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What is our hidden consumption of microplastics doing to our health?
31–40 of 341 posts
Re: What is our hidden consumption of microplastics doing to our health?
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
Fibers embedded in lung tissue is how asbestos causes lung cancer, so wouldn't surprise me. Wearing a mask for an entire work day, than inevitably some of those mask fibers will get to your lungs. Its only a question if your lung tissue is not able to clear out some of them, that will cause inflammation, that long term can lead to cancer.
Turns out masks are not made of asbestos. Unsurprisingly, masks safety and effectiveness has been studied extremely extensively.
certain groups (nurses, doctors or certain workers) have to wear a masks all of the time for years. It would have definitely been noticed if it would cause such effects...the control group exists, just compare it to the rest. It would have been obvious.
Re: What is our hidden consumption of microplastics doing to our health?
#33A startup selling probiotics containing plastic-eating bacteria, anyone?
I wonder how much evolution pressure you must exert onto a living thing for it to start consuming something as complex as plastic. And how many generations past time they are not in the lab anymore they figure out there’s simpler solutions to nutrition, especially in the gut.
There was a story on HN today about a plastic-eating enzyme:
>Researchers at the Cockrell School of Engineering and College of Natural Sciences used a machine learning model to generate novel mutations to a natural enzyme called PETase that allows bacteria to degrade PET plastics. The model predicts which mutations in these enzymes would accomplish the goal of quickly depolymerizing post-consumer waste plastic at low temperatures.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31427011
Maybe one of the human gut bacteria could be modified to also produce this enzyme? Though presumably it would be outcompeted by the natural variant (assuming dissolving plastic confers it no advantage).
Also, I have to wonder if the monomers are more harmful than the plastic? Being smaller particles they might perhaps end up in the bloodstream?
Re: What is our hidden consumption of microplastics doing to our health?
#34Re: What is our hidden consumption of microplastics doing to our health?
#35But my credit card is titanium
then you really have your work cut out for you!
Re: What is our hidden consumption of microplastics doing to our health?
#36Quoted post unavailable.
I've seen memes showing a news headline "doctors baffled by microplastic in human lungs", juxtaposed with an unrelated headline that mentions face masks are made of the same plastic.
Re: What is our hidden consumption of microplastics doing to our health?
#37But my credit card is titanium
upscale on iron intake instead
Re: What is our hidden consumption of microplastics doing to our health?
#38Re: What is our hidden consumption of microplastics doing to our health?
#39Re: What is our hidden consumption of microplastics doing to our health?
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wonder how much evolution pressure you must exert onto a living thing for it to start consuming something as complex as plastic. And how many generations past time they are not in the lab anymore they figure out there’s simpler solutions to nutrition, especially in the gut.
There was a story on HN today about a plastic-eating enzyme: >Researchers at the Cockrell School of Engineering and College of Natural Sciences used a machine learning model to generate novel mutations to a natural enzyme called PETase that allows bacteria to degrade PET plastics. The model predicts which mutations in these enzymes would accomplish the goal of quickly depolymerizing post-consumer waste plastic at low…
> Maybe one of the human gut bacteria could be modified to also produce this enzyme?
Fantastic, now I can not only eat the food, but also the packaging!
Can we get one for cellulose too? Then we can eat pizza while it's still in the box.