Scientists have identified microplastics in human penises for the first time, raising concerns about their connection to erectile dysfunction.
A new study, published in IJIR: Your Sexual Medicine Journal, took tissue samples of six patients undergoing erectile-dysfunction-related surgery and analysed the samples with an infrared chemical imaging system.
Microplastics were found in 80 per cent of the examined tissue samples, ranging from 20 to 500 micrometres.
With a diameter under 5mm, manmade microplastics have invaded both land and underwater ecosystems and can be found in seafood, sea salt and drinks. They are passed onto humans through ingestion, breathing, and skin contact.
Leader of the research project and reproductive urology expert Dr Ranjith Ramasamy told The Independent microplastics are “not supposed to be in human organs”.
He said: “With the increasing prevalence of reproductive disorders such as sexual dysfunction and infertility, we need to identify causes and try to prevent them.”
He added: “We need to find out whether there is a certain level of microplastics that are harmful and which subtypes of microplastics can be more harmful than others.”
The authors say they want to investigate further the impact of environmental pollutants on sexual health.
Dr Ramasamy said that until we determine whether microplastics can make us ill, we need to try to limit our exposure.
The discovery came after a study, published in Toxicological Sciences, detected microplastics in both dog and human testes. A further report, in Science of the Total Environment, identified microplastics in human semen.
In March, researchers in Naples published research suggesting people with arteries contaminated by microplastics have a considerably higher risk of stroke and heart attack death.
