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What I am surprised about is that (please confirm if you know otherwise) microplastic contamination from microwaving plastics wasn't investigated decades ago. I

What I am surprised about is that (please confirm if you know otherwise) microplastic contamination from microwaving plastics wasn't investigated decades ago. In the 80's we all knew that some plastics get soft in the microwave, it seemed exceedingly likely to the layman that it would leach out. Microplastics, were they unobservable in the 80's? Were there no scientists interested in this? I am decidedly anti-conspiracy when I look for explanations on phenomenon, but I am having a bit more trouble avoiding it on this one. Or is this the case that the research existed, but the media finally cared?

texuf 3y ago
Don’t put plastic in the microwave,” has been common advice in my circle for over a decade, maybe three or more? I feel like it either finally stopped getting suppressed, or it finally hit an emergent “critical mass” and broke through (probably the second one).
- permo-w 3y ago
  I mean we're talking about it here, and health hipsters have been talking about it for a long time, but are we actually at the point where enough people know/care that concerted society-wide effort is being made to fix it? besides companies selling water bottles as "BPA-free", not as far as I can see
- SubiculumCode 3y ago
  yeah, in terms of public opinion, but I am specifically curious about what research was conducted in the 80's or 90's. I tried a few searches on Google Scholar this morning but their UI controls are heavily skewed toward finding new research, not old..plus the long issue of pre electronic publications. I bet there are publications, but probably skewed to particular contexts. e.g. I found a study examining leaching of plastic chemicals into blood plastic pouches used in hospitals. Medical device research probably doesn't tend to "leach" into other research fields
notacoward 3y ago
> it seemed exceedingly likely to the layman that it would leach out It seemed exceedingly likely to scientists too. I've been reading about the dangers of microwaving stuff in plastic containers, or using plastic wrap in the microwave, as long as I can remember. Here's a study from 1990, citing several others that go back to 1988. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Migration-testing-of-plastics-and-microwave-active-Castle-Jickells/d74897403d3129107a7c942108e7156a52daec7b https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Migration-testing-of-p... I'm pretty sure there were earlier ones as well. What's important here is not to conflate leached chemicals with micro- or nano-particles. Scientists and consumer advocates (and many consumers) have been well aware of the former for a long time, while awareness of the latter is relatively new. > Microplastics, were they unobservable in the 80's? Sort of. The term is sometimes attributed to Richard Thompson in 2004. https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/discover/are-microplastics-a-big-problem https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/discover/are-microplastics-a-big-... Prior to that (or thereabouts) nobody knew to look for whole plastic particles as opposed to individual chemical components. Therefore tools to quantify or analyze them were not well refined, and likewise for methodologies. The specific issue of microplastics in microwaves is even newer than that. It's evolving science, which is practically redundant because that's what science always does. Cases of zero awareness to high awareness overnight are rare. More often it's increasing awareness, and correspondingly increasing sophistication in measurement or analysis, as each study takes years and someone to fund it.
- SubiculumCode 3y ago
  Thank you. You project expertise superbly. Q: Are biodegradable plastics create more microplastics than more durable plastics? As a side note,

texuf 3y ago

Don’t put plastic in the microwave,” has been common advice in my circle for over a decade, maybe three or more? I feel like it either finally stopped getting suppressed, or it finally hit an emergent “critical mass” and broke through (probably the second one).

permo-w 3y ago
I mean we're talking about it here, and health hipsters have been talking about it for a long time, but are we actually at the point where enough people know/care that concerted society-wide effort is being made to fix it? besides companies selling water bottles as "BPA-free", not as far as I can see
SubiculumCode 3y ago
yeah, in terms of public opinion, but I am specifically curious about what research was conducted in the 80's or 90's. I tried a few searches on Google Scholar this morning but their UI controls are heavily skewed toward finding new research, not old..plus the long issue of pre electronic publications. I bet there are publications, but probably skewed to particular contexts. e.g. I found a study examining leaching of plastic chemicals into blood plastic pouches used in hospitals. Medical device research probably doesn't tend to "leach" into other research fields

notacoward 3y ago

> it seemed exceedingly likely to the layman that it would leach out It seemed exceedingly likely to scientists too. I've been reading about the dangers of microwaving stuff in plastic containers, or using plastic wrap in the microwave, as long as I can remember. Here's a study from 1990, citing several others that go back to 1988. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Migration-testing-of-plastics-and-microwave-active-Castle-Jickells/d74897403d3129107a7c942108e7156a52daec7b https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Migration-testing-of-p... I'm pretty sure there were earlier ones as well. What's important here is not to conflate leached chemicals with micro- or nano-particles. Scientists and consumer advocates (and many consumers) have been well aware of the former for a long time, while awareness of the latter is relatively new. > Microplastics, were they unobservable in the 80's? Sort of. The term is sometimes attributed to Richard Thompson in 2004. https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/discover/are-microplastics-a-big-problem https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/discover/are-microplastics-a-big-... Prior to that (or thereabouts) nobody knew to look for whole plastic particles as opposed to individual chemical components. Therefore tools to quantify or analyze them were not well refined, and likewise for methodologies. The specific issue of microplastics in microwaves is even newer than that. It's evolving science, which is practically redundant because that's what science always does. Cases of zero awareness to high awareness overnight are rare. More often it's increasing awareness, and correspondingly increasing sophistication in measurement or analysis, as each study takes years and someone to fund it.

SubiculumCode 3y ago
Thank you. You project expertise superbly. Q: Are biodegradable plastics create more microplastics than more durable plastics? As a side note,