Microplastic Health Risks
Plastics are all around these days. Are there risks from microplastic and/or nanoplastic particles? Could there be a 4.5 times greater risk of having a stroke because of microplastics? Are there risks of reduced male fertility and cardiovascular issues related to the accumulation of plastics in humans and animals? Where do these small plastic particles come from? How can you reduce your risks? Are nanoplastic particles in water bottled in hard plastic potentially dangerous? What about inhaling toys made of plastic likes 'Legos'? Are synthetic clothes and even tire dust a health risk? Will humans solve climate and heat matters? What does the Bible say about that? Is a better world coming? Steve Dupuie and Dr. Thiel discuss these matters.
A written article of related interest is available titled ‘Microplastics in Bloodstream Increase Stroke Risk 4.5-Fold: Study’' URL: https://www.cogwriter.com/news/prophecy/microplastics-in-bloodstream-increase-stroke-risk-4-5-fold-study/
A written article of related interest is available titled ‘Microplastics in Bloodstream Increase Stroke Risk 4.5-Fold: Study’' URL: https://www.cogwriter.com/news/prophecy/microplastics-in-bloodstream-increase-stroke-risk-4-5-fold-study/
Transcript
00:00Greetings, friends. This is Steve Dupuy for the Bible News Prophecy Program with Dr. Bob
00:08Thiel. Dr. Thiel, ever since humans were created, we've been throwing things away. They used
00:14to be old leather shoes and wine skins. More recently, it has been things made of plastic.
00:18How's that working out for us?
00:20Well, we're actually having major problems with that, actually. I saw a study yesterday.
00:25Here's the headline. Microplastics in bloodstream increase stroke risk 4.5 times. And microplastics
00:34can be found anywhere in the body, including a heart plaque. We've seen more and more of
00:41this. They enter the body through ingestion or through breathing. They increase the risk
00:47of heart attacks, strokes, or even death. Regular plastic products release microplastics.
00:55Synthetic textiles that a lot of people wear shed fiber fragments. Worn-out tires produce
01:02plastic-containing dust. Even smooth plastic water bottles can shed microplastics. And
01:10then in nature, you've got sunlight and ultraviolet radiation. They degrade plastics into smaller
01:15particles. And all these things that come from factories as well and fishing nets contribute
01:21to this. And humans and animals ingest this stuff, and some of them accumulate in our
01:26bodies. Some go into the ocean, and they end up being consumed by microorganisms, which
01:32are then consumed by small fish. And microplastics, they typically enter the body through food
01:41and drink ingestion. And then things called nanoplastics, those are actually inhaled.
01:48So are we actually snorting nanoplastics? And just where do nanoplastics come from?
01:55Pretty much everything. There was a paper that came out recently that said playing with
02:00toys like Legos cause microplastic and nanoplastic pollution. And they find that particles used
02:11to make toy building blocks, including Legos—I'm reading this part—while these are deemed
02:17to be safe and non-toxic plastics, some studies have found that fumes and fine particles of
02:24them can be toxic. However, whether micro- or nano-sized particles from toys such as
02:29building blocks pose a health risk if inhaled or ingested remains an open question according
02:35to that report. Well, you know, you've got kids playing with plastic toys. And so obviously
02:41they're ingesting these nano-microplastic things because they got to breathe. In theory,
02:48I guess you could take a package, open it out in the shade, and let the plastics out-gas for a
02:56while. But that won't deal with all the exposure. Because normally what happens when people play
03:01with plastic toys like Legos, they put them together. Just actually putting them together
03:05causes friction and nanoplastics into the environment. Because that's what happens.
03:13They get connected, they make more particles. The first research you cited shows microplastics
03:21in the body can significantly increase health risks. Now, in this report, we are told that
03:27we don't know if inhaling microplastics creates a health risk. Are there more studies? Oh yeah,
03:33there's studies, for example, that found microplastics in every human testicle when
03:40they've checked it. So this is obviously for males. They're linking this to the decades-long
03:46decline in sperm counts around the world. And so they think that could be a factor. And they've
03:54also found microplastics in human blood, placentas, and breast milk. So females are not exempt,
04:01obviously. It says this indicates widespread contamination in people's bodies. Other reports
04:09of the impact on health is yet unknown, but microplastics have been shown to damage human
04:14cells in a laboratory. There was a smaller study in China back in 2023 that found microplastics
04:21in various human testicles and semen. And also we found the same thing in mice, and
04:28it looks like it reduced sperm count and caused abnormalities and hormone disruptions.
