Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Microplastics are finding their way into fruit and vegetables as they grow

bbc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 138 posts

Re: Microplastics are finding their way into fruit and vegetables as they grow

#61

Post by Der_Einzige »

fleddr wrote: post #34
garbanz0 wrote: post #32

Microplastics are so pervasive that they're even found in human breastmilk now. Maybe it's fatalistic, but what is the point of worrying about this on an individual level beyond limiting use of certain plastic products? And it's not just microplastics - we're seeing other news about "forever chemicals," hormones in our food, the global drop of average male sperm production by 50% (!!!), etc. At a certain point, apath…

I do think there's a limit to how much doom and gloom an individual can productively handle and I suppose this also applies to society as a whole. People seem to accept that it's all downhill from here, and sometimes even cynically applaud it. Like with the male sperm story. It's catastrophic and accelerating, yet got near-zero attention. The few responses to it seem to celebrate it. Humanity lacks a story for the fu…

The real story is the massive increase in LGBT identification across the youth. I strongly believe that a large component of this is biological due to hormonal changes.

Re: Microplastics are finding their way into fruit and vegetables as they grow

#62

Post by zoklet-enjoyer »

Traubenfuchs wrote: post #38
Eisenstein wrote: post #35

Plastics are inert. This is why they don't biodegrade easily. It is the additives in the plastics (to make them softer, or color them, or whatever) that are terrible for you. By the time these things are 'microplastics' I am having a hard time feeling scared that they are harmful. I'm not saying they aren't, but until someone can tie them to an actual problem, I don't see an issue -- especially since there is nothing…

I always dream about opening a single use plastic shop in the future, for those who just don‘t care and those who are actively opposed to it being removed everywhere. For example, drinking delicious Coca-Cola Zero Sugar at McDonalds from a paper straw is disgusting. The straw usually disintegrates before I am done and sticks to the lips at the start. I love single use plastic.

Who even uses straws? Straws should be reserved for the disabled.

Re: Microplastics are finding their way into fruit and vegetables as they grow

#63

Post by davejohnclark »

LarsAlereon wrote: post #27
csmeder wrote: post #4

Something I don’t understand: Patagonia's stated mission is to save the earth and microplastics entering the oceans is a major environmental concern. However, it is also true that many of Patagonia's clothes are made from synthetic materials such as plastic. The use of synthetic materials in clothing (and each washing) greatly contribute to the problem of microplastics in the oceans. I’m I missing something? Is the a…

The flawed premise is that synthetic clothing significantly contributes to microplastic pollution, particularly in the ocean. Plastic pollution in the ocean comes primarily from fishing gear like nets, debris unintentionally released by major storms and wave events, and countries that use rivers leading to the ocean as primary waste disposal. If you want to make a difference to plastic pollution, advocate for sustain…

I was stunned to read that, in the UK, after carefully separating out the microplastics with the solid waste, that waste is then... spread on farmland as fertiliser, microplastics and all.

>In the UK, of the sewage sludge screened out by treatment works, 87% is sent to farms. The microplastics so carefully removed from wastewater by the treatment process are then spread across the land in the sewage sludge the water companies sell to farmers as fertiliser.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/may/26/microp...

Re: Microplastics are finding their way into fruit and vegetables as they grow

#64

Post by Eisenstein »

mumblemumble wrote: post #60
Eisenstein wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without the full article we can only go by the abstract of your link, which doesn't say anything definitive except that the effects on humans are unknown.

The precautionary principle would seem to be worth considering in that case.

I'm not sure how freaking out about it is going to help. I am all for removing plastics as much as possible, so the motivation to do that should help the other. In the meantime there are definite, known bad things that I can freak out about health-wise.

