4 ms·

I read in this one report where the life expectancy from 1890-1960 increased from 40 years (of age) to 65. The highest increase ever in human history. During th

I read in this one report where the life expectancy from 1890-1960 increased from 40 years (of age) to 65. The highest increase ever in human history. During this time the US was going through an industrial revolution I believe? I'm not sure. With tons of factories and smoke stacks polluting the air. Yet quality of life was fine? I guess if we pair that with plastic falling from the sky there is nothing to worry about? Also the article mentioned the plastic particles were super small. Not sure if that would really hurt anyone. Likely marginal? What do everyone else think?

pboutros 7y ago
Ebola is really small too! More seriously, to your point about historical growth + pollution -- (1) this stuff is cumulative and (2) the world is polluting more now than it ever has. Here's an article on how small pieces of plastic is unhealthy: https://www.insurancejournal.com/magazines/mag-features/2016/10/03/427839.htm https://www.insurancejournal.com/magazines/mag-features/2016...
ivl 7y ago
The increase in lifespan is more due to childhood mortality falling sharply in those years. I've always found average lifespan to be problematic. Most of the deaths weren't from 65 being the age where old age started to kill. It was on account of how many more infants and children started reaching 5 on account of vaccines.
- joombaga 7y ago
  To flip this completely on its head, I'd be interested to see how childhood mortality rates have been affected by major events in plastics.
- chrisco255 7y ago
  Agreed child mortality was a big factor, but so too, was vaccinations and better hygiene (via running water, electricity, food handling, etc). Found a statistic that states 46% of all deaths in 1910 were due to infectious diseases and now that number has dropped by an order of magnitude: https://demography.cpc.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/ID-Mortality-1900-v-2010-e1402580332746.png https://demography.cpc.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/ID... The ironic thing is, that single-use plastics play a huge role in maintaining sterile environments in hospitals and we'd be much worse off without them.

pboutros 7y ago

Ebola is really small too! More seriously, to your point about historical growth + pollution -- (1) this stuff is cumulative and (2) the world is polluting more now than it ever has. Here's an article on how small pieces of plastic is unhealthy: https://www.insurancejournal.com/magazines/mag-features/2016/10/03/427839.htm https://www.insurancejournal.com/magazines/mag-features/2016...

ivl 7y ago

The increase in lifespan is more due to childhood mortality falling sharply in those years. I've always found average lifespan to be problematic. Most of the deaths weren't from 65 being the age where old age started to kill. It was on account of how many more infants and children started reaching 5 on account of vaccines.

joombaga 7y ago
To flip this completely on its head, I'd be interested to see how childhood mortality rates have been affected by major events in plastics.
chrisco255 7y ago
Agreed child mortality was a big factor, but so too, was vaccinations and better hygiene (via running water, electricity, food handling, etc). Found a statistic that states 46% of all deaths in 1910 were due to infectious diseases and now that number has dropped by an order of magnitude: https://demography.cpc.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/ID-Mortality-1900-v-2010-e1402580332746.png https://demography.cpc.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/ID... The ironic thing is, that single-use plastics play a huge role in maintaining sterile environments in hospitals and we'd be much worse off without them.