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Irish Teenager Wins Global Science Award for Removing Microplastics from Water

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Re: Irish Teenager Wins Global Science Award for Removing Microplastics from Water

#11

Post by kccqzy »

pmoriarty wrote: post #10

"Microplastics or microbeads are mostly used in soaps, shower gels and facial scrubs to exfoliate skin..." So, wait... If we just stopped using microplastics in soaps, shower gels and facial scrubs we'd mostly stop dumping microsplastics in to the environment? But we don't because we'd rather have this totally optional, cosmetic benefit? Humans are so stupid.

Microbeads are already banned in many places. The United States for example banned it back in 2017. But there are many governments that haven't caught up to it yet.

Re: Irish Teenager Wins Global Science Award for Removing Microplastics from Water

#12

Post by jhanschoo »

pmoriarty wrote: post #10

"Microplastics or microbeads are mostly used in soaps, shower gels and facial scrubs to exfoliate skin..." So, wait... If we just stopped using microplastics in soaps, shower gels and facial scrubs we'd mostly stop dumping microsplastics in to the environment? But we don't because we'd rather have this totally optional, cosmetic benefit? Humans are so stupid.

The article is correct only in the sense that that is the purpose of many manufactured microplastics, and the teenager's quote hints at it: "The method used was most effective on fibres obtained from a washing machine and least effective on polypropylene plastics".

I strongly think it's the majority, though I don't have a source, that most microplastics come from wear and other sources. From consumer sources, microplastics come from synthetic fibers and wear from regular plastic products, among others.

Re: Irish Teenager Wins Global Science Award for Removing Microplastics from Water

#13

Post by jagannathtech »

wfjkwepofjpw wrote: post #9

I don't want to be dismissive, but I swear this headline like 100 times over the past 10 years. This, and "teen finds bacteria culture to digest plastic waste".

Honestly, almost every one of these 'teen finds...' story are very sensational and clickbaity. Eventually it turns out to be something already known, absolutely cannot scale, way too costly for any practical purpose, nothing related to the headline etc

Re: Irish Teenager Wins Global Science Award for Removing Microplastics from Water

#14

Post by selimthegrim »

EGreg wrote: post #5

I am awed by the teen and his accomplishments to date. But serious question: how can this be used in vivo, say in the ocean? The magnetite left behind seems toxic also. When I saw it being dropped in the water, I wondered how the fish are going to survive all that. Microplastics that settle to the bottom of the ocean might be collected somehow. The rest are dispersed by ocean currents in a vast, vast volume of water,…

I am pretty sure magnetite gets dissolved in the ocean already at some concentration

Re: Irish Teenager Wins Global Science Award for Removing Microplastics from Water

#15

Post by abadar »

pmoriarty wrote: post #10

"Microplastics or microbeads are mostly used in soaps, shower gels and facial scrubs to exfoliate skin..." So, wait... If we just stopped using microplastics in soaps, shower gels and facial scrubs we'd mostly stop dumping microsplastics in to the environment? But we don't because we'd rather have this totally optional, cosmetic benefit? Humans are so stupid.

Ocean microplastics come from trash being beaten into tiny pieces by waves, wind, and radiation from sunlight, not really exfoliating beads, straws, or glitter.

Re: Irish Teenager Wins Global Science Award for Removing Microplastics from Water

#16

Post by starpilot »

pmoriarty wrote: post #10

"Microplastics or microbeads are mostly used in soaps, shower gels and facial scrubs to exfoliate skin..." So, wait... If we just stopped using microplastics in soaps, shower gels and facial scrubs we'd mostly stop dumping microsplastics in to the environment? But we don't because we'd rather have this totally optional, cosmetic benefit? Humans are so stupid.

In the US, we stopped two years ago: https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/us-bans-microbeads-from-...

There are still a lot floating around though.

Re: Irish Teenager Wins Global Science Award for Removing Microplastics from Water

#17

Post by Azrael3000 »

ummonk wrote: post #4

This seems like it should deserve way more attention than Ocean Cleanup.

It should not be a competition about anything, instead all the efforts should be supported to solve the plastic issue, from reduction of use to clean-up.

Re: Irish Teenager Wins Global Science Award for Removing Microplastics from Water

#18

Post by carapace »

Tangent: I have a hunch that the Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube, or something based on it, could be used to separate or just concentrate microplastics from water.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vortex_tube

> The vortex tube was used to separate gas mixtures, oxygen and nitrogen, carbon dioxide and helium, carbon dioxide and air in 1967 by Linderstrom-Lang. Vortex tubes also seem to work with liquids to some extent...

Re: Irish Teenager Wins Global Science Award for Removing Microplastics from Water

#19

Post by cbhl »

pmoriarty wrote: post #10

"Microplastics or microbeads are mostly used in soaps, shower gels and facial scrubs to exfoliate skin..." So, wait... If we just stopped using microplastics in soaps, shower gels and facial scrubs we'd mostly stop dumping microsplastics in to the environment? But we don't because we'd rather have this totally optional, cosmetic benefit? Humans are so stupid.

Even if you want the cosmetic benefit of physical exfoliation, we don't have to use plastic -- you could just as easily use sand or salt and get the same benefits.

Re: Irish Teenager Wins Global Science Award for Removing Microplastics from Water

#20

Post by bananasbandanas »

jhanschoo wrote: post #12
pmoriarty wrote: post #10

"Microplastics or microbeads are mostly used in soaps, shower gels and facial scrubs to exfoliate skin..." So, wait... If we just stopped using microplastics in soaps, shower gels and facial scrubs we'd mostly stop dumping microsplastics in to the environment? But we don't because we'd rather have this totally optional, cosmetic benefit? Humans are so stupid.

The article is correct only in the sense that that is the purpose of many manufactured microplastics, and the teenager's quote hints at it: "The method used was most effective on fibres obtained from a washing machine and least effective on polypropylene plastics". I strongly think it's the majority, though I don't have a source, that most microplastics come from wear and other sources. From consumer sources, micropl…

According to this [1] source, only about 2% of microplastics are due to cosmetics. The majority are from synthetic textiles (35%) and tyres (28%).

[1] https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documen...

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