4 ms·

> At the very least, we should be treating the brine so it’s safe to discharge into the ocean. This amused me as I pictured people mixing newly produced fresh

by wlll 8y ago

> At the very least, we should be treating the brine so it’s safe to discharge into the ocean. This amused me as I pictured people mixing newly produced fresh water with the brine and releasing this "new" seawater back. Seriously though, I guess I assumed people were at least turning this stuff into salt. I watched a documentary on salt production (Italy I think) and they just got sea water and evaporated it in huge salt beds. I kind of assumed the sea salt (Malden) I buy has been created using the same process.

simonh 8y ago
Sea salt has it's own problems due to it's microplastics content. Around 90% of domestic sea salt contains microplastics and the average adult consumes around 2,000 microplastic particles as a result every year. People who go out of their way to buy sea salt presumably ingest significantly more on average. My mother used to love sea salt, but recently switched to rock salt.
- zaarn 8y ago
  I don't think microplastic particles in the human digestive system are that big of a problem; most of it is fairly inert and will just pass through, the other stuff is in low enough quantities that our stomach should be able to deal with it.
  - nickles 8y ago
    > I don't think microplastic particles in the human digestive system are that big of a problem; most of it is fairly inert and will just pass through, the other stuff is in low enough quantities that our stomach should be able to deal with it. "The primary concern with human health in regards to microplastics is more directed towards the different toxic and carcinogenic chemicals used to make these plastics and what they carry. It has also been thought that microplastics can act as a vector for pathogens as well as heavy metals. More specifically, pregnant women in particular are in danger of causing birth defects to male infants such as anogenital distance, penile width, and testicular descent. This comes from phthalate exposure and DEHP metabolites that interfere with the development of the male reproductive tract." "Another dangerous ingredient is called Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) which is a flame retardant in many different types of plastics such as those used in microcircuits. This chemical has been linked to disruptions in thyroid hormones balance, pituitary function, and infertility. The endocrine system is affected by TBBPA through disruption of the natural T3 functions with the nuclear suspension in pituitary and thyroid." "Many people can expect to come in contact with various types of microplastics on a daily basis in the aforementioned sources (see sources). However, the average citizen is exposed to microplastics through their various types of food included in a normal diet. For instance: Salt. Researchers in China tested three types of table salt samples available in supermarkets and found the presence of microplastics in all of them. Sea salt has the highest amounts of microplastics compared to lake salt and rock/well salt." Even if we ignore the environmental impact, there's ample evidence to indicate we should not dismiss the dangers of microplastics to human health without further research. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microplastics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microplastics
    - scotty79 8y ago
      Still we are talking about ingesting few microscopic particles per day. If they were cyanide it might have been harmful but they are mostly inert undigestible polymer with possibly traces of some additive if they surivived all previous stages of plastics life. Like floating in saltwater for few years or perhaps even already being in digestive systems of some aninals. I wouldn't bother with microplastics in salt. Not when I'm exposing my blood directly to mixture of hydrocarbons and soot with every breath I take.
      - ryanmercer 8y ago
        >Still we are talking about ingesting few microscopic particles per day. Which is going to increase. Plastic plumbing, plastic containers, plastic clothes, plastic cooking surfaces, plastic in the water, plastic in the salt, plastic in the air, plastic toothbrush bristles, plastic microbeads in body scrubs etc. Most plastics are effectively forever, they break down into smaller and smaller pieces creating the microplastics. A recent (very small) study found every single person out of the group of 8 had microplastics in their stool, on average about 20 particles for every 3.5 ounces of stool. The study had one test subject per country from Finland, the Netherlands, Poland, Austria, Italy, the United Kingdom, Russia and Japan.
        scotty79 8y ago
        I'm just saying there are bigger concerns right now. Such as air quality.
  - snowwrestler 8y ago
    Things can get weird at very small sizes because of the huge ratio of surface area to mass. An amount of plastic that is safe to place against your skin as one object, might have more significant chemical interactions as a collection of particles in your digestive system--which specializes in leaching complex chemicals out the materials that pass through it.
    - sandworm101 8y ago
      There can also be strange physical issues at small scales. A block of plastic cannot get lodged between cells or poke through into the bloodstream.
  - mcv 8y ago
    On some level I find it totally fair that we're at least swallowing some of that microplastic. A little solidarity with the fishes for the problem we created.
  - semi-extrinsic 8y ago
    Another point to consider, a recent study [1] found that comparable amounts of microplastics are deposited on your food from dust falling on it while you eat. So unless you either ban all synthetic textiles from your house/workplace/favourite restaurants, or make sure to always eat underneath a huge laminar flow air extractor, you're gonna ingest some microplastics. [1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749117344445 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S026974911...
- twic 8y ago
  The estuary from which Maldon sea salt is harvested was also used for cooling nuclear reactors from the '60s until 2002 [1], so microplastics probably aren't even its most interesting feature. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradwell_nuclear_power_station https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradwell_nuclear_power_station
  - wlll 8y ago
    I will be dissapointed if I don't get some sort of salty superpowers then.
kaybe 8y ago
Well you could probably run an osmosis power station off it. I'm not sure about the efficiency, but it's a viable way to store energy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmotic_power https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmotic_power

by wlll 8y ago

simonh 8y ago

Sea salt has it's own problems due to it's microplastics content. Around 90% of domestic sea salt contains microplastics and the average adult consumes around 2,000 microplastic particles as a result every year. People who go out of their way to buy sea salt presumably ingest significantly more on average. My mother used to love sea salt, but recently switched to rock salt.

