Car tires biggest likely source of microplastics in California coastal waters • Hacker News Board

Re: Car tires biggest likely source of microplastics in California coastal waters

#91

Post by devmunchies » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 6:59 PM UTC

tyri_kai_psomi wrote: post #24

bpodgursky wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3222987/ > Most Plastic Products Release Estrogenic Chemicals: A Potential Health Problem That Can Be Solved > Results: Almost all commercially available plastic products we sampled—independent of the type of resin, product, or retail source—leached chemicals having reliably detectable EA, including those advertised as BPA free. In some cases, BPA-free products released ch…

(DISCLAIMER: I am hoping we can discuss this from a purely intellectual perspective and not bring ideology into it) I have always postulated that the increase of estrogenic compounds may have some impact on what seems to be an utter surge of reported cases of gender dysphoria amongst others other disorders that typically arise when you mess with hormonal/endocrine systems. Has there been any scientific research done…

There are so many things that have changed in the last 50 years that there is a a large surface area of changes that could be causing mass hormone imbalance.

Plastics, daily dairy consumptions (every meal!), soy, sedentary lifestyle, processed food, lack of minerals in soil/food, not being exposed to natural fungus in soil and nature, not consuming enough fermented foods because we have refrigeration, not enough meditation we would get from sitting in front of a fire, not enough exposure to heat/cold in the natural seasons, not using natural ground water... obviously not all of that, but my point is that it could be anything.

Re: Car tires biggest likely source of microplastics in California coastal waters

#92

Post by hanniabu » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 7:00 PM UTC

colordrops wrote: post #16

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there evidence that Tupperware breaks down and gets into food that you store inside it?

It's soft. I have old Tupperware right here in my kitchen that has frayed surfaces and little bits and pieces must get into food.

Just think about the amount of plastic in foods from plastic cutting boards or using metal utensils on non-stick coated bans (with whatever kind of crazy chemicals are in there).

Re: Car tires biggest likely source of microplastics in California coastal waters

#93

Post by seph-reed » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 7:00 PM UTC

lotsofpulp wrote: post #80

luckydata wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the last mile problem can be solved in a million different ways: bikes, taxis, uber, walking, buses... Eliminating car culture is non optional if we want to save the planet.

The last mile problem can only be solved by eliminating single family detached homes. You can only reduce the amount of energy required to move bodies so much, at some point you have to start reducing the distances traveled.

I'd rather go with the less people travelling further on bikes route. There's a 1:1 ratio between amount of space (and therefor nature) per person, and the distance we're willing to travel on foot/bike/etc.

Re: Car tires biggest likely source of microplastics in California coastal waters

#94

Post by simias » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 7:00 PM UTC

hinkley wrote: post #61

bpodgursky wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3222987/ > Most Plastic Products Release Estrogenic Chemicals: A Potential Health Problem That Can Be Solved > Results: Almost all commercially available plastic products we sampled—independent of the type of resin, product, or retail source—leached chemicals having reliably detectable EA, including those advertised as BPA free. In some cases, BPA-free products released ch…

I was just floored when the BPA problems arose and all these people I knew were trading in one plastic bottle for a different one. I'm switching to glass and stainless and everyone else is buying more plastic . Just... don't understand why we learn so slow.

Plastics are just pretty damn convenient materials. They're solid, cheap, can be made flexible or hard, don't rust, are easy to clean etc... Glass is heavy and breaks when dropped, metal is less heavy and only dents but it's more expensive than plastic. A lot of metal containers have an internal plastic lining simply so that food (and especially acidic food) doesn't react with the metal through direct contact.

Re: Car tires biggest likely source of microplastics in California coastal waters

#95

Post by kube-system » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 7:02 PM UTC

hinkley wrote: post #51

tedsanders wrote: post #6

This is one reason why I don't like living near freeways, especially near on-ramps, off-ramps, and interchanges. Car pollution isn't just tailpipe emissions - I believe a lot of airborne particulates come from tires and brakes (especially during acceleration, deceleration, and turning). https://www.cdc.gov/air/particulate_matter.html

Came up in conversation when I took my car in that up until recently they were using little bits of copper in brake pads for... noise control? heat? I can't recall which. But that's been outlawed now, presumably due to potential for metal toxicity (any mineral you need in your diet is also lethal at higher doses). We're leaving powdered copper at every stop light.

