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The thesis of the book 'Countdown' is that this is largely due to widespread plastic and other endocrine disrupting chemicals. I believe this is one of the mos
by DevX101 4y ago
The thesis of the book 'Countdown' is that this is largely due to widespread plastic and other endocrine disrupting chemicals. I believe this is one of the most important risks to humanity, after climate change, and global war. So far, I've taken some lifestyle changes to combat this:
1) Threw out all of my teflon cooking pans
2) Refuse to consume food in heated plastics
3) Throw out teabags (they have plastics). Use loose leaf tea
4) Will soon be throwing out liquid body wash and moisturizers, and replace with simpler oils
This is an emergency, which would probably require we do a revolution on use commercial packaging and plastic. But I don't have much faith, given how entrenched this industry is. Right now, industry is pushing BPA-free packaging, but I strongly suspect BPA-free plastics have similar endocrine effects, we just haven't studied them long enough.
- monkeynotes 4y agoBetter check your plumbing because I hate to say it, PEX is everywhere and it's yet to be shown if there are long term effects on having plastic plumbing everywhere. My kitchen water tastes like plastic all the time.
- formerly_proven 4y agoPEX is fine. Water that sat in a PEX pipe is chemically indistinguishable from water held in a test tube, unlike what happens with water in PVC piping. Another indicator of fine-ness is that PE and PP tubing is used extensively in chemical process plants where high purity is required.
- monkeynotes 4y agoI'd like to see a source for "chemically indistinguishable". Here is what I've read: https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news/amid-pipe-wars-researchers-wary-plastic-pipes-leaching-chemicals https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news/amid-pipe-wars-resear...
- SoftTalker 4y agoBut the water delivered to your house probably ran through miles of PVC pipe. What's a few feet more? I just run the water for 10 seconds or so (feel for it to get colder) before I drink.
- moffkalast 4y ago> miles of PVC pipe Ah god, this is gonna be a "those dumb Romans used lead pipes" moment for our civilization isn't it?
- literalAardvark 4y agoNo, nobody uses PVC pipe for water supply. We do have quite a bit of lead pipe though.
- monkeynotes 4y agoPVC is quite common for water mains, Toronto has some: https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/building-construction/infrastructure-city-construction/understanding-city-construction/water-sewer-mains/ https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/building-constructi... Trade mag mentions it: https://www.waterworld.com/home/article/14071043/the-perfect-pipe https://www.waterworld.com/home/article/14071043/the-perfect...
- p3rls 4y agoWhat? Are you suggesting that most in the United States that most people have miles of water mains with PVC on the other side of the meter? Most PVC is not rated for potable water. In many localities (like nyc) it's a code violaton to use PVC on anything. I am a professional plumber. Btw, fun fact for you non-plumbers, pex as we know it was invented by a hardcore nazi.
- dsfyu404ed 4y agoMost small water mains (like the 4"-6" stuff that runs down a residential street) are PVC in my region.
- shawnz 4y ago> I strongly suspect BPA-free plastics have similar endocrine effects Based on what? BPA is the monomer which makes up polycarbonate plastic, and it's a simple molecule which has been known to be an estrogen analogue for nearly 100 years. Other kinds of plastics besides polycarbonate are made from much different kinds of monomers which have no structural similarity to BPA, so why should we assume that the risk carries over? The mechanism that makes BPA dangerous has nothing to do with the fact that it can be turned into a plastic.
- whalesalad 4y agoBPA was banned, so they tweaked it into BPB, BPS, BPF, and BPAF, etc... it's a game of whack-a-mole. They're all terrible for us.
- shawnz 4y agoSure, but most plastics aren't made with any kind of bisphenol related compounds at all.
- Qem 4y agoThey are added afterwards as additives, to improve mechanical properties of plastics, even those that don't use BP(X) as feedstock for synthesis.
- s1artibartfast 4y agoI have some experience in plastic molding and I'm not sure what you mean. They're either part of the feedstock or not.
- tdehnel 4y agoThe person you’re exchanging with is an ideologue.
