Plastic chemical phthalate causes DNA breakage and chromosome defects in sex cells, new study finds
Benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP) is a chemical that makes plastic more flexible and durable, and is found in many consumer products, including food packaging, personal care products and children’s toys. Previous studies have shown that BBP interferes with the body’s hormones and affects human reproduction and development, but the details of how it impacts reproduction have been unclear.
In the new study, researchers tested a range of doses of BBP on the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and looked for abnormal changes in egg cells. They saw that at levels similar to those detected in humans, BBP interferes with how newly copied chromosomes are distributed into the sex cells. Specifically, BBP causes oxidative stress and breaks in the DNA strands, which lead to cell death and egg cells with the wrong number of chromosomes.
Based on these findings, the researchers propose that BBP exposure alters gene expression in ways that cause significant damage to the DNA, ultimately leading to lower quality egg cells with abnormal chromosomes. The study also showed that C. elegans metabolizes BBP in the same way as mammals, and is impacted at similar BBP levels that occur in humans, suggesting that C. elegans is an effective model for studying the impacts on people. Overall, the study underscores the toxic nature of this very common plastic ingredient and the damage it causes to animal reproduction.
If I had to theorize, I would suspect that plastic is behind many of the things we find so perplexing about our modern times: plummeting fertility rates, increased rates of autism, shockingly high cancer rates in ever-younger populations, unexplainable neurological disorders in the Boomer generation.
Chlorpyrifos: pesticide tied to brain damage in children
Population based case-control study found that, “Prenatal or infant exposure to a priori selected pesticides—including glyphosate, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, and permethrin—were associated with increased odds of developing autism spectrum disorder.”
Better Living Through Chemistry™
Protein biomarkers predict dementia 15 years before diagnosis
Of 1,463 proteins analysed, aided by with a type of artificial intelligence known as machine learning, 11 proteins were identified and combined as a protein panel, which the researchers have shown to be highly accurate at predicting future dementia. Further incorporation of conventional risk factors of age, sex, education level and genetics, showed for the first time the high accuracy of the predictive model, measured at over 90%*, indicating its potential future use in community-based dementia screening programs.
Getting your DNA or your loved ones’ DNA sequenced means you are potentially putting people who are related to those people at risk in ways that are easily predictable, but also in ways we cannot yet predict because these databases are still relatively new. I am writing this article right now because of the hack, but my stance on this issue has been the same for years, for reasons outside of the hack.
Saying Hello Linked to Higher Wellbeing, but With Limits
Adults in the U.S. who regularly say hello to multiple people in their neighborhood have higher wellbeing than those who greet fewer or no neighbors. Americans’ wellbeing score increases steadily by the number of neighbors greeted, from 51.5 among those saying hello to zero neighbors to 64.1 for those greeting six neighbors.
I can attest to this. I was in a dark place the winter of 2022 when I decided to make a conscious effort to say hello to my neighbors. Changed my mindset completely.
Espresso Coffee Mitigates the Aggregation and Condensation of Alzheimer′s Associated Tau Protein
The secret push to bury a weedkiller’s link to Parkinson’s disease
In another example of a company tactic, an outside lawyer hired by Syngenta to work with its scientists was asked to review and suggest edits on internal meeting minutes regarding paraquat safety. The lawyer pushed scientists to alter “problematic language” and scientific conclusions deemed “unhelpful” to the corporate defense of paraquat.
Syngenta’s decision to involve lawyers in the editing of its scientific reports and other communications in ways that downplayed concerning findings potentially related to public health is unacceptable, said Wendy Wagner, a law professor at the University of Texas who has served on several National Academies of Science committees. “Clearly the lawyers are involved in order to limit liability,” she said.
America. Where everything is for sale. Even you.