11 ms·

Scientists find microplastics in blood for first time

190 points by smusamashah 5y ago

stjohnswarts 5y ago
Surprises me that the NIH isn't doing more to investigate this. Maybe it will turn out that they're basically inert and won't do much but that's not something I want to cross my finger and hope about.
- Nbox9 5y ago
  Plastic is an oil (by)product and the oil industry is one of the top three lobbies in the US. We cannot count on public institutions to seriously address this issue.
psacawa 5y ago
I'm constantly worried that despite the increased understanding we have relative to past generations, the increasing scope of our technological interventions means that global catastrophes seem more likely to occur relative to the past. [0] Look at the convulsions we need to go through to address climate change politically, and realize that it is only one of maybe a thousand potential grave threats, each of which pits collective well-being against technological/monetary interests. Some may even struggle to be recognized as a threat (antibiotic overuse, microplastics). It's a good time to be doomer. [0] https://sacawa.net/documents/test.pdf https://sacawa.net/documents/test.pdf
- abathur 5y ago
  I think it would be fitting if microplastics manage to yank our chain before obviously-dangerous things like nukes or antibiotic-resistant superbugs.
  - giantg2 5y ago
    There's a good chance they already are, but we just haven't made the connection, because who do we have as a control group? Nobody.
- giantg2 5y ago
  "which pits collective well-being against technological/monetary interests." Yeah tech/money interests are part of it. I think the bigger part is lifestyle change. Most of the things that we would need to change have no better alternatives that can also support the current lifestyle. People are resistant to changing their personal actions. Some of it is entirely unknown too. We can't switch to electric vehicles overnight, and EVs have environmental costs too. How do we solve that? And what does a world without plastics look like?
  - snek_case 5y ago
    > EVs have environmental costs too. How do we solve that? We incrementally get better at it. For one thing, it should be possible to power any mining, manufacturing or recycling process with electricity.
    - giantg2 5y ago
      If we want tackle those, then we also have to look at trade policies. We've shipped most of the primary and secondary industries to developing nations, where these concerns are largely ignored. Some politicians talk a big environmental game, but they won't dare touch on this subject. It's a shell game.
      - drusenko 5y ago
        Let’s not get defeatist and give up. Europe is implementing a carbon border adjustment, and the U.S. is discussing this as well. If implemented correctly this should reduce the financial incentive to offshore emissions and create one for other countries to reduce their own.
        giantg2 5y ago
        "and the U.S. is discussing this as well." I haven't heard that. Do you have a link?
        5y ago
- nonrandomstring 5y ago
  > I'm constantly worried That is itself the catastrophe. The enlightenment was supposed to chase away the shadows. But as the radius of the light of science and technology expands so does the circumference of the darkness beyond. We know more than ever how vulnerable we are. We know of many more horrible ways to die. We see ever more beautiful possible futures that may never be reached. It is the age old cost of knowledge since Eden. [1] But take hope, the alternative is ignorance and total darkness. And there are worse things than monsters in the shadows. A greater concern is our own death-drive toward Thanatos - in that we _know_ what we are doing, throw caution to the wind, mock as naysayers and Cassandras anyone who points out the obvious trajectories into tragedy and blindly try to "push through" as if technology were a separate force in itself, rather than an extension of our being. Humane technology (technological humanism) is the only antidote, but that requires putting people before profit, and saying that comes at a cost here. [2] [1] I'm just channeling Mumford here [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30799567 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30799567
  - SpodGaju 5y ago
    Wonderful to see my own sentiment reflected here. Let me add, that to embrace the darkness, instead of pushing it away, is where we will find answers. I wish more people could see how frenetic knowledge makes them. I found forgetting helps me the most. And I agree with your [2].
  - dcsommer 5y ago
    What alternatives to Technological Humanism are not antidotes? It sounds like you consider the anxiety of the age a/the major problem (I agree), but is there really only one solution? It seems like there are other possibilities worth discussion.
    - nonrandomstring 5y ago
