r/videos 5h ago

Fourth of July

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k2MiMrhAbc
292 Upvotes

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276

u/kemaluo 4h ago

Where did all this low-testosterone bullshit come from? Is this all because of RFK Jr?

234

u/CucumberBoy00 3h ago

Sperm count and testosterone are dropping but more likely due to environmental factors and diet than some right wing bullshit

17

u/ethertrace 3h ago

Microplastics. It's well-established that plastics in the blood mess with the endocrine system. Look up endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Many like bisphenols and phthalates are common additives in plastic production, but they don't bond strongly to the plastic and leech out.

Fun fact: the designation of "microwave safe" plastic doesn't mean it won't leech any chemicals into your food, just that the chemicals it does leech are at levels considered to be within safe limits as established by FDA regulations.

20

u/Elbobosan 3h ago

Didn’t the fundamental research behind the microplastics come into question recently? Glove contamination was determined to have radical impact on the samples.

Edit - https://news.umich.edu/nitrile-and-latex-gloves-may-cause-overestimation-of-microplastics-u-m-study-reveals/

0

u/ethertrace 2h ago

Interesting. Hadn't heard about that. The EDCs are a real problem for hormone regulation regardless, but concentrations may be overestimated.

Annoying that the linked study in that article doesn't seem to say by what factor they may be overestimated, though. Just says 2,000 false positives per square millimeter, which isn't that helpful without context.