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

bbc.com

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

#71

Post by Eisenstein »

dewclin wrote: post #58
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…

> we don't need everything in a plastic wrapper I bought a celeriac the other day, it was in a vacuum wrapped plastic cover. What a waste of resources.

In case anyone else has no idea what a 'celeriac' is:

> Celeriac (Apium graveolens var. rapaceum), also called celery root, knob celery, and turnip-rooted celery (although it is not a close relative of the turnip), is a variety of celery cultivated for its edible stem or hypocotyl, and shoots. Celeriac is like a root vegetable except it has a bulbous hypocotyl with many small roots attached.

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

#72

Post by mlindner »

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…

The male sperm issue isn’t from environmental issues, it’s psychological/societal. When you repeatedly tell men that their natural state is “toxic masculinity” you’ll of course drive down sperm counts through depression and self hatred.

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

#73

Post by threadweaver34 »

Der_Einzige wrote: post #61
fleddr wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It's important we understand what's going on for the future of the species, but the research is political suicide.

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

#74

Post by not_enoch_wise »

Der_Einzige wrote: post #61
fleddr wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Thank you for not wasting a single valuable second backing your belief up with evidence.

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

#75

Post by userbinator »

kennywinker wrote: post #65
tdeck wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 abou…

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 wonder if those who come up with these ideas realise the irony of forcing people to buy bags which are truly going to be single-use instead of reusing what they would've already had.

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

#76

Post by mlindner »

Der_Einzige wrote: post #61
fleddr wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I’d say the cause is societal because it’s popular to become part of a protected class. You can’t change your race but you can change this.

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

#77

Post by MorrisMinor »

radec wrote: post #39
tomp wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

What's a good waste management system? Honest question.

Plasma converter:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_gasification

Unfortunately it's more expensive than just throwing waste into a hole in the ground.

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

#78

Post by userbinator »

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…

It is the additives in the plastics (to make them softer, or color them, or whatever) that are terrible for you.

That said, one-time-use plastics are absolutely obscene and need to be removed from society as soon as humanly possible.

Those seem to be somewhat conflicting viewpoints. The overwhelming majority of single-use plastics are PE or PP, which also don't really have much in the way of additives.

PVC, ABS, and others in those families are what need the really harmful plasticisers, and also cost a lot more; as a result, they aren't going to be chosen for single-use applications unless there are other important reasons to do so.

Then the article goes on to mention PFAS, which is related to fluoropolymers, another very different category. I'm sure FPs are used in some single-use applications, but they are not cheap compared to PP or PE so they'll be massively lower in volume.

I hate how articles like this just promote a "plastics = bad" narrative, and they didn't even mention what type of microplastic they found.

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

#79

Post by xwdv »

mlindner wrote: post #76
Der_Einzige wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I’d say the cause is societal because it’s popular to become part of a protected class. You can’t change your race but you can change this.

I’m honestly surprised why you can’t change your race. Race, like gender, isn’t really a real thing beyond an abstract human concept.

If you want to identify as black why not simply say you are black? Especially if you can pass as black without further modifications?

Most people’s lineages aren’t even so pure that you can say they are a pure example of a certain “race” anyway. We just accept people at face value. You could be 50% black and say you’re black and people accept it wholeheartedly (i.e. Barack Obama) So why not 40%? Or 5%?

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

#80

Post by toomuchtodo »

brettermeier wrote: post #42
tomp wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

There are no countries with good waste management systems. Waste counts as recycled, if it was exported. What happens after that, nobody knows and nobody cares. Even in Europe, just a tiny amount of plastic gets recycled, most is shipped away, so that others should care about. Edit: Source: "The recycling lie" https://www.daserste.de/information/reportage-dokumentation/... (german)

Mandate plasma gasification instead of plastics recycling. The result is a syngas that can be burned for energy and an inert slag you can dispose of in asphalt.

Edit: MorrisMinor suggests this further down: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34293509

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