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Hopefully mankind's addiction to single-use plastics and the negligent disposal of all plastics can be stopped before exposure to, inhalation of, and ingestion

Hopefully mankind's addiction to single-use plastics and the negligent disposal of all plastics can be stopped before exposure to, inhalation of, and ingestion of large quantities of microscopic shards of poly-whatever start shredding and poisoning our bodies from the inside.

benj111 7y ago
"microscopic shards of poly-whatever start shredding and poisoning our bodies from the inside" Is there any evidence that this could happen? It's the first I've heard of it.
- kilo_bravo_3 7y ago
  The effect has only been seen in aquatic animals so far, but they are exposed to much more microplastics than humans are. But microplastics don't (on a human timescale) go away. They just continue to accumulate as plastic items degrade in UV light and water, breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces. Microplastics have been detected in the feces of humans: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/10/22/659568662/microplastics-are-turning-up-everywhere-even-in-human-excrement https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/10/22/659568662/mi... And the bottom of the Marianas trench: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/12/microplastic-pollution-is-found-in-deep-sea/ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/12/micro... And they're harmful to sea life: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/from-fish-to-humans-a-microplastic-invasion-may-be-taking-a-toll/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/from-fish-to-huma... And smaller microplastic particles, which all larger particles eventually become, can float through the air. It is not unreasonable to assume that the problem is going to keep getting worse and worse as time goes on until it gets to a point where every breath we take is contaminated shards of plastics: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Photographs-of-microplastics-under-the-stereomicroscope-fiber-a-b-c-film-d-e-f_fig2_324040524 https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Photographs-of-microplas... https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/04/microplastics-pollution-falls-from-air-even-mountains/ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/04/micro... I'm not a doctor, or a plasticsologist, or a breathing-things-in-ologist, but breathing in large quantities of plastic shards seems less healthy than not doing so and just from a layman's perspective it seems that exposure to microplastics in the air and water should be minimized to the greatest extent possible.
  - jopsen 7y ago
    We know that particle pollution from coal plants, heavy fuel oil powered container ships, and cars/truck already kill a lot of people. We know that we have air pollution, I find it unlikely that plastic will be much worse. Do we have any reason to think so? Note. I'm not saying it's harmless, just that maybe we have bigger fish to fry first.

benj111 7y ago

"microscopic shards of poly-whatever start shredding and poisoning our bodies from the inside" Is there any evidence that this could happen? It's the first I've heard of it.

kilo_bravo_3 7y ago
The effect has only been seen in aquatic animals so far, but they are exposed to much more microplastics than humans are. But microplastics don't (on a human timescale) go away. They just continue to accumulate as plastic items degrade in UV light and water, breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces. Microplastics have been detected in the feces of humans: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/10/22/659568662/microplastics-are-turning-up-everywhere-even-in-human-excrement https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/10/22/659568662/mi... And the bottom of the Marianas trench: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/12/microplastic-pollution-is-found-in-deep-sea/ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/12/micro... And they're harmful to sea life: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/from-fish-to-humans-a-microplastic-invasion-may-be-taking-a-toll/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/from-fish-to-huma... And smaller microplastic particles, which all larger particles eventually become, can float through the air. It is not unreasonable to assume that the problem is going to keep getting worse and worse as time goes on until it gets to a point where every breath we take is contaminated shards of plastics: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Photographs-of-microplastics-under-the-stereomicroscope-fiber-a-b-c-film-d-e-f_fig2_324040524 https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Photographs-of-microplas... https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/04/microplastics-pollution-falls-from-air-even-mountains/ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/04/micro... I'm not a doctor, or a plasticsologist, or a breathing-things-in-ologist, but breathing in large quantities of plastic shards seems less healthy than not doing so and just from a layman's perspective it seems that exposure to microplastics in the air and water should be minimized to the greatest extent possible.
- jopsen 7y ago
  We know that particle pollution from coal plants, heavy fuel oil powered container ships, and cars/truck already kill a lot of people. We know that we have air pollution, I find it unlikely that plastic will be much worse. Do we have any reason to think so? Note. I'm not saying it's harmless, just that maybe we have bigger fish to fry first.