4 ms·

I have a friend who puts the blame entirely on microplastics because its been shown microplastics upregulate estrogen (or something to that effect). Is this ac

• hammock 4y ago
  That is not accurate. The book of science on the human harm caused by microplastics is thin and still new. There is lots of science on specific plastic chemicals and their estrogenic effects - phthalates is the largest category although there are several - but the classification of "microplastics" is orthogonal to the type of plastic involved Edit: downvotes why
  • dsfyu404ed 4y ago
    >Edit: downvotes why People hate nuance because it doesn't wholly confirm their beliefs
  • kelipso 4y ago
    How are "specific plastic chemicals" or "phthalates" orthogonal to "microplastics". They are a subset of microplastics, so of course they cannot be orthogonal. Are you saying phthalates are not microplastics? It feel likes you are obfuscating the problem by using debate tricks or something and then calling it nuance.
    • hammock 4y ago
      > They are a subset of microplastics Are they? Not trying to be difficult. Micro plastics are just tiny particles that break off of macroscopic plastic objects. They can be made of any kind of plastic. And phthalates are found in macroscopic plastic objects. Hence, orthogonal
      • kelipso 4y ago
        How can you possibly say that? Phthalates break off into tiny particles and become microplastics...how is not completely straightforward? Phthalates are definitely found in microplastics, that's just a fact.