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So what do we do about them? Is there any way to remove microplastics from a person/animal once already ingested? What technology if any is being worked on to

So what do we do about them? Is there any way to remove microplastics from a person/animal once already ingested? What technology if any is being worked on to help alleviate this?

david422 3y ago
Hope we don't get cancer. Become vegetarian.
- stcg 3y ago
  I don't think becoming vegetarian helps. From the article: > The study found evidence that food processing is a likely source of microplastic contamination, as highly processed protein products (like fish sticks, chicken nuggets, tofu, and plant-based burgers, among others) contained significantly more microplastics per gram than minimally processed products (items like packaged wild Alaska pollock, raw chicken breast, and others). Note the tofu and plant-based burgers.
  - ahoka 3y ago
    Plant based meat substitutes are vegan junk food. There are other things to eat that are not meat.
  - dashundchen 3y ago
    If you look at the actual data, tofu had the third lowest concentration of microplastic particles per gram (0.03, vs 0.02 for pork loin chop and 0.01 for whole chicken breast). The press release does a disservice to the study by referring to the highly processed group as a whole and not excluding tofu. For reference, the breaded shrimp and fish sticks were measured to have 1.2 and 0.26 particles per gram. Table 3.7 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749123022352?via%3Dihub#sec3 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S026974912... Regardless if a processed food like tofu has minimal plastic concentration, I would assume minimally processed whole plant food like beans and nuts would also have low microplastic exposure. The study found little total plastic from packaging, their evidence pointed towards the processing.
    - ericmcer 3y ago
      Did you account for calories? Beef has ~3-4X the calories per gram of tofu. I would guess plants have more microplastics as they just pull things out of the soil and store them (why many plants have a ton of heavy metals). Animals at least have some systems for filtering and processing unwanted items.
epistasis 3y ago
Stop driving? Most microplastic in water come from tires. I've been trying to make small moves away from car infrastructure in my town and the response is, well, less than positive. We already tacitly accept that cars are one of the biggest causes of death. Reducing car infrastructure to reduce microplastics, where we don't even really know the harm, seems far far more challenging.
- anonymous_pro_ 3y ago
  What town is that? It seems like the success of diversifying away from cars depends on the place and how it grew. LA, for example, grew at the time of peak automobile infrastructure investment and it's basically unrecoverable at this point. There are probably other reasons why places like LA are so locked in to cars now, but that's the one that seems obvious to me.
  - epistasis 3y ago
    It's a town with one of the highest percentages of bike commuters in the state, actually. However there's also a regressive aspect that refuses to make any accommodations for anything except cars, and these people have veto power over non-car infrastructure. There is no built-in veto power for new car infrastructure, and in fact existing law requires car infrastructure as a base for any sort of building, for example parking minimums. Most of the city was built 1960-1980, so based on car designs. But it's small enough that small amounts of change would eliminate car dependence.
- Solvency 3y ago
  Not just tires. Your clothes being washed.
- tppiotrowski 3y ago
  I think of tires as being made of rubber. Where does the plastic come from?
  - haltist 3y ago
polski-g 3y ago
If you donate blood as soon as possible from your last blood donation (per federal regulations), you can remove 50% of your microplastic content per year. Some studies have also shown that going to saunas/sweat lodges also lower your microplastic content.
- charliebwrites 3y ago
  Interesting, so we’ve shown it’s possible to _sweat_ out micro plastics in a sauna?
  - polski-g 3y ago
    That is what the literature suggests, though it was a small n of 20. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22253637/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22253637/

So what do we do about them? Is there any way to remove microplastics from a person/animal once already ingested? What technology if any is being worked on to help alleviate this?

david422 3y ago

Hope we don't get cancer. Become vegetarian.

stcg 3y ago
I don't think becoming vegetarian helps. From the article: > The study found evidence that food processing is a likely source of microplastic contamination, as highly processed protein products (like fish sticks, chicken nuggets, tofu, and plant-based burgers, among others) contained significantly more microplastics per gram than minimally processed products (items like packaged wild Alaska pollock, raw chicken breast, and others). Note the tofu and plant-based burgers.
- ahoka 3y ago
  Plant based meat substitutes are vegan junk food. There are other things to eat that are not meat.
- dashundchen 3y ago
  If you look at the actual data, tofu had the third lowest concentration of microplastic particles per gram (0.03, vs 0.02 for pork loin chop and 0.01 for whole chicken breast). The press release does a disservice to the study by referring to the highly processed group as a whole and not excluding tofu. For reference, the breaded shrimp and fish sticks were measured to have 1.2 and 0.26 particles per gram. Table 3.7 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749123022352?via%3Dihub#sec3 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S026974912... Regardless if a processed food like tofu has minimal plastic concentration, I would assume minimally processed whole plant food like beans and nuts would also have low microplastic exposure. The study found little total plastic from packaging, their evidence pointed towards the processing.
  - ericmcer 3y ago
    Did you account for calories? Beef has ~3-4X the calories per gram of tofu. I would guess plants have more microplastics as they just pull things out of the soil and store them (why many plants have a ton of heavy metals). Animals at least have some systems for filtering and processing unwanted items.

epistasis 3y ago

Stop driving? Most microplastic in water come from tires. I've been trying to make small moves away from car infrastructure in my town and the response is, well, less than positive. We already tacitly accept that cars are one of the biggest causes of death. Reducing car infrastructure to reduce microplastics, where we don't even really know the harm, seems far far more challenging.

anonymous_pro_ 3y ago
What town is that? It seems like the success of diversifying away from cars depends on the place and how it grew. LA, for example, grew at the time of peak automobile infrastructure investment and it's basically unrecoverable at this point. There are probably other reasons why places like LA are so locked in to cars now, but that's the one that seems obvious to me.
- epistasis 3y ago
  It's a town with one of the highest percentages of bike commuters in the state, actually. However there's also a regressive aspect that refuses to make any accommodations for anything except cars, and these people have veto power over non-car infrastructure. There is no built-in veto power for new car infrastructure, and in fact existing law requires car infrastructure as a base for any sort of building, for example parking minimums. Most of the city was built 1960-1980, so based on car designs. But it's small enough that small amounts of change would eliminate car dependence.
Solvency 3y ago
Not just tires. Your clothes being washed.
tppiotrowski 3y ago
I think of tires as being made of rubber. Where does the plastic come from?
- haltist 3y ago

polski-g 3y ago

If you donate blood as soon as possible from your last blood donation (per federal regulations), you can remove 50% of your microplastic content per year. Some studies have also shown that going to saunas/sweat lodges also lower your microplastic content.

charliebwrites 3y ago
Interesting, so we’ve shown it’s possible to _sweat_ out micro plastics in a sauna?
- polski-g 3y ago
  That is what the literature suggests, though it was a small n of 20. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22253637/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22253637/