3 ms·

If you made a case that this would be better for the environment, which I have yet to see. Plastic waste is not toxic, nor does it use a lot of energy to produc

If you made a case that this would be better for the environment, which I have yet to see. Plastic waste is not toxic, nor does it use a lot of energy to produce.

cameronbrown 7y ago
Microplastics which are irremovable from the environment would beg to differ. Those are what need to be banned.
- tomxor 7y ago
  Microplastics are all plastics, since that's what it all turns into after getting ground up through environmental processes.
dflock 7y ago
> Plastic waste is not toxic It absolutely is. It breaks down into micro-plastics, which are sub-celluar sized plastic particles. These have a large surface area and are easily absorbed into tissues and cells. They then leech out whatever additives are in that particular piece of plastic - plasticizers, colourings, etc... Some of these are directly toxic/harmful when released into tissues and cells - and lots of them are endocrine disruptors: molecules with a very similar 3d shape to hormones: > Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that can interfere with endocrine (or hormone) systems at certain doses. These disruptions can cause cancerous tumors, birth defects, and other developmental disorders.[1] Any system in the body controlled by hormones can be derailed by hormone disruptors. Specifically, endocrine disruptors may be associated with the development of learning disabilities, severe attention deficit disorder, cognitive and brain development problems; deformations of the body (including limbs); breast cancer, prostate cancer, thyroid and other cancers; sexual development problems such as feminizing of males or masculinizing effects on females, etc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endocrine_disruptor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endocrine_disruptor > The toxins the microplastic leaches into seawater inhibit the growth and photosynthetic efficiency of the bacteria Prochlorococcus, which is responsible for producing an estimated 20 percent of the oxygen we breathe. That means Prochlorococcus is also responsible for 20 percent of carbon capture on this planet (one molecule of carbon goes in, one molecule of oxygen goes out), theoretically spelling trouble for humanity’s quest to keep CO2 out of the atmosphere. This is early research that comes with several big caveats, and also exposes the challenges of studying a threat as new and omnipresent as plastic pollution. https://www.wired.com/story/ocean-plastics-bacteria/ https://www.wired.com/story/ocean-plastics-bacteria/ Etc, etc, etc...
- protonfish 7y ago
  That's why you should dispose of them in a landfill and not the ocean. Problem solved.
  - dflock 7y ago
    Then it just leaches out into groundwater - albeit more slowly.

If you made a case that this would be better for the environment, which I have yet to see. Plastic waste is not toxic, nor does it use a lot of energy to produce.

cameronbrown 7y ago

Microplastics which are irremovable from the environment would beg to differ. Those are what need to be banned.

tomxor 7y ago
Microplastics are all plastics, since that's what it all turns into after getting ground up through environmental processes.

dflock 7y ago

> Plastic waste is not toxic It absolutely is. It breaks down into micro-plastics, which are sub-celluar sized plastic particles. These have a large surface area and are easily absorbed into tissues and cells. They then leech out whatever additives are in that particular piece of plastic - plasticizers, colourings, etc... Some of these are directly toxic/harmful when released into tissues and cells - and lots of them are endocrine disruptors: molecules with a very similar 3d shape to hormones: > Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that can interfere with endocrine (or hormone) systems at certain doses. These disruptions can cause cancerous tumors, birth defects, and other developmental disorders.[1] Any system in the body controlled by hormones can be derailed by hormone disruptors. Specifically, endocrine disruptors may be associated with the development of learning disabilities, severe attention deficit disorder, cognitive and brain development problems; deformations of the body (including limbs); breast cancer, prostate cancer, thyroid and other cancers; sexual development problems such as feminizing of males or masculinizing effects on females, etc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endocrine_disruptor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endocrine_disruptor > The toxins the microplastic leaches into seawater inhibit the growth and photosynthetic efficiency of the bacteria Prochlorococcus, which is responsible for producing an estimated 20 percent of the oxygen we breathe. That means Prochlorococcus is also responsible for 20 percent of carbon capture on this planet (one molecule of carbon goes in, one molecule of oxygen goes out), theoretically spelling trouble for humanity’s quest to keep CO2 out of the atmosphere. This is early research that comes with several big caveats, and also exposes the challenges of studying a threat as new and omnipresent as plastic pollution. https://www.wired.com/story/ocean-plastics-bacteria/ https://www.wired.com/story/ocean-plastics-bacteria/ Etc, etc, etc...

protonfish 7y ago
That's why you should dispose of them in a landfill and not the ocean. Problem solved.
- dflock 7y ago
  Then it just leaches out into groundwater - albeit more slowly.