> When I read this sort of stuff, it feeds directly into my conspiracy theory about how people are being intentionally pacified using chemicals.

Why pacified? I don't really have "conspiracy theory" about this (as in, I don't think there's a group doing it intentionally), but I've idly wondered if the state of the world could be partially explained by things like microplastics and plastic chemicals leeching into our bodies. Kind of like the leaded gasoline/increased crime hypothesis.