abnormal forms; the testicular biopsy showed degenerative changes."(source)
And here is a host of other reasons microplastics may be a significant cause of male infertility. Yikes.
LADIES, in a similar study, female dogs "...wearing polyester-containing textile showed diminished serum progesterone...and did not conceive on mating or insemination."
The effects of microplastics that have been inhaled or ingested have limited human studies unfortunately. We do know however that, "the average person eats, drinks and breathes between 78,000 and 211,000 microplastic particles every year - and that is considered an underestimate."(source)
Having said that,"various examples of damage caused by microplastics have been reported, such as microplastic accumulation in the bodies of marine and aquatic organisms (leading to malnutrition), inflammation, reduced fertility, and mortality."(source)
This is the most comprehensive paper I have read compiling the findings of many studies of the potential effects of microplastics in our and our baby's bodies. "Exposure to MPs/NPs [aka microplastics/nanoplastics] will interfere with reproductive endocrine in female, which will inhibit gonadotropic hormones and steroidogenesis. It will also cause a decline of energy allocated to reproduction and induce oxidative stress in female reproductive system."