zaarn 8y ago
I don't think microplastic particles in the human digestive system are that big of a problem; most of it is fairly inert and will just pass through, the other stuff is in low enough quantities that our stomach should be able to deal with it.
- nickles 8y ago
  > I don't think microplastic particles in the human digestive system are that big of a problem; most of it is fairly inert and will just pass through, the other stuff is in low enough quantities that our stomach should be able to deal with it. "The primary concern with human health in regards to microplastics is more directed towards the different toxic and carcinogenic chemicals used to make these plastics and what they carry. It has also been thought that microplastics can act as a vector for pathogens as well as heavy metals. More specifically, pregnant women in particular are in danger of causing birth defects to male infants such as anogenital distance, penile width, and testicular descent. This comes from phthalate exposure and DEHP metabolites that interfere with the development of the male reproductive tract." "Another dangerous ingredient is called Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) which is a flame retardant in many different types of plastics such as those used in microcircuits. This chemical has been linked to disruptions in thyroid hormones balance, pituitary function, and infertility. The endocrine system is affected by TBBPA through disruption of the natural T3 functions with the nuclear suspension in pituitary and thyroid." "Many people can expect to come in contact with various types of microplastics on a daily basis in the aforementioned sources (see sources). However, the average citizen is exposed to microplastics through their various types of food included in a normal diet. For instance: Salt. Researchers in China tested three types of table salt samples available in supermarkets and found the presence of microplastics in all of them. Sea salt has the highest amounts of microplastics compared to lake salt and rock/well salt." Even if we ignore the environmental impact, there's ample evidence to indicate we should not dismiss the dangers of microplastics to human health without further research. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microplastics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microplastics
  - scotty79 8y ago
    Still we are talking about ingesting few microscopic particles per day. If they were cyanide it might have been harmful but they are mostly inert undigestible polymer with possibly traces of some additive if they surivived all previous stages of plastics life. Like floating in saltwater for few years or perhaps even already being in digestive systems of some aninals. I wouldn't bother with microplastics in salt. Not when I'm exposing my blood directly to mixture of hydrocarbons and soot with every breath I take.
    - ryanmercer 8y ago
      >Still we are talking about ingesting few microscopic particles per day. Which is going to increase. Plastic plumbing, plastic containers, plastic clothes, plastic cooking surfaces, plastic in the water, plastic in the salt, plastic in the air, plastic toothbrush bristles, plastic microbeads in body scrubs etc. Most plastics are effectively forever, they break down into smaller and smaller pieces creating the microplastics. A recent (very small) study found every single person out of the group of 8 had microplastics in their stool, on average about 20 particles for every 3.5 ounces of stool. The study had one test subject per country from Finland, the Netherlands, Poland, Austria, Italy, the United Kingdom, Russia and Japan.
      - scotty79 8y ago
        I'm just saying there are bigger concerns right now. Such as air quality.
- snowwrestler 8y ago
  Things can get weird at very small sizes because of the huge ratio of surface area to mass. An amount of plastic that is safe to place against your skin as one object, might have more significant chemical interactions as a collection of particles in your digestive system--which specializes in leaching complex chemicals out the materials that pass through it.
  - sandworm101 8y ago
    There can also be strange physical issues at small scales. A block of plastic cannot get lodged between cells or poke through into the bloodstream.
- mcv 8y ago
  On some level I find it totally fair that we're at least swallowing some of that microplastic. A little solidarity with the fishes for the problem we created.
- semi-extrinsic 8y ago
  Another point to consider, a recent study [1] found that comparable amounts of microplastics are deposited on your food from dust falling on it while you eat. So unless you either ban all synthetic textiles from your house/workplace/favourite restaurants, or make sure to always eat underneath a huge laminar flow air extractor, you're gonna ingest some microplastics. [1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749117344445 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S026974911...
twic 8y ago
The estuary from which Maldon sea salt is harvested was also used for cooling nuclear reactors from the '60s until 2002 [1], so microplastics probably aren't even its most interesting feature. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradwell_nuclear_power_station https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradwell_nuclear_power_station
- wlll 8y ago
  I will be dissapointed if I don't get some sort of salty superpowers then.

kaybe 8y ago

Well you could probably run an osmosis power station off it. I'm not sure about the efficiency, but it's a viable way to store energy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmotic_power https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmotic_power