      > What alternatives to Technological Humanism are not antidotes? Sorry I needed to re-read the post to think about your points. There are alternatives but almost all are unpleasant. There is the "pharmaceutical society" of Huxley. Possibly humans can be molded into something resembling worker ants who will accept any degree of technological dominance and dependency without complaint if mentally modified. In some parts of the world where 1 in 3 people take a prescriptions such as Prozac we are probably some of the way there. There is "ambient domination" of the kind of P.K Dick (Ubik), D. Potter's Cold Lazarus, or A. Niccol's GATTACA, where technological dominance has effectively disappeared, leaving a superficially pleasant and peaceful world, but its effects are soaked into a defeated "last man" culture of "post-humans". Or there's endless Soviet style struggle, permanent technological war against invisible or virtual outside enemies, as in G. Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-four. N. Klein's idea of "crisis capitalism" outlines one form of the general case - and if you allow the conspiracy theorists their way "plandemics" (yes they say that), and even climate change are a vehicles for such eternal paternalism. Those are just three off the top of my head. I'm not a sci-fi writer or "futurologist" (shudder), but I'm sure there's a dozen models for dystopias in which digital technology plays a major part, drugging, monitoring and propagandising humankind at behest of the few. > It sounds like you consider the anxiety of the age a/the major problem (I agree) Not so much, I think every age has had its deep anxieties, I grew up in the cold-war fever of the 80s when we did nuke drills at school and hid in the basement. What is uniquely worrying about now is the wilful ignorance and acceptance. Anxiety is a symptom. What distinguishes anxiety from fear is that fear is about something, whereas anxiety is diffuse. People are choosing not to know about their world (retreat into amusement, comforting fake news etc), and celebrating their ignorance of technology as a form of magic. Despite doing that we still suffer the crippling effects of anomie, alienation, disconnection, and so on, but no longer have somethiing concrete to point to as the source. Under Marxism it was the Bourgeoisie, but today's "One Percet" don't cut it, being almost accidental villains/co-victims of invisible cybernetic currents. > But is there really only one solution? No certainly not. But I am foremost a scientist, and came late in life to social philosophy and psychology, so I favour answers that rely on human rationality and organisation (I realise that on HN there is huge cynicism toward that and lots of talk about how "dumb people are" and "what they really want is", and talk of "sheep following network effects". I think that kinda goes with an immature (pre-2013) entrepreneurial mindset. Given an absence of hope for beneficent corporations or governments for me the only hope is a future in which people retake technology in some way. But exactly what that means is still something I am working out. Whoever solves that will not just improve the world, but get rich too. So far Gates. Zuckerberg et al have failed, because "scale" is something they put before purpose. > there are other possibilities worth discussion. Please check out digital vegan and humane technology as I'd love to talk about those other possibilities.
- pibechorro 5y ago
  I would argue that doomer is a waste of time. Time to be a prepper and realign our relationship to the planet. We could go on and on about climate doom, etc, but the most productive thing we can do is expect change, not apocalypse, and adjust. Lead by example. Everyone reading this can go full wind and solar. Can stop driving or drastically cut it down (move closer, use public transport, work remote, etc). We can all grow food in our backyards, or living room, we can all participate in local garden coops etc. We can all refuse to take part in wars, buying new cell phones every year, wearing synthetic fibers that lead to microplastics, etc. If we, the ones who know and care dont take action today, by example, who will? Que excuses in 1, 2, 3...
  - milansm 5y ago
    This is exactly what I’ll try to change in next 5 years. Have a sustainable baseline: my own food (or at least 50% of it, other 50% locally grown within ~10km) and energy independent (for heating and cooking), and treat everything else as a luxury that can perish any time now. I don’t want to give up my remote work, car and (occasional) luxury vacation, but would love to be able to sustain myself without it. Current life-style (apartment, frequent food orders, total dependency on the power grid) is a ticking time bomb (which might not go off in my lifetime) and feels like all-or-nothing gamble.
    - SpodGaju 5y ago
      - collegeburner 5y ago
        This is ridiculous. You are expecting people to take aassive downgrade in standard of living. I spend years working to make more money than everybody so I can live better, not worse. And you are wrong, my kids will live much better as well, because I will pass on that money.
        svnt 5y ago
        You need a global frame of reference to solve a global problem. You can get one on your own terms, or wait and be domesticated by legislation.
- CryptoPunk 5y ago
