3 ms·

Probably a dumb question, but I’ve wondered if plastic has anything to do with cancer in the modern era? Mostly everything we consume these days has been touch

• ksd482 5y ago
  I think it’s a valid question. I am wondering if microplastic is a factor in addition to air and water pollution, processed/pre-packaged food. Another factor maybe humankind beating/cancelling natural selection due to modern medicine. So people who would normally perish in olden days are living longer only to be later killed by cancer. There’s another factor of total population. More people means more diversity and more DNA copying errors? Can someone expert in this field comment on this?
• throwaway12319 5y ago
  There's very extensive documentation on the carcinogenic effect of microplastic and atmospheric particulate. It's not a debated issue: it's well known.
  • pharrington 5y ago
    This presentation[1] from two years ago says two monomers used in different microplastics are known to be carcinogenic (ethylene oxide and vinyl chloride) - other monomers might be, and the polymers themselves weren't known to be carcinogenic. Do you have some more up-to-date sources ? [1]https://cues.rutgers.edu/2019-microplastics-conference/pdfs/3_Pachkowski_Potential-for-Human-Health-Effects.pdf https://cues.rutgers.edu/2019-microplastics-conference/pdfs/...
  • refurb 5y ago
    What? This is absolutely not true. You realize we implant plastic medical devices into people, right? And those have gone through clinical testing? The best I’ve seen is increase inflammation due to small plastic particles.