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It's tires. Millions of cars and their tire wear for literally the last hundred years. How can it not be in our bodies and causing issues at this point.

tppiotrowski 2y ago
It has to be PVC pipes. Once you cut one with a mitre saw and see all the plastic dust in the pipe that gets washed into the nearest water source Or the replacement of wool with polyester and nylon over the last 100 years Tires are a good thing to look into but a lot of things have change drastically in the last 100 years...
- TaylorAlexander 2y ago
  Synthetic fibers has to be a big one.
willy_k 2y ago
That’s a factor for sure, especially with the finding (that was posted last week on HN) that there are tire compounds in leafy greens. But it’s almost certainly also due to the use of various plastics in everything; even if you’re drinking from a glass bottle it most likely passed through plastic at some point. I also entertain the idea that the “feminization” that appears to have occurred since the 50’s is due to (micro)plastics and PFAS being literal ligands of the estrogen receptor, and their well documented endocrine disrupting effects. I recall some study found that 100% of males tested had microplastics in their testes.
nostromo 2y ago
It’s clothes, linens, and bedding too. People use synthetic fabric sheets, pillow cases, not to mention mattresses. Most pillows are filled with plastic. We cover our bodies in plastic, then wash our clothes and microplastics enter the wastewater system.
newsclues 2y ago
From the replies maybe it’s everything? Food, water, medicine, homes, clothing, everything is plastic!
- willy_k 2y ago
  That’s essentially the problem. Everything is plastic because plastic is cheap and versatile, but surprise, it’s also bad for you! Maybe in a century after a bunch of bickering on whether or not it’s really bad, if it’s worth solving, and lobbying by every industry against any potential hit to revenue, it’ll finally get solved, and then we get to find out all the problems with the solution, rinse and repeat. I wonder how hemp would work out as a replacement, it seems pretty promising - stable, biodegradable, likely inert, and versatile (it can be used for containers, textiles, paper, and a lot more). For degradation, (GMed) fungi or bacteria seem like a potential avenue, surely nothing could go wrong with that.
chrisco255 2y ago
Rubber tires aren't new, they've been around for 120 years. If there has been an uptick in IBD in the past few decades that didn't exist for the first 80 years of the 20th century, you'd have to suspect a number of different things before tires.
- radicaldreamer 2y ago
  Synthetic plastics, synthetic pipes, Tetrapak packaging, BPA can linings, BPA receipt paper… we’ve had a Cambrian explosion of plastics in the past several decades
- bbradley406 2y ago
  Tires have been around for a while, but the average weight of a personal car greatly increased after the 80's. Sure there were some heavy land-boats in the 50's and 60's, but it seems now everyone is driving something 3.5k lbs or higher. Also consider the expansion of the US highway system (starting in '56), increased freight trucking, popularity of tuning / high performance cars etc. I'd imagine more tires are getting shredded into the environment than at any point before the 80's, even with improvements in tire compounds.
  - chrisco255 2y ago
    Cars were even heavier in the 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s. They had steel bodies, chrome bumpers, massive trunks, V8 engines too. It wasn't until the oil crisis in the late 70s and the introduction of Japanese brands that cars got small. Take a look at a 1950s Coup de Ville, Buick Roadmaster or any other famous models from that era. All pushing 4K, sometimes 5K pounds.

tppiotrowski 2y ago

It has to be PVC pipes. Once you cut one with a mitre saw and see all the plastic dust in the pipe that gets washed into the nearest water source Or the replacement of wool with polyester and nylon over the last 100 years Tires are a good thing to look into but a lot of things have change drastically in the last 100 years...

TaylorAlexander 2y ago
Synthetic fibers has to be a big one.

willy_k 2y ago

That’s a factor for sure, especially with the finding (that was posted last week on HN) that there are tire compounds in leafy greens. But it’s almost certainly also due to the use of various plastics in everything; even if you’re drinking from a glass bottle it most likely passed through plastic at some point. I also entertain the idea that the “feminization” that appears to have occurred since the 50’s is due to (micro)plastics and PFAS being literal ligands of the estrogen receptor, and their well documented endocrine disrupting effects. I recall some study found that 100% of males tested had microplastics in their testes.

nostromo 2y ago

It’s clothes, linens, and bedding too. People use synthetic fabric sheets, pillow cases, not to mention mattresses. Most pillows are filled with plastic. We cover our bodies in plastic, then wash our clothes and microplastics enter the wastewater system.

newsclues 2y ago

From the replies maybe it’s everything? Food, water, medicine, homes, clothing, everything is plastic!

willy_k 2y ago
That’s essentially the problem. Everything is plastic because plastic is cheap and versatile, but surprise, it’s also bad for you! Maybe in a century after a bunch of bickering on whether or not it’s really bad, if it’s worth solving, and lobbying by every industry against any potential hit to revenue, it’ll finally get solved, and then we get to find out all the problems with the solution, rinse and repeat. I wonder how hemp would work out as a replacement, it seems pretty promising - stable, biodegradable, likely inert, and versatile (it can be used for containers, textiles, paper, and a lot more). For degradation, (GMed) fungi or bacteria seem like a potential avenue, surely nothing could go wrong with that.

chrisco255 2y ago

Rubber tires aren't new, they've been around for 120 years. If there has been an uptick in IBD in the past few decades that didn't exist for the first 80 years of the 20th century, you'd have to suspect a number of different things before tires.

radicaldreamer 2y ago
Synthetic plastics, synthetic pipes, Tetrapak packaging, BPA can linings, BPA receipt paper… we’ve had a Cambrian explosion of plastics in the past several decades
bbradley406 2y ago
Tires have been around for a while, but the average weight of a personal car greatly increased after the 80's. Sure there were some heavy land-boats in the 50's and 60's, but it seems now everyone is driving something 3.5k lbs or higher. Also consider the expansion of the US highway system (starting in '56), increased freight trucking, popularity of tuning / high performance cars etc. I'd imagine more tires are getting shredded into the environment than at any point before the 80's, even with improvements in tire compounds.
- chrisco255 2y ago
  Cars were even heavier in the 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s. They had steel bodies, chrome bumpers, massive trunks, V8 engines too. It wasn't until the oil crisis in the late 70s and the introduction of Japanese brands that cars got small. Take a look at a 1950s Coup de Ville, Buick Roadmaster or any other famous models from that era. All pushing 4K, sometimes 5K pounds.