  My biggest concern is nuclear war. The death it would unleash would make the COVID pandemic seem like an afternoon picnic, and it would all happen in a frighteningly short period of time. 4pm war starts. 5pm most of the people you know are dead. This comes, far as I'm concerned, close to the end of the world, and shouldn't be impossible, yet it isn't by a long shot. My second biggest concern is the rapid loss of natural habitats and the concomitant loss of biodiversity.
  - jackling 5y ago
    Haven't looked into what a nuclear war would look like, but would non-Nato, non-nuclear weapon holding counties be affected that fast? Suppose I lived in Niger, would most people I know be dead that fast? Would countries just hit any ally to the opposition immediately? I understand that the entire world will be affected and eventually the effects will be felt.
- AQuantized 5y ago
  The current ability to produce so much food in the developed world using modern fertilizer and methods, despite their disadvantages, means the most common threat that challenged our ancestors (famine) is barely present in many countries where it was a continual threat since civilization developed. Only global warming and nuclear war pose a similar threat, and only the former is worse now than it has been in the past, even given present circumstance.
- TrispusAttucks 5y ago
  The taller they are the harder they fall. Our global society is so very tall.
- RGamma 5y ago
  The cacophony of voices lends itself well to doomerism. Wish there were more places one could hide from the self-absorption of our species.
Proven 5y ago
refurb 5y ago
Considering we’ve been implanting plastic parts (joints, heart valves, Central lines) and using plastic IV lines, syringes, IV bags, etc, all of which need to go through safety trials, I’m not too concerned that there is some massive unseen safety risk here. If it wasn’t plastics it would likely be glass. And there are millions of acre of fine powdered glass all over the world that we breath in (sand).
- giantg2 5y ago
  I hope you're not breathing it in with any measureable amount. That can cause silicosis.
  - refurb 5y ago
    Ever go to the beach? You’re breathing in sand. The dose makes the poison.
    - giantg2 5y ago
      That's why I said measurable. The type of sand at the beach generally has a composition that doesn't pose a risk because there isn't enough of the fine particles to be inhaled. There's no measurable amount as it's too low. If it were measurable, that would be a problem as silicosis damage is cumulative (mall doses over a lifetime).
      - scotty79 5y ago
        It is perfectly measurable. When you are approaching this with the precision that folks looking for micro-plastics do to get published. I believe there are orders of magnitude between something like that being measurable and causing any symptoms that would make it worth considering from medical point of view.
        giantg2 5y ago
        Sources?
decasteve 5y ago
Clothing is mostly plastic fibre nowadays. Upholstery fibres too. Walls are painted with acrylic paint. Flooring is often made of various plastics. I assume the dust in our homes that we breathe in contains relatively a lot of plastic. Containers for food are almost entirely plastic. I’m interested in these sorts of studies on the topic.
- funstuff007 5y ago
  > Clothing is mostly plastic fibre nowadays. I think that's true primarily for athleisure. That being said, it's a very large segment of the market. I was recently in Banana Republic and it was quite hard to find a pair of pants one would want to wear outside of the house. Some what related: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU55auqDD28 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU55auqDD28
  - SpodGaju 5y ago
    "I think that's true primarily for athleisure." It is not. Go into any Walmart (and I bring up Walmart because that is where most people shop who are just going about their daily lives) and try to find clothing with no petroleum based material in it. And then try to look on Amazon. Most of the clothing sold there you cannot even find the material list for the product. It will say "cotton" but it is usually only the major material, not 100% cotton. Here is a good example: https://www.amazon.com/Fruit-Loom-Cotton-100-Sleeve/dp/B001CTY0EK/ https://www.amazon.com/Fruit-Loom-Cotton-100-Sleeve/dp/B001C... 100% cotton preshrunk jersey but...????? Ash is 98/2 cotton/poly Athletic Heather is 90/10 cotton/poly Black Heather, Neon Green, Neon Pink, Safety (Green, Orange) - 50/50 cotton/poly And then it's Amazon, so you have shipping and every other climate destroying feature of that distribution system.
    - moonchrome 5y ago
      >clothing with no petroleum based material in it. That's a far cry from the claim "Clothing is mostly plastic fibre". Having 5%-20% polyester is not the same as being "mostly plastic".
dwighttk 5y ago
>"This is proof that we have plastics in our body—and we shouldn't," Why shouldn’t we?
- jsnodlin 5y ago
- Forgeties79 5y ago
