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Thanks, I hadn’t considered the plastic on the pepper grinder. Guess I’ll be looking for a new pepper grinder as I continue my pursuit of removing plastic and d

Thanks, I hadn’t considered the plastic on the pepper grinder. Guess I’ll be looking for a new pepper grinder as I continue my pursuit of removing plastic and dangerous chemicals from the kitchen. So far the pans, tupperware, and cooking utensils have all been replaced. While not food, another not so frequently talked about plastic exposure could be clothing dryer vents pushing materials from synthetic clothing into the air. It’s likely less of a problem than the rubber tires on our cars making their way into the air. But it was something that occurred to me while cleaning out the dryer vent this past weekend.

hedora 1y ago
I’m definitely buying natural fiber clothing moving forward for this reason. However, I wonder how bad eating bits of the plastic burr grinder actually is. Presumably, they mostly pass through. Stomach acid probably leaches a bunch of stuff, but is it worse than (say) canned tomatoes that were sitting in a plastic liner for a year? I’d wager the grinder bits have a lot of surface area from scarring. That’d increase leaching. Anyway, I strongly recommend small turkish-style grinders: https://bazaaranatolia.com/products/turkish-grinder-pepper-mill https://bazaaranatolia.com/products/turkish-grinder-pepper-m... (No idea if this brand is decent; the form factor is great, especially for $14) It has roughly a single-recipe capacity, so I stick crushed red pepper flakes, cumin seed, celery seed, black pepper kernels, etc in it per the recipe, then grind until it is empty. The burr on the one I linked is metal. I’d probably prefer stainless body + whatever is commonly used for espresso grinders, assuming such a gadget exists.
- kube-system 1y ago
  > (No idea if this brand is decent; the form factor is great, especially for $14) > These grinders are made of Zamak (brass and zinc) If it's real brand-name ZAMAK, then it should at least be low in lead :)
johncole 1y ago
Your biggest exposure is going to be water, hands down. What you store it in, how you filter it, these are going to be major sources of plastics and pfas.
- skrtskrt 1y ago
  Yes and PFAS/PFOS is now getting directly linked to rise in colorectal cancers. Personally I would prioritize water filtering for PFAS over microplastics worries if you have limited budget to start changing consumption patterns.
  - agotterer 1y ago
    Agreed, already on it! I put Wedell Water filters on all of our shower heads and we have a filtration system for our kitchen sink water. I’d love to get a whole home water filter at some point.
    - danw1979 1y ago
      what’s the vector for microplastics in shower water causing you harm ? swallowing some of it or through the skin or something else ?
      - agotterer 1y ago
        Microplastics was only one of my concerns. Their “why” page does a good job explaining the benefits. https://weddellwater.com/pages/why-duo https://weddellwater.com/pages/why-duo
    - moffkalast 1y ago
      Nothing says capitalism quite like a corporation polluting the entire planet with something they knew caused disease, actively gaslighted everyone involved, transferred liability to a sacrificial entity so they got zero punishment for it, and the rest of us are left to buy water filters for the rest of history if we want clean water. 3M and Dupont deserve the death penalty for it and should've been dissolved completely for crimes against humanity.
      - jajko 1y ago
        If only it would be so easy to blame it all on capitalism. I've lived in communism and it was exactly the same. Pollution beyond any reasonable levels, testing chemistry on products and people, rules and regulations coming from government and faceless bureaucrats... The result was the same, but instead of corporate greed the reason was lack of any interest and foresight. Well regulated capitalism is probably best equipped to deal with such. Whether ours is well equipped to deal with this is another question.
leptons 1y ago
Same here. I am going to disassemble the cheap pepper grinders I recently bought to make sure there is no plastic in the grinding operation. I switched to bamboo toothbrushes from plastic a while ago, before de-plasticizing was really a thing. Now I'm glad I did, because plastic bristles grinding against my teeth seems like an easy way for plastic to get inside my body. The bamboo toothbrushes are pretty nice too, the bristles are soft but firm, and the handle is made of bamboo too.
- fragmede 1y ago
  Your teeth seem pretty hard though, to the point that a specialist has to go over them with metal tools every year to clean them.
  - leptons 1y ago
    and... plastic is not that hard, so the teeth should be able to grind down the plastic bristles as you brush your teeth. I'd find it hard to believe that no plastic is lost during brushing of teeth. The idea of brushing my teeth with plastic has lost its appeal for me and will never be recovered.
- alwa 1y ago
  Personally, I spit out whatever happens when I brush my teeth. But bamboo does sound like a more pleasant experience all the way around.
- andruby 1y ago
  Mentioned elsewhere too but Peugeot (yes the car company) has been making top quality affordable pepper grinders for over a century. The simple wooden ones last a decade or longer and cost about 35 $/€/£
- Gigachad 1y ago
  All disposable grinders are going to be plastic, and likely none of the refillable ones will be since the plastic burrs only last one usage before they are all chipped off in to your food.
dpflug 1y ago
I've been using a mortar and pestle. Easy to control fineness and no plastic to be concerned with.