- Dig1t 4y ago
- UweSchmidt 4y agoRegarding tea bags, sometimes I see plastic tea bags which are crazy, as they must have a weak structure/large surface and the hot water surely washes out a lot of plastic. I am assuming the normal paper tea bags I get in Germany with a metal clip should be plastic free though, or am I missing something? Yes we are down to discussing tea bag brands now but as you are saying, it's an emergency :-(
- someweirdperson 4y agoTea bags are a useless convenience. In bulk tea is not only significantly cheaper (not as bad as the tea capsule mark-up, which is in a league oo its own), but also waste is reduced to nothing (only the tea itself, which is perfectly organic). Rinsing a reusible tea holder doesn't take more time than it takes to dispose off the paper tied to the end separately.
- javajosh 4y ago> Tea bags are a useless convenience. Why do people wildly overstate their case, and thereby weaken it? This is obviously false: tea bags, like disposable silverware, may be harmful but they are not useless! These days if you are against something then anything bad said about it is true, anything good said about it is false or questionable. This is a (bad) lawyer's attitude, a very easy algorithm to execute, and one that is transparent and punished by any judge worth their salt.
- majkinetor 4y agoUseless! Your analysis its obviosuly fake and lame.
- OJFord 4y ago> Tea bags are a useless convenience. Surely an oxymoron? (I don't really drink tea fwiw; if I did I probably would be the type to get into it with loose leaves sourced from somewhere I believed to be better than anything available in bags (not even because of the plastic or whatever in bags).)
- twobitshifter 4y agoAlong the same lines as tea-bags, is it possible k-cups have an effect? The keurig machine is already plastic, so does using a reusable cup buy you any benefit?
- DevX101 4y agok-cups get quite warm when in use so I'd avoid it for daily use. Try a french press with a glass container instead. I also threw away my Aeropress for similar reasons.
- SoftTalker 4y agoAeropress claims they have tested for plastic leaching and found none. https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0601/8783/6659/files/Evolution_of_AeroPress_materials_December_2021_lowres.jpg https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0601/8783/6659/files/Evolu... Link is from the FAQ page on aeropress.com. I can't find the reference now but at one point they discussed why they don't offer an aeropress in stainless steel or glass, and it's basically because of safety (metal and glass transmit heat much more than plastic). Additionally with glass, even pyrex, there is a risk of breakage.
- type-r 4y agoshocker, company claims its own product isn't harmful
- Method-X 4y agoThe reusable cup is also plastic.
- gniv 4y agoI've given up making sousvide anything for the same reason.
- monkeynotes 4y agoNot all teabags are that "fancy" plastic-y webbing. Cheaper teas have traditional paper filters.
- saltcured 4y agoPlastics are so cheap and the paper industry has spent many decades learning how to make different composite blends of paper and plastic to get different characteristics. I had a friend who spent time in that industry and liked to point out how plastics could be in most paper-like products you would see every day. He also emphasized how "actual" paper can be unhealthy due to bleaching and other processing steps that leave byproducts. I don't know if it's really solved anything, but I switched to loose leaf teas with a stainless steel "tea ball" for individual cups. Now I can instead wonder what metals the global supply chain decided to actually use in that product. ;-)
- flanbiscuit 4y ago> Will soon be throwing out liquid body wash and moisturizers, and replace with simpler oils What are you planning on doing? I stopped using the Dr Bronner's liquid soap and switched to the their bar soap. For a while I was using the same soap for my hair and then I was doing a "rinse" (apple cider vinegar + some oils) but I got lazy and stopped. I might pick that back up again. https://info.drbronner.com/all-one-blog/2017/03/definitive-guide-washing-hair-dr-bronners/ https://info.drbronner.com/all-one-blog/2017/03/definitive-g...
- jupp0r 4y agoI use Lush soaps and solid bar shampoos. The shampoos actually work better for my hair than liquid shampoos and they're so convenient to travel with!
- SoftTalker 4y agoOlive oil works nicely as a skin softener/moisturizer, as long as you don't mind smelling of olives.
- Vrondi 4y agoAlmond oil is a nice alternative. If you can't find it, look for massage oil, which is usually almond oil re-labelled.
- somedude895 4y agoI've been using Aleppo Soap for about two years now. It's a bar soap that's a mix of simply olive oil, laurel oil and soda. It's actually worked wonders for skin problems on my back as well, so I swear by it now. The smell of laurel oil is a bit weird at first but I've grown to really like it. Alternative would be Castile Soap which is the same but without the laurel oil.
- ulnarkressty 4y agoForget teabags, what about the bazillion microplastics that we inhale/ingest every day from clothing and carpeting? Especially nice when your coworker's idea of cleaning up their dusty PC is by using canned air on it indoors...
