3 ms·

Not so great. Plastic is going to be seen like asbestos in 50 years.

dijonman2 4y ago
Citation?
echelon 4y ago
Which deadly diseases has plastic been linked with? Is the endocrine content of BPA any worse than drinking soy milk? Bioaccumulation of microplastics may be a different story. It may pose an inflammation risk, serve as a safe harbor for bacterial colonies, or be carcinogenic, but as far as I'm aware there haven't been any studies showing this.
- armitron 4y ago
  Because we need studies (ideally, funded by the same corporations that poison us) to tell us that having increasing quantities of plastic in our blood, lungs and other organs is bad. What happened I wonder to the precautionary principle? Maybe that's going to be our collective lamentation when we crash at warp speed into some sort of great filter.
  - echelon 4y ago
    I get the skepticism, but reality is complicated. Plastic saves lives, conserves energy, and makes the economy faster and better. Outright removal will be nothing short of impossible. Consumers don't want to be inconvenienced. Starbucks couldn't even keep non-plastic straws on without a massive amount of customer complaints. Plastic alternative materials science has a long way to go to even meet the same needs. There are some interesting developments with wood and ceramics, especially in the building world, but plastics are and were nothing short of a miracle. Unless the number of deaths directly attributable to plastics crosses some alarming threshold, nothing will be done. People would rather go about their daily lives. It's kind of like how people continue driving cars, flying, and using coal-fired electricity despite being warned of global warming. It's not going to change until people really feel it and demand it. They'd rather keep using their iPhone and read about the issue on Twitter.
    - SentientAtom 4y ago
      Plastic requires extraction and process of petrol which is neither clean nor energy efficient, it also requires heat to extrude and cooling to set and release from molding. Plastics have also contributed greatly to a disposable approach to consumer products instead of durable or reusable. Lastly plastics are highly detrimental to the environment as they as and breakdown into smaller plastics that contaminate the food chain. To call them lifesaving is a farce.
  - tdehnel 4y ago
    The precautionary principle is a great way of slowing progress to a crawl. The only way to solve massive problems like the things you’re afraid of is to make as much progress as possible as quickly as possible.
- diordiderot 4y ago
  Read up on phthalates.
tdehnel 4y ago
Right on cue the microplastic doom cult shows up whenever the word plastic appears. Let’s have a little optimism eh guys? This is not even a problem as far as anyone can tell, and even if it were it would be solvable.
- jahewson 4y ago
  Optimism or wishful thinking?
  - tdehnel 4y ago
    Optimism is the belief that problems can be solved. Since any solution not specifically prohibited by the laws of physics is possible, I’m going to go with optimism on this one.

Citation?

Which deadly diseases has plastic been linked with? Is the endocrine content of BPA any worse than drinking soy milk? Bioaccumulation of microplastics may be a different story. It may pose an inflammation risk, serve as a safe harbor for bacterial colonies, or be carcinogenic, but as far as I'm aware there haven't been any studies showing this.

armitron 4y ago
Because we need studies (ideally, funded by the same corporations that poison us) to tell us that having increasing quantities of plastic in our blood, lungs and other organs is bad. What happened I wonder to the precautionary principle? Maybe that's going to be our collective lamentation when we crash at warp speed into some sort of great filter.
- echelon 4y ago
  I get the skepticism, but reality is complicated. Plastic saves lives, conserves energy, and makes the economy faster and better. Outright removal will be nothing short of impossible. Consumers don't want to be inconvenienced. Starbucks couldn't even keep non-plastic straws on without a massive amount of customer complaints. Plastic alternative materials science has a long way to go to even meet the same needs. There are some interesting developments with wood and ceramics, especially in the building world, but plastics are and were nothing short of a miracle. Unless the number of deaths directly attributable to plastics crosses some alarming threshold, nothing will be done. People would rather go about their daily lives. It's kind of like how people continue driving cars, flying, and using coal-fired electricity despite being warned of global warming. It's not going to change until people really feel it and demand it. They'd rather keep using their iPhone and read about the issue on Twitter.
  - SentientAtom 4y ago
    Plastic requires extraction and process of petrol which is neither clean nor energy efficient, it also requires heat to extrude and cooling to set and release from molding. Plastics have also contributed greatly to a disposable approach to consumer products instead of durable or reusable. Lastly plastics are highly detrimental to the environment as they as and breakdown into smaller plastics that contaminate the food chain. To call them lifesaving is a farce.
- tdehnel 4y ago
  The precautionary principle is a great way of slowing progress to a crawl. The only way to solve massive problems like the things you’re afraid of is to make as much progress as possible as quickly as possible.
diordiderot 4y ago
Read up on phthalates.

tdehnel 4y ago

Right on cue the microplastic doom cult shows up whenever the word plastic appears. Let’s have a little optimism eh guys? This is not even a problem as far as anyone can tell, and even if it were it would be solvable.

jahewson 4y ago
Optimism or wishful thinking?
- tdehnel 4y ago
  Optimism is the belief that problems can be solved. Since any solution not specifically prohibited by the laws of physics is possible, I’m going to go with optimism on this one.