2 ms·

Natural rubber at least has the benefit that it is biodegradable.

• pfdietz 2y ago
  But of what relevance is this to the issue of damage from ingested microplastics? The microorganisms that biodegrade refractory materials (like wood or rubber) would be attacked by our immune systems. Nor are the chemicals these microorganisms use -- strong oxidizers -- be something we'd want to have produced in our bodies. Vulcanization reduces the rate of biodegradation of rubber, I understand. From what I looked up, it seems it takes natural rubber 300 years to biodegrade in the environment. This doesn't seem to me to be fast enough to significantly affect human exposure.