The Plastic Detox on Netflix and A Mild Take, Or Why Start Here?

by Lindsey Turnbull March 16, 2026

The Plastic Detox on Netflix and A Mild Take, Or Why Start Here

As someone who does not intend to have kids, it's not often I get on my soap box about it...but when we're talking microplastics, that's my cue to poke my little nose in.

There's a new Netflix doc on microplastics that seems to center on microplastic pollution in our bodies as it pertains to fertility.

You can read about The Plastic Detox here from Today.

So it's time for my very mild, but possibly unpopular take:

Could microplastics be affecting fertility: absolutely, yes, and that research is worthwhile! If people want to have families, they absolutely should be equipped with the knowledge of potential harm done by plastics exposure/build up.

Can there also be other factors, such as aging or genetic issues that could affect fertility, lifestyle choices, including nutrition, exercise, stress, lack of sleep? Yes.

Could microplastics contribute to or worsen those factors? These are questions worth answering, absolutely. Infertility can be a lonely, frustrating, and very challenging problem and I don't want to take away from those trying to conceive and we should be looking at issues that may make conceiving more difficult.

AND ALSO: what about early studies showing microplastics can affect our organ health, brain health, cardiovascular health? These issues can have long term affects, say if microplastics increase stroke, heart attack, and cancer risk, which is equally deserving of the spotlight.

Why is all the focus on fertility and "plunging birth rates?"

To me, this feels like a conversation that could have a home (or at least be in the neighborhood) of eugenics.

Personally, I think some reasons birth rates are lower can *also* be attributed to many societal factors, positive and negative (ie: its more socially acceptable for people to choose to not have kids- yay! AND things like unaffordability may deter people from having families they want- boo!).

We have access to family planning. We have better childbirth and infancy survivor rates thanks to advancements in technology, including vaccines. We no longer require the help of child labor to make ends meet (overall). We can choose if and when we want to have families. I think those are net positives.

Of course, it's not just plastics that could affect fertility. What about American societal issues such as: poor or no healthcare, high maternal mortality (especially in women of color), lack of paid paternal leave, lack of affordable childcare/loneliness, rising costs of college/food/housing, school shootings, little-regulated corporate pollution, a general fear about the stability of the planet's health?

There are, of course, legitimate concerns about a low birth rate-

- such as "if there are too few people being born, elder care will become more expensive, exclusive and harder to access, especially as we live longer." There are also concerns rooted in racism and culture war issues, including fears about "white replacement" and changing national identity, anti LGBTQ+ propaganda, and anger at changing gender roles and shifting ideas about family.

You can read a bit more about natalism, identity, gender roles, racism, and other factors that play into concerns about birth rates in this very good primer from The 19th News.

This focus on individual levels of microplastics also feels like a shift to individual responsibility and away from corporate responsibility.

As EPA regulations are slashed, Chevron's Good Neighbor Doctrine overturned, bombs dropped causing mass ecological damage (in addition to the human lives taken), corporations and governments are not held responsible for waste, toxins, pollution...how much can the individual really control when the biggest polluters in the world can do so indefinitely, and scot-free?

Even if someone wanted to remove ALL plastics and other harmful chemicals from their lives...could they? What if they lived near a data center, dump site, landfill, polluted waterway, busy road?

While I'm always ready to throw big plastic and big oil under the bus, I think this conversation is so much bigger and intersects with so many other issues (climate, healthcare, racism, etc.) that include and stretch beyond fertility.

I hope this is the start of the conversation on microplastics and health, and not the end. It is possible to shift away from single-use plastic and harmful chemicals- but we need action from the top as well as individual choices.