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> It's too late to avoid the consequences What _are_ the consequences? I'm legitimately unaware of any macro side effects of plastic pollution aside from it b

> It's too late to avoid the consequences What _are_ the consequences? I'm legitimately unaware of any macro side effects of plastic pollution aside from it being ugly. I know microplastics are found in everything and that seems bad (I don't want to eat plastic) but is it actually harming me? That fact that it's so persistent leads me to believe that it's just passing right through animals and not really breaking down and polluting the environment (again, aside from being plastic in a place I don't want it).

missedthecue 5y ago
Some insist that it causes infertility issues, but the scientific jury is still out on this one.
- parineum 5y ago
  This seems like the go-to FUD or, more likely, the possible consequence people glom onto when it's reported/suggested. Like you said though, jury is still out. I obviously don't expect it to turn out to be good for humanity but I just wonder if there's any documented side effect, to humanity or the ecosystem/biosphere. I have to imagine you can also find an amount of glass of similar similar size all around. The only saving grace for glass is that it doesn't float.
- knodi123 5y ago
  of note, fertility issues were also one of the main symptoms of evil witchcraft, back in the days when witchcraft was considered a valid health concern.
  - wander_homer 5y ago
    Sure, let's compare some theories which are currently being investigated by scientists, which could explain the decline in fertility in the last decades in millions if not billions of people, with the folk tales when some men couldn't get an erection a couple hundred years ago.
    - knodi123 5y ago
      I'm just saying that this particular symptom is a vague which has been attributed to the boogey-man-of-the-week for a thousand years.
titzer 5y ago
Macroplastics kill fish and birds. Microplastics attract and concentrate other pollutants and additives like BPA have known adverse effects on human health. Even if inert (a stretch, TBH) zooplankton consumption of microplastics causes them to eat less, accelerating deoxygenation of global oceans[1]. [1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-22554-w https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-22554-w
walleeee 5y ago
Among the other answers here, there is some evidence micro/nanoplastics measurably change behavior (and by implication cognition) in crustaceans[0] though it's unclear what this reveals w.r.t humans it does seem to suggest we ought to be wary given that we have inadvertently (and effectively irreversibly) filled ourselves and our habitats with the stuff https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0030 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2020.003...

missedthecue 5y ago

Some insist that it causes infertility issues, but the scientific jury is still out on this one.

parineum 5y ago
This seems like the go-to FUD or, more likely, the possible consequence people glom onto when it's reported/suggested. Like you said though, jury is still out. I obviously don't expect it to turn out to be good for humanity but I just wonder if there's any documented side effect, to humanity or the ecosystem/biosphere. I have to imagine you can also find an amount of glass of similar similar size all around. The only saving grace for glass is that it doesn't float.
knodi123 5y ago
of note, fertility issues were also one of the main symptoms of evil witchcraft, back in the days when witchcraft was considered a valid health concern.
- wander_homer 5y ago
  Sure, let's compare some theories which are currently being investigated by scientists, which could explain the decline in fertility in the last decades in millions if not billions of people, with the folk tales when some men couldn't get an erection a couple hundred years ago.
  - knodi123 5y ago
    I'm just saying that this particular symptom is a vague which has been attributed to the boogey-man-of-the-week for a thousand years.

titzer 5y ago

Macroplastics kill fish and birds. Microplastics attract and concentrate other pollutants and additives like BPA have known adverse effects on human health. Even if inert (a stretch, TBH) zooplankton consumption of microplastics causes them to eat less, accelerating deoxygenation of global oceans[1]. [1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-22554-w https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-22554-w

walleeee 5y ago

Among the other answers here, there is some evidence micro/nanoplastics measurably change behavior (and by implication cognition) in crustaceans[0] though it's unclear what this reveals w.r.t humans it does seem to suggest we ought to be wary given that we have inadvertently (and effectively irreversibly) filled ourselves and our habitats with the stuff https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0030 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2020.003...