  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34185251/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34185251/ > Whilst definitive evidence linking microplastic consumption to human health is currently lacking, results from correlative studies in people exposed to high concentrations of microplastics, model animal and cell culture experiments, suggest that effects of microplastics could include provoking immune and stress responses and inducing reproductive and developmental toxicity. Further research is required to explore the potential implications of this recent contaminant in our environment in more rigorous clinical studies. We need more studies but the current signs are not good.
nargella 5y ago
Toothpaste blows my mind. It’s literally plastic in some baking soda type substance. Extra whitening? Larger plastic.
- Yoric 5y ago
  Is that the case of powder toothpaste, too?
- Aurelius3 5y ago
  Source on this? I heard they banned microbeads in toothpaste, does this remove all plastics or is there more?
  - nargella 5y ago
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cwN983PnJoA https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cwN983PnJoA Maybe not true anymore.
- burlesona 5y ago
  Source? Wikipedia has pages on the various ingredients, which are a lot more complex than I realized, but I’m not seeing plastics… https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toothpaste https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toothpaste
  - nargella 5y ago
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cwN983PnJoA https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cwN983PnJoA Perhaps this is dated now according to other comments.
- stjohnswarts 5y ago
  no it's not, it's fluoride and some soapy binders like SLS and ceramics or baking soda for whitening/cleaning. I suppose some of the tube might break off and form these microplastics, however I don't know too many people swallowing their toothpaste leftovers. It's a bad idea as you shouldn't ingest that much fluoride, which is much more highly concentrated than fluroide in water. If you're talking about microbeads then those were outlawed in toothpaste/cosmetics/etc in 2016, which went in effect in 2017.
guilhas 5y ago
Why only now? Were the subjects covid vaccinated? Doesn't mRNA vaccines contain polymers? https://www.nature.com/articles/s41565-021-01001-3 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41565-021-01001-3 I think that is a relevant question now for many scientific studies now since a large part of the population has been vaccinated in some places and age groups Direct reference, only a small vaccine reference https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412022001258?via%3Dihub https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016041202...
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
throwoutway 5y ago
How do we know the plastics didn't come from the method they took the sample? Whenever I have given a blood sample, plastic tubing was used.
- stjohnswarts 5y ago
  what? They draw blood with needles and use little glass thingies to hold it. They aren't going to draw a liter of blood to check it for plastic, they just need a small sample. There might be some plastic involved somewhere but they aren't stupid enough to not control that. I mean there scientists. If you thought of it they thought of that and a dozen more things to be careful about.
  - throwoutway 5y ago
    I was wrong sorry. I was thinking of a different medical experience with lots of tubes I had, and donating blood. I guess I havent done just a tube & glass thingy
    - stjohnswarts 5y ago
      Unfortunately the vampires draw 3 or 4 test tubes of it every year from me for my annual checkup. At least my doctor is thorough with the tests :)
    - alar44 5y ago
      If you have so little experience, why would you assume that scientists, who likely do blood work for a living, did not think of this, but you, with that one time you donated blood, would?
      - throwoutway 5y ago
        I asked a question and then apologized. What more do you expect? Dont make this site an unwelcoming place
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
throwaway290 5y ago
This study found infant bodies are exposed to more microplastics per kilo of body weight than adults (NY): https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00559 https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00559.
steve76 5y ago
perfecthjrjth 5y ago
When I was growing up, everything was glass: glass bottles for tablets, etc. Then plastic took over. Every village/town in the third world is littered with so much plastic without proper disposal--ending up in local creeks, subsequently in oceans in the rainy season.
b215826 5y ago
But wasn't MPs detected in human placenta before? [1] > In total, 12 microplastic fragments (ranging from 5 to 10 μm in size), with spheric or irregular shape were found in 4 placentas (5 in the fetal side, 4 in the maternal side and 3 in the chorioamniotic membranes); all microplastics particles were characterized in terms of morphology and chemical composition. All of them were pigmented; three were identified as stained polypropylene a thermoplastic polymer, while for the other nine it was possible to identify only the pigments, which were all used for man-made coatings, paints, adhesives, plasters, finger paints, polymers and cosmetics and personal care products. [1]: https://files.catbox.moe/023yyt.pdf https://files.catbox.moe/023yyt.pdf