Re: Microplastics are finding their way into fruit and vegetables as they grow

#65

Post by kennywinker »

tdeck wrote: post #56
kennywinker wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would be so far from shocked if we found out soon that plastic grocery bag / straw bans were a psi-op by big oil/plastic manufacturers to make people hate the idea of reducing single-use plastic. I couldn't have picked a more inconvenient and inconsequential place to start legislating if I had tried. A ban on plastic soda bottles? Great! There's are existing non-plastic solutions, nobody would be negatively impacte…

The paper straws are pretty inferior but the grocery bag taxes just aren't that annoying. If you live in a place that charges for bags you quickly get used to just bringing bags with you and it's no big deal. Plus it significantly reduces the number of plastic bags blowing around in the wind. Since bags are so light they easily become airborne, sometimes posing a traffic safety hazard and often blowing into waterways…

My city outright banned single-use grocery bags. I was already in the habit of bringing re-usable bags, but every so often I'll have forgotten to grab bags or I'm stopping in on my way home from something else so I don't have them on me. Before the plastic bag ban, I'd just grab a "single-use" bag, and then use it as a trash bag for my kitchen or bathroom. Since the ban I regularly buy kitchen trash bags, I have about a dozen re-usable bags stuffed in the back of a closet, and half the stuff I buy at the grocery store still comes wrapped in a layer or two of excess plastic. For me, net loss. For the city? Probably a minor win in terms of plastic usage and street trash, and a significant loss in terms of people's willingness to ban other forms of single use plastic.

Re: Microplastics are finding their way into fruit and vegetables as they grow

#66

Post by [deleted] »

tomp wrote: post #36
Eisenstein wrote: post #35

Plastics are inert. This is why they don't biodegrade easily. It is the additives in the plastics (to make them softer, or color them, or whatever) that are terrible for you. By the time these things are 'microplastics' I am having a hard time feeling scared that they are harmful. I'm not saying they aren't, but until someone can tie them to an actual problem, I don't see an issue -- especially since there is nothing…

There’s nothing wrong with one-time-use plastics, in countries with good waste management systems. Paper straws suck.

[deleted]

Re: Microplastics are finding their way into fruit and vegetables as they grow

#67

Post by Eisenstein »

kennywinker wrote: post #47
Eisenstein wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is everyone using straws as an example? First, they are not what I am talking about -- we used to get beverages in re-usable containers and now it is almost impossible to find anything in glass. We don't need plastic to-go containers, we don't need everything in a plastic wrapper or vacuum sealed in a thick plastic container (as evidenced by companies not doing that and having zero problems with their products be…

I would be so far from shocked if we found out soon that plastic grocery bag / straw bans were a psi-op by big oil/plastic manufacturers to make people hate the idea of reducing single-use plastic. I couldn't have picked a more inconvenient and inconsequential place to start legislating if I had tried. A ban on plastic soda bottles? Great! There's are existing non-plastic solutions, nobody would be negatively impacte…

I think you are on to something. It isn't unprecedented -- they did the same thing with 'recycling' -- using a political and media campaign to convince people that plastics weren't bad because they could be recycled, then getting legislation passed to require recycling by households. It is absolutely villainous.

Re: Microplastics are finding their way into fruit and vegetables as they grow

#68

Post by [deleted] »

fleddr wrote: post #34
garbanz0 wrote: post #32

Microplastics are so pervasive that they're even found in human breastmilk now. Maybe it's fatalistic, but what is the point of worrying about this on an individual level beyond limiting use of certain plastic products? And it's not just microplastics - we're seeing other news about "forever chemicals," hormones in our food, the global drop of average male sperm production by 50% (!!!), etc. At a certain point, apath…

I do think there's a limit to how much doom and gloom an individual can productively handle and I suppose this also applies to society as a whole. People seem to accept that it's all downhill from here, and sometimes even cynically applaud it. Like with the male sperm story. It's catastrophic and accelerating, yet got near-zero attention. The few responses to it seem to celebrate it. Humanity lacks a story for the fu…

[deleted]

Re: Microplastics are finding their way into fruit and vegetables as they grow

#69

Post by dang »

andrewstuart wrote: post #31
dang wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please don't copy-paste comments on HN. It lowers the signal/noise ratio of the site. If you want to refer to something you wrote elsewhere (e.g. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34153694 ), a link is great. Even better, if possible, would be a link along with new information drawn from the specifics of the new discussion.

gotcha ..... apologies.

Appreciated!

Re: Microplastics are finding their way into fruit and vegetables as they grow

#70

Post by nullish_signal »

Eisenstein wrote: post #64
mumblemumble wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The precautionary principle would seem to be worth considering in that case.

I'm not sure how freaking out about it is going to help. I am all for removing plastics as much as possible, so the motivation to do that should help the other. In the meantime there are definite , known bad things that I can freak out about health-wise.

"Better the Devil you know than the Devil you don't", yes?
Post reply on HN