this is going to be our version of lead poisoning, isn’t it
Can someone explain the microplastics thing to me?
Why has there been an increase?
Where does it come from?
How do you avoid it?
The paper also found the quantity of microplastics in brain samples from 2024 was about 50% higher from the total in samples that date to 2016, suggesting the concentration of microplastics found in human brains is rising at a similar rate to that found in the environment. Most of the organs came from the office of the medical investigator in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which investigates untimely or violent deaths.
“You can draw a line – it’s increasing over time. It’s consistent with what you’re seeing in the environment,”
We use plastic for everything, and that trend hasn’t slowed. Over time plastics and their mini-bits have been found in every part of the planet, in the soil and air, deep in a glacier, you name it. There is no avoiding it. Everything you touch, eat, drink, and wear at some point will contain these forever chemical plastics.
forever chemical plastics
plastics are not “forever chemicals” god that term fucking sucks
They should have just called them polyfluoroalkyls or something, but no “forever chemicals” just sounds more like dooooooooooomm
You can’t avoid it 100%, but you can mitigate the amount.
Use loose leaf and an infuser over pre-bagged tea
Reusable metal waterbottles
Avoid food that is heavily pre packaged in plastic
Don’t be me and decide to work in an industry where vinyl dust was an unavoidable hazard
Why has there been an increase?
The plastic industry is a post WW2 event
Where does it come from?
Microplastics mostly come from degrading plastics, the biggest culprit seems to be “temporary” one use plastics textiles, tires, and city dust make up 80% of microplastics (source: Wikipedia)
How do you avoid it?
That’s the neat part! You don’t.
What are one use plastics used for tho? And if it’s been happening since WW2 why are people only worrying about it now?
That’s the thing, half of all plastics in existence have been made since about 2000. They’ve just displaced everything else that we used to use in packaging, and lots more.
One of the biggest sources is clothing made of polyester. Fibers come off each time you wash it. Plastic wrapping might be the biggest- everything that is bought retail or wholesale in plastic wrapping is part of this.
It doesn’t get chemically broken down, but it does get scraped and ground down into really small pieces, and even the sun causes it to peel and chip and splinter on a micro level.
if it’s been happening since WW2 why are people worrying about it now?
It took a while for the negative health consequences to be fully researched, and for the plastic industry to infiltrate every aspect of our life as much as it has.
And you can bet your ass the plastic industry does their best to suppress any research papers that would make people skeptical of their product, just like the Oil Industry hid all the negative consequences of burning through millenniums worth of oil
I mean is this new finding? I’m not shocked. Hell coronavirus seeps into the brain and causes drastic changes apparently. So not surprised that other foreign chemicals are also getting there. Its very agonizing as to how much disregard there is for a healthy standard of life from the liberalised global system.
I hate liberal journalism. The article contains a myriad of evidence showing that being filled with plastic is bad for your health, and yet they quote the FDA as saying “there is no evidence being filled with plastic is harmful.” No comment, no critique, as if the FDA blatantly lying to you is something normal and ok. The article title should be “FDA ignores evidence that microplastics are harmful to life.” That should be the title. Instead we get this depressing article implying no one can do anything but die filled with plastic.
Don’t lose heart. America is the biggest problem and they grow weaker everyday. Keep fighting.