190 points by smusamashah 5y ago

Surprises me that the NIH isn't doing more to investigate this. Maybe it will turn out that they're basically inert and won't do much but that's not something I want to cross my finger and hope about.

Nbox9 5y ago
Plastic is an oil (by)product and the oil industry is one of the top three lobbies in the US. We cannot count on public institutions to seriously address this issue.

psacawa 5y ago

I'm constantly worried that despite the increased understanding we have relative to past generations, the increasing scope of our technological interventions means that global catastrophes seem more likely to occur relative to the past. [0] Look at the convulsions we need to go through to address climate change politically, and realize that it is only one of maybe a thousand potential grave threats, each of which pits collective well-being against technological/monetary interests. Some may even struggle to be recognized as a threat (antibiotic overuse, microplastics). It's a good time to be doomer. [0] https://sacawa.net/documents/test.pdf https://sacawa.net/documents/test.pdf

abathur 5y ago
I think it would be fitting if microplastics manage to yank our chain before obviously-dangerous things like nukes or antibiotic-resistant superbugs.
- giantg2 5y ago
  There's a good chance they already are, but we just haven't made the connection, because who do we have as a control group? Nobody.
giantg2 5y ago
"which pits collective well-being against technological/monetary interests." Yeah tech/money interests are part of it. I think the bigger part is lifestyle change. Most of the things that we would need to change have no better alternatives that can also support the current lifestyle. People are resistant to changing their personal actions. Some of it is entirely unknown too. We can't switch to electric vehicles overnight, and EVs have environmental costs too. How do we solve that? And what does a world without plastics look like?
- snek_case 5y ago
  > EVs have environmental costs too. How do we solve that? We incrementally get better at it. For one thing, it should be possible to power any mining, manufacturing or recycling process with electricity.
  - giantg2 5y ago
    If we want tackle those, then we also have to look at trade policies. We've shipped most of the primary and secondary industries to developing nations, where these concerns are largely ignored. Some politicians talk a big environmental game, but they won't dare touch on this subject. It's a shell game.
    - drusenko 5y ago
      Let’s not get defeatist and give up. Europe is implementing a carbon border adjustment, and the U.S. is discussing this as well. If implemented correctly this should reduce the financial incentive to offshore emissions and create one for other countries to reduce their own.
      - giantg2 5y ago
        "and the U.S. is discussing this as well." I haven't heard that. Do you have a link?
        5y ago
nonrandomstring 5y ago
> I'm constantly worried That is itself the catastrophe. The enlightenment was supposed to chase away the shadows. But as the radius of the light of science and technology expands so does the circumference of the darkness beyond. We know more than ever how vulnerable we are. We know of many more horrible ways to die. We see ever more beautiful possible futures that may never be reached. It is the age old cost of knowledge since Eden. [1] But take hope, the alternative is ignorance and total darkness. And there are worse things than monsters in the shadows. A greater concern is our own death-drive toward Thanatos - in that we _know_ what we are doing, throw caution to the wind, mock as naysayers and Cassandras anyone who points out the obvious trajectories into tragedy and blindly try to "push through" as if technology were a separate force in itself, rather than an extension of our being. Humane technology (technological humanism) is the only antidote, but that requires putting people before profit, and saying that comes at a cost here. [2] [1] I'm just channeling Mumford here [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30799567 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30799567
- SpodGaju 5y ago
  Wonderful to see my own sentiment reflected here. Let me add, that to embrace the darkness, instead of pushing it away, is where we will find answers. I wish more people could see how frenetic knowledge makes them. I found forgetting helps me the most. And I agree with your [2].
- dcsommer 5y ago
  What alternatives to Technological Humanism are not antidotes? It sounds like you consider the anxiety of the age a/the major problem (I agree), but is there really only one solution? It seems like there are other possibilities worth discussion.
  - nonrandomstring 5y ago
    > What alternatives to Technological Humanism are not antidotes? Sorry I needed to re-read the post to think about your points. There are alternatives but almost all are unpleasant. There is the "pharmaceutical society" of Huxley. Possibly humans can be molded into something resembling worker ants who will accept any degree of technological dominance and dependency without complaint if mentally modified. In some parts of the world where 1 in 3 people take a prescriptions such as Prozac we are probably some of the way there. There is "ambient domination" of the kind of P.K Dick (Ubik), D. Potter's Cold Lazarus, or A. Niccol's GATTACA, where technological dominance has effectively disappeared, leaving a superficially pleasant and peaceful world, but its effects are soaked into a defeated "last man" culture of "post-humans". Or there's endless Soviet style struggle, permanent technological war against invisible or virtual outside enemies, as in G. Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-four. N. Klein's idea of "crisis capitalism" outlines one form of the general case - and if you allow the conspiracy theorists their way "plandemics" (yes they say that), and even climate change are a vehicles for such eternal paternalism. Those are just three off the top of my head. I'm not a sci-fi writer or "futurologist" (shudder), but I'm sure there's a dozen models for dystopias in which digital technology plays a major part, drugging, monitoring and propagandising humankind at behest of the few. > It sounds like you consider the anxiety of the age a/the major problem (I agree) Not so much, I think every age has had its deep anxieties, I grew up in the cold-war fever of the 80s when we did nuke drills at school and hid in the basement. What is uniquely worrying about now is the wilful ignorance and acceptance. Anxiety is a symptom. What distinguishes anxiety from fear is that fear is about something, whereas anxiety is diffuse. People are choosing not to know about their world (retreat into amusement, comforting fake news etc), and celebrating their ignorance of technology as a form of magic. Despite doing that we still suffer the crippling effects of anomie, alienation, disconnection, and so on, but no longer have somethiing concrete to point to as the source. Under Marxism it was the Bourgeoisie, but today's "One Percet" don't cut it, being almost accidental villains/co-victims of invisible cybernetic currents. > But is there really only one solution? No certainly not. But I am foremost a scientist, and came late in life to social philosophy and psychology, so I favour answers that rely on human rationality and organisation (I realise that on HN there is huge cynicism toward that and lots of talk about how "dumb people are" and "what they really want is", and talk of "sheep following network effects". I think that kinda goes with an immature (pre-2013) entrepreneurial mindset. Given an absence of hope for beneficent corporations or governments for me the only hope is a future in which people retake technology in some way. But exactly what that means is still something I am working out. Whoever solves that will not just improve the world, but get rich too. So far Gates. Zuckerberg et al have failed, because "scale" is something they put before purpose. > there are other possibilities worth discussion. Please check out digital vegan and humane technology as I'd love to talk about those other possibilities.
pibechorro 5y ago
I would argue that doomer is a waste of time. Time to be a prepper and realign our relationship to the planet. We could go on and on about climate doom, etc, but the most productive thing we can do is expect change, not apocalypse, and adjust. Lead by example. Everyone reading this can go full wind and solar. Can stop driving or drastically cut it down (move closer, use public transport, work remote, etc). We can all grow food in our backyards, or living room, we can all participate in local garden coops etc. We can all refuse to take part in wars, buying new cell phones every year, wearing synthetic fibers that lead to microplastics, etc. If we, the ones who know and care dont take action today, by example, who will? Que excuses in 1, 2, 3...
- milansm 5y ago
  This is exactly what I’ll try to change in next 5 years. Have a sustainable baseline: my own food (or at least 50% of it, other 50% locally grown within ~10km) and energy independent (for heating and cooking), and treat everything else as a luxury that can perish any time now. I don’t want to give up my remote work, car and (occasional) luxury vacation, but would love to be able to sustain myself without it. Current life-style (apartment, frequent food orders, total dependency on the power grid) is a ticking time bomb (which might not go off in my lifetime) and feels like all-or-nothing gamble.
  - SpodGaju 5y ago
    - collegeburner 5y ago
      This is ridiculous. You are expecting people to take aassive downgrade in standard of living. I spend years working to make more money than everybody so I can live better, not worse. And you are wrong, my kids will live much better as well, because I will pass on that money.
      - svnt 5y ago
        You need a global frame of reference to solve a global problem. You can get one on your own terms, or wait and be domesticated by legislation.
CryptoPunk 5y ago
My biggest concern is nuclear war. The death it would unleash would make the COVID pandemic seem like an afternoon picnic, and it would all happen in a frighteningly short period of time. 4pm war starts. 5pm most of the people you know are dead. This comes, far as I'm concerned, close to the end of the world, and shouldn't be impossible, yet it isn't by a long shot. My second biggest concern is the rapid loss of natural habitats and the concomitant loss of biodiversity.
- jackling 5y ago
  Haven't looked into what a nuclear war would look like, but would non-Nato, non-nuclear weapon holding counties be affected that fast? Suppose I lived in Niger, would most people I know be dead that fast? Would countries just hit any ally to the opposition immediately? I understand that the entire world will be affected and eventually the effects will be felt.
AQuantized 5y ago
The current ability to produce so much food in the developed world using modern fertilizer and methods, despite their disadvantages, means the most common threat that challenged our ancestors (famine) is barely present in many countries where it was a continual threat since civilization developed. Only global warming and nuclear war pose a similar threat, and only the former is worse now than it has been in the past, even given present circumstance.
TrispusAttucks 5y ago
The taller they are the harder they fall. Our global society is so very tall.
RGamma 5y ago
The cacophony of voices lends itself well to doomerism. Wish there were more places one could hide from the self-absorption of our species.