04:35I just have to say this, Dr. Thiel. Here's a quote from the Guardian article you just read from.
04:41The impact on health is as yet unknown, but microplastics have been shown to cause damage
04:47to human cells in the laboratory. If microplastics cause damage to human cells, the impact on health
04:54may already be known. Is there more? Oh yeah, partially could be worse. Okay, look. Plastics
05:02have long been assumed by the world's scientists as inert and safe to be around. Every now and then
05:08they find this new version. Oh, well, that one causes cancer. Oh, this one cures the cancer,
05:11whatever. But there's other things other than just cancers, and they haven't checked everything.
05:16Look, most people can tolerate small amounts of microplastics being around them. The problem is
05:24we've got massive use of plastics, and it's got to the point where we are exposed to lots of
05:29microplastics. And as we've had more and more of them, we're seeing reports come out, say,
05:35wait a second, this really causes problems. Earlier this year, there was another report
05:42said, surrounded by microplastics, there are risks and solutions. That's a headline. Tiny
05:48particles of plastics have spread to every corner of the planet, from the deepest part of the ocean
05:54to the heights of Mount Everest. We find microplastics in just about every animal
05:59species we study, said a professor at the University of Exeter in the UK,
06:05and find out we're drinking more plastics than we knew. New research has revealed there's 100 times
06:11more plastic particles in bottled water than previous studies showed. So they did some
06:17research before, they didn't find so much. Apparently they weren't looking hard enough,
06:22because now, maybe with better technology, or maybe because they wanted to see the truth,
06:27they found it's more. Anyway, there's a report that was published by the United States Journal
06:34Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found an average of a quarter of a million
06:38plastic particles per liter of bottled water, 90% of which were nanoplastics. Okay, so roughly
06:47200,000 plastic particles in a quart of water, okay, for those of us who don't use metric as much.
06:58And nanoplastics are believed to be more toxic than larger microplastics, because they can more
07:05easily enter the human body. Each year, about 430 million tons of plastic products are produced
07:12around the world. They think that might triple in the next 25 or so years. And once in the
07:18environment, they're consumed by, well, indirectly, the microparticles get consumed by microorganisms,
07:25and then we get them by breathing, drinking, animals get them, they end up all over the place.
07:32Now, it's said that you can limit your exposure to microplastics by eating less processed and
07:37packaged foods, and not reheating meats and plastic containers in a microwave.
07:45Also, they're warning about that you should consider plastic-free personal care products.
07:52Don't use synthetic clothes. Use natural things, such as, let's say, cotton, wool, or silk,
08:00and that can reduce it. And also be careful about rubbing against plastics.
08:05So there's some things that we can do individually will help a little bit.
08:11That's not going to solve all the problems associated with it.
08:14Back in the 20th century, in the old Plain Truth magazine, the Worldwide Church of God
08:21said, or published, we're dosing the environment with materials that poison virtually everything.
08:28And they're basically everywhere, it says. And some of these things are affecting the climate,
08:35pollution is absolutely worldwide. There's more particulate pollution. I first learned about
08:42tires of cars called particulate pollution years ago when I was working on my PhD.
08:47But anyway, this article says we're seeing pollution over in Hawaii,
08:51particles, and pollution covers the whole planet.
08:56Now, let me just say, this doesn't mean that many haven't politicized and even fake environmental
09:02and climate change data for improper reasons. But the reality is, there are many poisons
09:08that affect the environment, and are factors of loss of species, and pollution is becoming
09:14an increased problem worldwide, with sins of various types being the cause.
09:21What do you mean when you say sins of various types are the real cause of pollution?
