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What is our hidden consumption of microplastics doing to our health?

nautil.us

131–140 of 341 posts

Re: What is our hidden consumption of microplastics doing to our health?

#132

The actual study is here https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030438942... The study presents three scenarios assuming different assumptions about the mass of plastic particles. In the worst case scenario, where I think the assumptions are bad, they estimate 5g of plastic per week. In the other two scenarios which used more complex but more realistic modelling they estimate 0.15 and 0.3g of plastic cons…

What’s worrying about this is that we’re about 50 years into an unexplained epidemic of obesity and metabolic disease that nobody has a clear explanation for, and is also affecting lab animals fed controlled diets. It would be fascinating if this was all correlated with a common environmental contaminant, and the increasing use of various plastics could line up well.

It's pretty clear the epidemic of obesity and metabolic disease is largely caused by sugar

https://youtu.be/dBnniua6-oM

Re: What is our hidden consumption of microplastics doing to our health?

#133
post #55

I was thinking about this tonight on my walk. I've been noticing some funny looks at my mask wearing. I usually walk with my mask on. I have done this way before Covid. I used to wear it for allergies. My allergies just felt better when I wore a mask. Tonight I could smell burn't tires on my walk. A older guy happened to be doing a burn out in his Tesla. Yea--I know, not the typical burnout guy. A few Japanese beers…

Mask-wearing is like foot-binding and leeching. Pathological and perverse, perhaps. But also totally cool and in agreement with the experts. It's a window into our psychology. Anthropologists of the future will reap much research papers.

One of the sad things about the Internet these days is that into every conversation descends the Screaming Loonie™.

The Screaming Loonie doesn't waste any time but immediately dives into some world-class conspiracy theory - in this case, "Almost all the world's doctors, medical researchers and public health officials are in a century-long conspiracy to present a false theory, that masks help prevent infectious respiratory diseases."

I used to find this sad, but now the Screaming Loonies have killed a lot of people by hampering our response to COVID, and it's not sad or funny any more, it's enraging.

If we can jail people who call in prank bomb threats, we can should certainly jail the gloating and arrogant medical liars who have caused such carnage.

In a just world, medical liars would be given the same sort of sentence that we give today to

Re: What is our hidden consumption of microplastics doing to our health?

#134
post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Pathological and perverse, perhaps. But also totally cool and in agreement with the experts. Um... "perverse"? I have a lot less patience for these takes than I used to because at least early on in the pandemic people could convincingly claim that wearing a mask was "cool". There was at least truth to the idea that you would be shamed for not wearing a mask. But that's not the situation anymore -- GP wrote a commen…

In a hundred million years of biological history, I doubt that there is anything as perverse as voluntarily blocking your own breathing hole. It's right up there with crowds throwing themselves off cliffs and maniacs walking down the sidewalk chattering at their plastic rat.

If you think any of this is sane, you have another think coming.

Re: What is our hidden consumption of microplastics doing to our health?

#136

I saw a neat video which I cant find where a guy buys Himalayan salt, puts it under a microscope, and pulls out plastic. It's disturbing how plastic is in the salt and almost impossible to remove.

How, exactly, would plastic be appearing in rock salt that was laid down millions of years ago?

It's not as if they are bottling it right at the source, presumably it goes through an industrial process to clean the stuff and get it into containers.

Re: What is our hidden consumption of microplastics doing to our health?

#137
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't take anyone seriously who publishes a pie-chart like this: https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S03043894203199...

You might care to state why the chart is problematic.

"Total number identified" is one of the pie slices, the other slices are subsets of this slice.

Re: What is our hidden consumption of microplastics doing to our health?

#138
post #51

Quoted post unavailable.

What you're yelling about is true: fishing nets, car tires, and carpets are the major sources of microplastics, rather than plastic bags and drinking straws, but you wouldn't know that based on the public discourse.

I suppose the reason we focus on the wrong sources is that most people can't brag to their friends about switching their commercial fishing fleet away from plastic gillnets. Most of us don't even have commercial fishing fleets. But, we can buy a metal drinking straw and be seen using it, demonstrating virtuous behavior in a conspicuous way.

Re: What is our hidden consumption of microplastics doing to our health?

#139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You might care to state why the chart is problematic.

"Total number identified" is one of the pie slices, the other slices are subsets of this slice.

Fair enough, thanks.

The charts themselves would be better expressed as a Sankey flow, perhaps.

Re: What is our hidden consumption of microplastics doing to our health?

#140

I saw a neat video which I cant find where a guy buys Himalayan salt, puts it under a microscope, and pulls out plastic. It's disturbing how plastic is in the salt and almost impossible to remove.

How, exactly, would plastic be appearing in rock salt that was laid down millions of years ago?

I would assume it's being added in the supply chain unintentionally on its way to you. You would think that the Himalayas would be presitine, but because of no solid waste systems plastics trash builds up very fast in the environment.
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