Proven 5y ago

refurb 5y ago

Considering we’ve been implanting plastic parts (joints, heart valves, Central lines) and using plastic IV lines, syringes, IV bags, etc, all of which need to go through safety trials, I’m not too concerned that there is some massive unseen safety risk here. If it wasn’t plastics it would likely be glass. And there are millions of acre of fine powdered glass all over the world that we breath in (sand).

giantg2 5y ago
I hope you're not breathing it in with any measureable amount. That can cause silicosis.
- refurb 5y ago
  Ever go to the beach? You’re breathing in sand. The dose makes the poison.
  - giantg2 5y ago
    That's why I said measurable. The type of sand at the beach generally has a composition that doesn't pose a risk because there isn't enough of the fine particles to be inhaled. There's no measurable amount as it's too low. If it were measurable, that would be a problem as silicosis damage is cumulative (mall doses over a lifetime).
    - scotty79 5y ago
      It is perfectly measurable. When you are approaching this with the precision that folks looking for micro-plastics do to get published. I believe there are orders of magnitude between something like that being measurable and causing any symptoms that would make it worth considering from medical point of view.
      - giantg2 5y ago
        Sources?

decasteve 5y ago

Clothing is mostly plastic fibre nowadays. Upholstery fibres too. Walls are painted with acrylic paint. Flooring is often made of various plastics. I assume the dust in our homes that we breathe in contains relatively a lot of plastic. Containers for food are almost entirely plastic. I’m interested in these sorts of studies on the topic.

funstuff007 5y ago
> Clothing is mostly plastic fibre nowadays. I think that's true primarily for athleisure. That being said, it's a very large segment of the market. I was recently in Banana Republic and it was quite hard to find a pair of pants one would want to wear outside of the house. Some what related: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU55auqDD28 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU55auqDD28
- SpodGaju 5y ago
  "I think that's true primarily for athleisure." It is not. Go into any Walmart (and I bring up Walmart because that is where most people shop who are just going about their daily lives) and try to find clothing with no petroleum based material in it. And then try to look on Amazon. Most of the clothing sold there you cannot even find the material list for the product. It will say "cotton" but it is usually only the major material, not 100% cotton. Here is a good example: https://www.amazon.com/Fruit-Loom-Cotton-100-Sleeve/dp/B001CTY0EK/ https://www.amazon.com/Fruit-Loom-Cotton-100-Sleeve/dp/B001C... 100% cotton preshrunk jersey but...????? Ash is 98/2 cotton/poly Athletic Heather is 90/10 cotton/poly Black Heather, Neon Green, Neon Pink, Safety (Green, Orange) - 50/50 cotton/poly And then it's Amazon, so you have shipping and every other climate destroying feature of that distribution system.
  - moonchrome 5y ago
    >clothing with no petroleum based material in it. That's a far cry from the claim "Clothing is mostly plastic fibre". Having 5%-20% polyester is not the same as being "mostly plastic".

dwighttk 5y ago

>"This is proof that we have plastics in our body—and we shouldn't," Why shouldn’t we?

jsnodlin 5y ago
Forgeties79 5y ago
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34185251/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34185251/ > Whilst definitive evidence linking microplastic consumption to human health is currently lacking, results from correlative studies in people exposed to high concentrations of microplastics, model animal and cell culture experiments, suggest that effects of microplastics could include provoking immune and stress responses and inducing reproductive and developmental toxicity. Further research is required to explore the potential implications of this recent contaminant in our environment in more rigorous clinical studies. We need more studies but the current signs are not good.

nargella 5y ago

Toothpaste blows my mind. It’s literally plastic in some baking soda type substance. Extra whitening? Larger plastic.