Copper is still very common in brake pads, both in the semi-metallic and ceramic varieties. California phases out copper-containing brake pads starting in 2025.

Re: Car tires biggest likely source of microplastics in California coastal waters

#96

Post by hanniabu » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 7:02 PM UTC

hinkley wrote: post #61

bpodgursky wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3222987/ > Most Plastic Products Release Estrogenic Chemicals: A Potential Health Problem That Can Be Solved > Results: Almost all commercially available plastic products we sampled—independent of the type of resin, product, or retail source—leached chemicals having reliably detectable EA, including those advertised as BPA free. In some cases, BPA-free products released ch…

I was just floored when the BPA problems arose and all these people I knew were trading in one plastic bottle for a different one. I'm switching to glass and stainless and everyone else is buying more plastic . Just... don't understand why we learn so slow.

I've always been leery of metal containers because I'm sure there's some unsafe machine oil/lubricant in there from the China manufacturing plant it was made at and wasn't completely/properly washed. Even after washing it at home I'm sure you can't get everything out.

Re: Car tires biggest likely source of microplastics in California coastal waters

#97

Post by technofiend » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 7:02 PM UTC

umvi wrote: post #44

luckydata wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the last mile problem can be solved in a million different ways: bikes, taxis, uber, walking, buses... Eliminating car culture is non optional if we want to save the planet.

It's easy to say "use trains" when you live in a highly dense area. But America-the-continent is massive and not very dense on average. I'm not convinced trains would be viable economically like they are in Japan.

>I'm not convinced trains would be viable economically like they are in Japan.

In my opinion I think rail would displace a great deal of airline traffic because air travel security is such a chore, airlines have done their very best to squeeze out every last nickel and concerns about how green air travel is or is not. Add in the fact that there is far more room per passenger in a train and with dining cars (which are slowly dying) the food can be much better.

The biggest downside to rail travel in the US is the rail lines are owned by and geared for freight train operators. You really need completely separate lines (as you have in Japan) to compete on speed, but then competing on price would be difficult since it means building entirely new infrastructure. It could require government subsidy and in the current political climate that seems unlikely.

Re: Car tires biggest likely source of microplastics in California coastal waters

#98

Post by Fricken » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 7:03 PM UTC

lotsofpulp wrote: post #80

luckydata wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the last mile problem can be solved in a million different ways: bikes, taxis, uber, walking, buses... Eliminating car culture is non optional if we want to save the planet.

The last mile problem can only be solved by eliminating single family detached homes. You can only reduce the amount of energy required to move bodies so much, at some point you have to start reducing the distances traveled.

The original idea of the suburbs, prior to the model-T, was for them to be small, walkable villages spread along networks of commuter rail lines.

Re: Car tires biggest likely source of microplastics in California coastal waters

#99

Post by hinkley » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 7:03 PM UTC

mtw wrote: post #7

Are there tires that are not made of plastic?

I dunno about no plastic but there may be less plastic tires. Maybe.

When I last bought new tires, I found out that tires lose a ton of their performance even at 50% wear rating. I thought I was doing well picking better tires than factory for my vehicles but it turns out any new tire would have had better handling because it was new.

As is common, people don't talk about the problems with their product until they have a solution. Michelin was experimenting with tire construction and formulas that were both greener and retained more of their behavior at 50% (or was that 70%?) wear level. Part of the rubber compound was derived from seed oils.

Of course, any woodworker knows about boiled linseed oil. When exposed to air it undergoes an exothermic reaction with oxygen that polymerizes it. Bioplastic. I'm not entirely sure nature makes a distinction between that substance and synthetic plastics.

So I'm a little skeptical of Michelin's woo woo about natural materials, since I'm no chemist and who knows what happens to those oils during the manufacturing process. I bought the tires but only patted myself on the back for having a safer car, not saving the planet via consumption.

Re: Car tires biggest likely source of microplastics in California coastal waters

#100

Post by hanniabu » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 7:04 PM UTC

liveoneggs wrote: post #20

in atlanta soil near roads tends to have a lot of lead. A daycare near me had to shutdown their playground/garden because it was testing really high in lead.

I'm sure the playground also had the traditional padded floor made out of recycled shredded tire pellets.