hedora 1y ago

I’m definitely buying natural fiber clothing moving forward for this reason. However, I wonder how bad eating bits of the plastic burr grinder actually is. Presumably, they mostly pass through. Stomach acid probably leaches a bunch of stuff, but is it worse than (say) canned tomatoes that were sitting in a plastic liner for a year? I’d wager the grinder bits have a lot of surface area from scarring. That’d increase leaching. Anyway, I strongly recommend small turkish-style grinders: https://bazaaranatolia.com/products/turkish-grinder-pepper-mill https://bazaaranatolia.com/products/turkish-grinder-pepper-m... (No idea if this brand is decent; the form factor is great, especially for $14) It has roughly a single-recipe capacity, so I stick crushed red pepper flakes, cumin seed, celery seed, black pepper kernels, etc in it per the recipe, then grind until it is empty. The burr on the one I linked is metal. I’d probably prefer stainless body + whatever is commonly used for espresso grinders, assuming such a gadget exists.

kube-system 1y ago
> (No idea if this brand is decent; the form factor is great, especially for $14) > These grinders are made of Zamak (brass and zinc) If it's real brand-name ZAMAK, then it should at least be low in lead :)

johncole 1y ago

Your biggest exposure is going to be water, hands down. What you store it in, how you filter it, these are going to be major sources of plastics and pfas.

skrtskrt 1y ago
Yes and PFAS/PFOS is now getting directly linked to rise in colorectal cancers. Personally I would prioritize water filtering for PFAS over microplastics worries if you have limited budget to start changing consumption patterns.
- agotterer 1y ago
  Agreed, already on it! I put Wedell Water filters on all of our shower heads and we have a filtration system for our kitchen sink water. I’d love to get a whole home water filter at some point.
  - danw1979 1y ago
    what’s the vector for microplastics in shower water causing you harm ? swallowing some of it or through the skin or something else ?
    - agotterer 1y ago
      Microplastics was only one of my concerns. Their “why” page does a good job explaining the benefits. https://weddellwater.com/pages/why-duo https://weddellwater.com/pages/why-duo
  - moffkalast 1y ago
    Nothing says capitalism quite like a corporation polluting the entire planet with something they knew caused disease, actively gaslighted everyone involved, transferred liability to a sacrificial entity so they got zero punishment for it, and the rest of us are left to buy water filters for the rest of history if we want clean water. 3M and Dupont deserve the death penalty for it and should've been dissolved completely for crimes against humanity.
    - jajko 1y ago
      If only it would be so easy to blame it all on capitalism. I've lived in communism and it was exactly the same. Pollution beyond any reasonable levels, testing chemistry on products and people, rules and regulations coming from government and faceless bureaucrats... The result was the same, but instead of corporate greed the reason was lack of any interest and foresight. Well regulated capitalism is probably best equipped to deal with such. Whether ours is well equipped to deal with this is another question.

leptons 1y ago

Same here. I am going to disassemble the cheap pepper grinders I recently bought to make sure there is no plastic in the grinding operation. I switched to bamboo toothbrushes from plastic a while ago, before de-plasticizing was really a thing. Now I'm glad I did, because plastic bristles grinding against my teeth seems like an easy way for plastic to get inside my body. The bamboo toothbrushes are pretty nice too, the bristles are soft but firm, and the handle is made of bamboo too.

fragmede 1y ago
Your teeth seem pretty hard though, to the point that a specialist has to go over them with metal tools every year to clean them.
- leptons 1y ago
  and... plastic is not that hard, so the teeth should be able to grind down the plastic bristles as you brush your teeth. I'd find it hard to believe that no plastic is lost during brushing of teeth. The idea of brushing my teeth with plastic has lost its appeal for me and will never be recovered.
alwa 1y ago
Personally, I spit out whatever happens when I brush my teeth. But bamboo does sound like a more pleasant experience all the way around.
andruby 1y ago
Mentioned elsewhere too but Peugeot (yes the car company) has been making top quality affordable pepper grinders for over a century. The simple wooden ones last a decade or longer and cost about 35 $/€/£
Gigachad 1y ago
All disposable grinders are going to be plastic, and likely none of the refillable ones will be since the plastic burrs only last one usage before they are all chipped off in to your food.

dpflug 1y ago

I've been using a mortar and pestle. Easy to control fineness and no plastic to be concerned with.