Yoric 5y ago
Is that the case of powder toothpaste, too?
Aurelius3 5y ago
Source on this? I heard they banned microbeads in toothpaste, does this remove all plastics or is there more?
- nargella 5y ago
  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cwN983PnJoA https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cwN983PnJoA Maybe not true anymore.
burlesona 5y ago
Source? Wikipedia has pages on the various ingredients, which are a lot more complex than I realized, but I’m not seeing plastics… https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toothpaste https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toothpaste
- nargella 5y ago
  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cwN983PnJoA https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cwN983PnJoA Perhaps this is dated now according to other comments.
stjohnswarts 5y ago
no it's not, it's fluoride and some soapy binders like SLS and ceramics or baking soda for whitening/cleaning. I suppose some of the tube might break off and form these microplastics, however I don't know too many people swallowing their toothpaste leftovers. It's a bad idea as you shouldn't ingest that much fluoride, which is much more highly concentrated than fluroide in water. If you're talking about microbeads then those were outlawed in toothpaste/cosmetics/etc in 2016, which went in effect in 2017.

guilhas 5y ago

Why only now? Were the subjects covid vaccinated? Doesn't mRNA vaccines contain polymers? https://www.nature.com/articles/s41565-021-01001-3 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41565-021-01001-3 I think that is a relevant question now for many scientific studies now since a large part of the population has been vaccinated in some places and age groups Direct reference, only a small vaccine reference https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412022001258?via%3Dihub https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016041202...

deleted 5y ago
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throwoutway 5y ago

How do we know the plastics didn't come from the method they took the sample? Whenever I have given a blood sample, plastic tubing was used.

stjohnswarts 5y ago
what? They draw blood with needles and use little glass thingies to hold it. They aren't going to draw a liter of blood to check it for plastic, they just need a small sample. There might be some plastic involved somewhere but they aren't stupid enough to not control that. I mean there scientists. If you thought of it they thought of that and a dozen more things to be careful about.
- throwoutway 5y ago
  I was wrong sorry. I was thinking of a different medical experience with lots of tubes I had, and donating blood. I guess I havent done just a tube & glass thingy
  - stjohnswarts 5y ago
    Unfortunately the vampires draw 3 or 4 test tubes of it every year from me for my annual checkup. At least my doctor is thorough with the tests :)
  - alar44 5y ago
    If you have so little experience, why would you assume that scientists, who likely do blood work for a living, did not think of this, but you, with that one time you donated blood, would?
    - throwoutway 5y ago
      I asked a question and then apologized. What more do you expect? Dont make this site an unwelcoming place
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]

throwaway290 5y ago

This study found infant bodies are exposed to more microplastics per kilo of body weight than adults (NY): https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00559 https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00559.

steve76 5y ago

perfecthjrjth 5y ago

When I was growing up, everything was glass: glass bottles for tablets, etc. Then plastic took over. Every village/town in the third world is littered with so much plastic without proper disposal--ending up in local creeks, subsequently in oceans in the rainy season.

b215826 5y ago

But wasn't MPs detected in human placenta before? [1] > In total, 12 microplastic fragments (ranging from 5 to 10 μm in size), with spheric or irregular shape were found in 4 placentas (5 in the fetal side, 4 in the maternal side and 3 in the chorioamniotic membranes); all microplastics particles were characterized in terms of morphology and chemical composition. All of them were pigmented; three were identified as stained polypropylene a thermoplastic polymer, while for the other nine it was possible to identify only the pigments, which were all used for man-made coatings, paints, adhesives, plasters, finger paints, polymers and cosmetics and personal care products. [1]: https://files.catbox.moe/023yyt.pdf https://files.catbox.moe/023yyt.pdf