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Lead and asbestos in housing and consumer products were similarly intractable, but we (mostly) banned them anyway. We're still dealing with removal and mitigati
by kibwen 2y ago
Lead and asbestos in housing and consumer products were similarly intractable, but we (mostly) banned them anyway. We're still dealing with removal and mitigation decades later, but at least those problem aren't getting any worse. At some point you have to say enough is enough and ban plastics in contexts where they're most likely to find pathways into the biosphere: food containers, disposable goods, clothes, car tires, water pipes, etc. Just because the problem will take centuries to resolve doesn't mean that we can't start now.
- ClumsyPilot 2y agoThis is not in housing, it’s in the water, in the snow, it’s everywhere forever.
- cubefox 2y agoI think you are confusing plastics with so-called forever chemicals.
- 1d22a 2y agoI'm not sure they are. Microplastics have been found in snow[1] and in "oceans, air and food supply"[2]. Additionally, the so-called forever chemicals (PFAS) originated with PTFE (Teflon) plastic, and PFAS 'forever chemicals' are used to produce polymers used in plastics, rubber and fabrics so they are intimately linked with plastics and microplastics. 1: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-61739159 https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-61739159 2: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-02968-x https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-02968-x