09:27Well, if you go back to the Bible, first book of the Bible, Genesis 2, verse 15, it says,
09:32God took the man, put him in the Garden of Eden to tend it and to keep it. The idea of
09:38tending and keep it suggests proper environmental stewardship. God actually made humans so things
09:46would be made better, not worse. And in Genesis 1, verse 26, God said, let's make man in our image,
09:54have dominion over the fish, the sea, the birds of the air, over the cattle, over all the earth,
09:59over the creeping things. God created the male and female, blessed them and said, be fruitful,
10:05multiply, multiply, fill the earth, so do it, have dominion over the fish, the sea, the birds,
10:11and every living creature that moves on the earth. God says, I've given you every herb that yields
10:17seeds. Verse 31, God said, he saw everything he made and indeed it was good. People in general,
10:25and Christians in particular, should try to pollute less. We shouldn't litter. We should
10:30pick up after ourselves. We should try to ensure that our plastic trash doesn't blow into the
10:37waterways or go into the land. We should try to avoid or minimize use of synthetic chemicals where
10:44it's feasible. And yes, we can separate trash for recycling as well as to reuse things instead of
10:50throwing them away. We should live as Christian pacifists. Human wars, by the way, all have been
10:57a factor in pollution and destruction, and that's going to get worse. We should strive to live as
11:01Jesus did and strive not to sin. Now, international groups fighting pollution normally leave sin in
11:07the Bible out of their solutions, but that's actually a major contributor to pollution of all
11:12types. Humans need to live God's way to correct this, but since they've refused to do so for about
11:196,000 years, we have increasing pollution and other problems. As far as throwing things away goes,
11:28years ago someone said to me, there is no a way to throw things. Do we have more from the word of God?
11:36Yes, there isn't a way to throw things, but the problem is it still causes problems.
11:40But the word of God in Romans chapter 8 starting verse 19 says, for the earnest expectation of the
11:47creation eagerly awaits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subject to
11:54futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it to hope. Because the creation itself
12:00also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the
12:04children of God. And it's under bondage of corruption as we pollute and do various other
12:09things in sin. And the Bible says your whole creation groans and labors, birth pains together
12:15until now. Now when Jesus returns, things are going to be changed. The world's going to be purged
12:24and we're going to have a new unpolluted world. In 2 Peter we read the Lord's going to come
12:31and the elements are going to melt with fervent heat. The earth and the works of it are going to
12:37be burnt up. So it says, since these things are going to be dissolved, what manner of person
12:42should you also be in your holy contact and godliness? Okay, so we should look forward to
12:48the fact that sin is going to be purged. We should live the way God wants us to live. Jesus is going
12:53to lead the charge against, to fix environmental other problems in the world. And by the way,
13:00as far as global warming goes, the Bible says it's going to get worse in Revelation chapter 16
13:05verses 8 through 9. It says men are going to be scorched with great heat and they're going to
13:10blaspheme God because of it. So we read that people are, while they should repent, they prophesied
13:18not to do so in significant numbers in this age. So even though there may not be repentance,
13:24can't humanity at least stop polluting? Well, we could at least reduce it. But the Bible warns us
13:30in Revelation 11 verse 18, when Jesus returns, he's going to destroy those who destroy the earth.
13:36God's not pleased when humans mess up the environment, but because most humans are not
13:42going to repent, by the way, it doesn't mean you can't. Anyway, the Bible does reveal that there's
13:48a solution to pollution and climate change. What solutions does the Bible reveal? Well,
13:55while it's going to take God to fix it, Jesus' kingdom will be the solution. It says in Isaiah 51
14:04verses 3, the Lord will comfort Zion, will comfort all her waste places. He will make her wilderness
14:10like Eden and her desert like the Garden of Eden. So yes, the Bible says a better world is coming.
14:19The knowledge of the reality of the gospel of the kingdom of God brings hope. But yes, until then,
14:24we face a lot of pollution from plastic and other chemicals.
14:28Thank you, Dr. Thiel. For more interviews with Dr. Thiel, in addition to written,
14:32as well as audio articles, visit our website at biblenewsprophecy.net.
14:37This is Steve Dupuy for the Bible News Prophecy Program.