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Can someone ELI5 this for me: how would microplastics passing through a digestive system end up in "proteins*"? Are they being stored directly in the fats, with

by rhplus 3y ago

Can someone ELI5 this for me: how would microplastics passing through a digestive system end up in "proteins*"? Are they being stored directly in the fats, within cells, between muscle fibers...? (* the article seems to be using the term "protein" in the culinary sense, not the molecular sense).

toomuchtodo 3y ago
You know how mercury bioaccumulates up the food chain? It looks like microplastics are similar [1] [2], and they are everywhere in the food web [3]. It's even in the bottled water [4]. [1] https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/08/30/microplastics-could-be-widespread-in-organs-and-impact-behaviour-new-study-suggests https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/08/30/microplastics-could... [2] https://www.uri.edu/news/2023/08/microplastics-infiltrate-all-systems-of-body-cause-behavioral-changes/ https://www.uri.edu/news/2023/08/microplastics-infiltrate-al... [3] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&query=microplastics&sort=byDate&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu... [4] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38917410 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38917410 (edit: yes, yes, no surprise it's in the bottled water, maybe we shouldn't be selling bottled water if it's full of microplastics? Less bottled water, more water dispensers everywhere)
- everdrive 3y ago
  It's _especially_ in the bottled water.
- louthy 3y ago
  > It's even in the bottled water The bottled water that comes in plastic bottles? Not that surprising?
  - b112 3y ago
    Oh no. They're going to take my bagged milk away. https://www.tvo.org/article/think-bagged-milk-is-weird-think-again https://www.tvo.org/article/think-bagged-milk-is-weird-think... When I was a kid, many had their lunch sandwiches in a re-used milk bag too. And you can use the empty bags to store other stuff in the fridge. Are you going to take a big milk jug, or a cardboard milk container, and use it like a sandwich bag? It's so useful. It's the perfect way to get milk. PERFECT. And now.. this.
stevenwoo 3y ago
There was another posting within the last few months that showed the particular microplastic they studied fit into the same ‘lock’ per lock/key of a biological molecule interaction and prevented the desired molecules from working together. It could be that or a different mechanism. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38322944 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38322944

by rhplus 3y ago

toomuchtodo 3y ago

You know how mercury bioaccumulates up the food chain? It looks like microplastics are similar [1] [2], and they are everywhere in the food web [3]. It's even in the bottled water [4]. [1] https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/08/30/microplastics-could-be-widespread-in-organs-and-impact-behaviour-new-study-suggests https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/08/30/microplastics-could... [2] https://www.uri.edu/news/2023/08/microplastics-infiltrate-all-systems-of-body-cause-behavioral-changes/ https://www.uri.edu/news/2023/08/microplastics-infiltrate-al... [3] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&query=microplastics&sort=byDate&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu... [4] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38917410 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38917410 (edit: yes, yes, no surprise it's in the bottled water, maybe we shouldn't be selling bottled water if it's full of microplastics? Less bottled water, more water dispensers everywhere)

everdrive 3y ago
It's _especially_ in the bottled water.
louthy 3y ago
> It's even in the bottled water The bottled water that comes in plastic bottles? Not that surprising?
- b112 3y ago
  Oh no. They're going to take my bagged milk away. https://www.tvo.org/article/think-bagged-milk-is-weird-think-again https://www.tvo.org/article/think-bagged-milk-is-weird-think... When I was a kid, many had their lunch sandwiches in a re-used milk bag too. And you can use the empty bags to store other stuff in the fridge. Are you going to take a big milk jug, or a cardboard milk container, and use it like a sandwich bag? It's so useful. It's the perfect way to get milk. PERFECT. And now.. this.

stevenwoo 3y ago

There was another posting within the last few months that showed the particular microplastic they studied fit into the same ‘lock’ per lock/key of a biological molecule interaction and prevented the desired molecules from working together. It could be that or a different mechanism. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38322944 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38322944