Microplastics in MY food?!

When I first joined a history of medicine program, I never expected to learn about the environment. However, I'm so glad I was pushed outside of my comfort zone to learn about microplastics. I realized that even though this might not directly relate to what I set out to study, it still ties back to medicine and to the health of our bodies and our earth. Getting to collaborate with art students helped me learn about microplastics in our reproductive system. I learned that microplastics can easily lower sperm count and sneak into the placenta. Plastics in the placenta ultimately damage fetal development. What's worse is that microplastics can be transgenerational, meaning that the microplastics in my body can be passed down into the microplastics of my grandchildren. This means they will accumulate in the future generations, creating more health risks and more damage to DNA and hormones. Learning this was insane to me! Then getting to collaborate with art students only made me learn about it more. I got pushed outside of my comfort zone trying to create artwork for this, which was really exciting. I love being challenged, and brainstorming abstract art pieces caused me to use a part of my brain I haven't used in a long time. This was a great exercise and project, and I hope I get to see the final product the art students come up with.

Getting to learn about this stuff was really interesting to me. We further learned about microplastics by walking on the Rhine. I got to learn even more about the damage that plastics cause and how they escape into rivers and pollute our water systems. I have loved learning about the body and medicine, but this was a nice break from the scientific and historical side of the program. It's always great to learn something new! It made me critically think and analyze how we are hurting our earth. I realized I need to be more careful with what I purchase, and that I should warn my friends and family about the damage we are causing. This was a great addition to our program, and I'm so glad I got to participate.