How Microplastics Became Silicon Valley’s Big New Worry

Lee Jacobs, co-founder of Long Journey Ventures, thought he had seen it all among his friends and acquaintances in Silicon Valley: the continuous glucose monitors, the cortisol tests, the frequent bloodwork to monitor hundreds of biomarkers and maximize longevity.

Recently, another wellness obsession took him by surprise. “I didn’t know the level of how many people are taking pictures of their poop,” he said.

As it turns out, they were recording the images to send to their doctors, hoping their physicians could use them to look for gut health issues and early signs of colon cancer, which they fear dangerous amounts of microplastics in their bodies could cause. After noticing more and more people with the same worry, Jacobs invested in Throne, an Austin-based startup. Throne hopes to popularize a smart toilet that uses sensors and cameras to analyze a person’s waste for possible health concerns stemming from microplastics.