Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Microplastics have been documented throughout the human body, including the reproductive system. But the field of microplastics research is very new, and it’s not yet clear if, or how, these tiny particles affect our health.
Producer Kathleen Davis has been reporting on the handful of scientists trying to uncover what microplastics mean for pregnancy and fetal development. She joins Host Flora Lichtman to debrief what she’s learned.
Read the full story here.
This story was produced with the assistance of the Journalism & Women Symposium (JAWS) Health Journalism Fellowship, supported by The Commonwealth Fund.
Thumbnail credit: Abi Stevens (abistevens.com/)
Guests:
Kathleen Davis is an audio producer for Science Friday based in New York.
Dr. Phoebe Stapleton is a toxicologist and microplastics researcher at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
Transcript will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com. (sciencefriday.com/segments/microplastics-affect-pregnancy-fetal-development/?utm_source=wnyc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=scifri)
Subscribe to this podcast. (pod.link/73329284) Follow our show on Instagram (instagram.com/scifri/) , TikTok (tiktok.com/@scifri) , Facebook (facebook.com/scifri) , and Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/scifri.bsky.social) @scifri and sign up for our newsletters (sciencefriday.com/newsletters/?utm_source=wnyc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=scifri) . Got a science question that’s keeping you up at night? Call us: 877-472-4374 (about:invalid#zCSafez)
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Microplastics have been documented throughout the human body, including the reproductive system. But the field of microplastics research is very new, and it’s not yet clear if, or how, these tiny particles affect our health.
Producer Kathleen Davis has been reporting on the handful of scientists trying to uncover what microplastics mean for pregnancy and fetal development. She joins Host Flora Lichtman to debrief what she’s learned.
Read the full story here.
This story was produced with the assistance of the Journalism & Women Symposium (JAWS) Health Journalism Fellowship, supported by The Commonwealth Fund.
Thumbnail credit: Abi Stevens (abistevens.com/)
Guests:
Kathleen Davis is an audio producer for Science Friday based in New York.
Dr. Phoebe Stapleton is a toxicologist and microplastics researcher at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
Transcript will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com. (sciencefriday.com/segments/microplastics-affect-pregnancy-fetal-development/?utm_source=wnyc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=scifri)
Subscribe to this podcast. (pod.link/73329284) Follow our show on Instagram (instagram.com/scifri/) , TikTok (tiktok.com/@scifri) , Facebook (facebook.com/scifri) , and Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/scifri.bsky.social) @scifri and sign up for our newsletters (sciencefriday.com/newsletters/?utm_source=wnyc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=scifri) . Got a science question that’s keeping you up at night? Call us: 877-472-4374 (about:invalid#zCSafez)
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com (https://pcm.adswizz.com) for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