- djmips 4y agoAir filter machine? At least that's what I run a fairly robust unit - it seems to be working. Can't vouch it's grabbing all the microplastics or even that's not blowing out extra. haha. But it is getting a lot of dust out.
- lisper 4y ago> This is an emergency No, this is hope. Converting the entire biomass of earth into homo sapiens is not the goal.
- tomp 4y agoSperm count is falling in wild animals as well.
- sriacha 4y agodo you have a source for that?
- tomp 4y agoPage 1 of Google https://theconversation.com/amp/male-fertility-how-everyday-chemicals-are-destroying-sperm-counts-in-humans-and-animals-158097 https://theconversation.com/amp/male-fertility-how-everyday-...
- lisper 4y agoThat may be, but that is not what TFA was about. It was about human sperm counts dropping, and that is absolutely not an emergency. Humans are in no danger of going extinct.
- siftrics 4y agoWhy don't you just go hide in a corner and stop interacting with humans if you hate them so much?
- lisper 4y agoThere are no corners to hide in. The entire planet is infested with homo sapiens. (For the record: I don't hate humans. I just think the current supply is more than adequate, and that in the long run it would not be a bad thing if there were fewer then 8 billion of us alive at the same time.)
- dham 4y agoJust use glass. I never understood plastic containers. Basically just use shit that existed 50 years ago for food. Iron pans, store in glass, butter, lard. If you spill stuff on a couch just live with it. Buy leather. Too many things are made because people are lazy. If you have kids don't have nice stuff, it's very easy.
- TylerE 4y agoGlass is expensive to make (and recycle!), heavy, physically larger (since your container is, now, say, 0.250" thick instead of 0.025"), and much more likely to break during shipping, and presents an injury risk when broken.
- superdisk 4y agoDoesn't disrupt your hormones though. I'll take it.
- TylerE 4y agoHow do you know? I guarantee you that glass gets washed at least once before it gets to you.
- r00fus 4y agoPart of the problem is that our supply chain is so global now. Maybe stuff shouldn't be shipped around so much and sourced/distributed locally.
- nonrandomstring 4y ago> If you have kids don't have nice stuff, it's very easy. An unexpected upshot is that in a functional household you can let them play like actual children, without the cloying anxiety and constant shrieks of "For Gods sake Tristan and Tarquin, not on the Louis Vuitton !!"
- TeMPOraL 4y agoWhich is also a disincentive (however small) for having kids - just as you finally start being able to afford something nice, you have to wait until your kids are ~15+ years old. Only then, you have a small window of opportunity, some 10 years maybe, before your offspring spawns children of their own... (Myself I prefer the approach of "have nice stuff, just don't sweat it when kids damage it - it's still just stuff".) Also, your point doesn't work in context of GP's comment taken as whole, i.e. of reverting back to products used 50 years ago: a big value plastics bring as a material family is safety - when you replace your plastics with glass and metals, your home doesn't turn into a "functional household you can let them play like actual children" - it turns into a hazardous environment where children can maim themselves with every other object they touch. Like, the other day my 14 m.o. accidentally dropped the bottle she was drinking from straight onto her foot, and cried for a minute. If that bottle was made of glass, we'd have to take her to a hospital for an x-ray.
- grepsci 4y agoI'm fascinated by this. I think the desire to make the necessary lifestyle changes is there, but I question the practicality. I want to have my foods and beverages untouched by plastics, but how realistic is this currently? I want to buy bread that's not wrapped in plastic. Is the alternative really to make your own? Even then, can you ensure the ingredients you're sourcing for your own bread starter for example, also not contained in plastic? Perhaps it isn't feasible to eliminate all plastics in your life, but it begs the question what is good enough to reverse this and it probably starts with what you're consuming.
- Vrondi 4y agoIf you are lucky enough to have a local small bakery near you, then they might use paper bags (mine does), or you can take your own bag. If you only have supermarkets, you can buy things like baguettes, Italian loaves, and sourdough from the deli area inside many supermarkets, and those sometimes come in paper bags, but you have to check whether the paper bag is lined with plastic.
- BSVogler 4y agoPaper bags in bakeries sometimes also use coated bags.
- aembleton 4y agoGet a bread machine and then its pretty straight forward to make your own.
- Vrondi 4y agoSome tea companies have begun switching to plastic free teabags, so do your research and check your favorite brand.