Live data from Hacker News

Nanoplastic Ingestion Causes Neurological Deficits

the-scientist.com

271–280 of 339 posts

Re: Nanoplastic Ingestion Causes Neurological Deficits

#271
post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lacquer is resin from trees, not plastic. I don't know if it's better for you than plastic or really anything about its chemical composition, but it's not plastic. Edit: After reading more, there is an acrylic lacquer that was developed in the 1950s that contains plastics, but outside of that, normal or traditional lacquers are typically biological in origin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacquer

What percentage of lacquers these days do you think is the old natural type? I’d wager it’s very low.

For mass produced items, I would agree.

For stuff made by lone craftsmen & small boutique shops, maybe 50/50? Maybe less?

Re: Nanoplastic Ingestion Causes Neurological Deficits

#272
post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, polyester/nylon/polypropylene are everywhere. There are some really good, reasonably priced all wool ones available here: https://hookandloom.com/browse/undyed-natural-wool-rugs/loom... They’re so much nicer than the plastic type, and seem durable so far (the thick flat weave type has been holding up well on our stairs).

> They’re so much nicer than the plastic type Unless you have kids or pets, or live somewhere especially humid, in which case you will regret not getting nylon.

We live somewhere humid and have very young kids, their playroom is covered with a very big one of those loom hooked ones, it’s awesome for that because it’s so soft. Spills tends to come out of it pretty easily, the wool seems to be at least mildly hydrophobic.

Re: Nanoplastic Ingestion Causes Neurological Deficits

#273
post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Your typical modern American suburb is homes that would be three family homes 60 years ago on land that would fit three of those homes let alone a normal size house. All of this is subsidized by tax write-offs and gasoline that is 50% discounted relative to the rest of the developed world. Not much freedom of movement when everything even a neighbor is a 15 minute drive away either due to sprawl or trafic.

“Subsidized by tax write offs”

Umm, are you referring to the being able to write off mortgage interest on your personal residence? What exactly does this have to do with suburbs?

Re: Nanoplastic Ingestion Causes Neurological Deficits

#274
post #47

It would be worth checking that the concentrations of microplastics used in this study are of a similar concentration to those found naturally. Otherwise the research is not very meaningful.

It's still worthwhile to look at 10x and 100x concentrations since these things bioaccumulate. Whatever negative effects are happening at 1x should be studied as we crank that concentration up. Might be fine now, but in 100 years? We should probably have an idea how the harm/effects scale

Re: Nanoplastic Ingestion Causes Neurological Deficits

#275
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, generally speaking unless it's a very large shard and cuts your esophagus, once it reaches your stomach, acids will knock the edges off and it'll pass without issue.

I really doubt stomach acid would do anything to glass. Strong acids are regularly stored in glass.

HCl will do nothing to glass. It's strong bases that will dissolve glass (a little), and your digestive system doesn't have any.

Re: Nanoplastic Ingestion Causes Neurological Deficits

#276

Everyone is talking about food containers, what about textiles - we breathe in and swallow quite a lot of dust every day, mostly coming from them. Even if you're wearing pure cotton the others may not and the office carpets and furniture are all plastic, getting torn every day.

Food containers are also just..not the problem. No bulk plastic is. Even scraping the hell out of container isn't going to make particles in any quantity.

Microplastic in the environment comes from long term degradation of plastic when it washes into the ocean or waterways and breaks down from UV / radical exposure.

Re: Nanoplastic Ingestion Causes Neurological Deficits

#277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't lacquer technically a sort of plastic? I could find images for Indian Brass Container to learn what it is. But I didn't find anything conclusive for Korean steel.

Lacquer is resin from trees, not plastic. I don't know if it's better for you than plastic or really anything about its chemical composition, but it's not plastic. Edit: After reading more, there is an acrylic lacquer that was developed in the 1950s that contains plastics, but outside of that, normal or traditional lacquers are typically biological in origin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacquer

That resin comes from a tree that is the source of the name for urishiol - the chemical that makes poison ivy such a nasty experience.

It's probably better than plastic, but remember that coral snake venom and puffer fish toxin are 'all natural' and so the concept of all natural is utter and complete bullshit.

Re: Nanoplastic Ingestion Causes Neurological Deficits

#278
post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are the concerns about the “plastic” carpets in American homes? They are pretty much everywhere. They shed fibers all the time. We’re in contact with it all the time.

Yeah, polyester/nylon/polypropylene are everywhere. There are some really good, reasonably priced all wool ones available here: https://hookandloom.com/browse/undyed-natural-wool-rugs/loom... They’re so much nicer than the plastic type, and seem durable so far (the thick flat weave type has been holding up well on our stairs).

Polypropylene is probably the least nasty of the bunch.

Probably.

When the BPA scare came I saw so many people switching to a different kind of plastic instead of stainless steel or glass. I just could not understand what people were thinking.

Re: Nanoplastic Ingestion Causes Neurological Deficits

#279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We threw away all our glass containers because they constantly chip. I'm more afraid of ingesting piece of sharp glass than nanoplastics. I don't know why that keeps happenning, I guess dishwasher's high heat damages the glass or they keep bumping into each other.

It may be how you load, I don't think that's a common issue. Microscopic bits of glass are basically sand though so I wouldn't worry unless there's a lot or it's getting airborne.

I've given up on teaching my partner how to load a dishwasher. She insists you can fit more into a load. We also have a bunch of chipped plates and mugs. Not on my watch of course.

Re: Nanoplastic Ingestion Causes Neurological Deficits

#280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pyrex is the one that chips.

weird. I never had a problem with pyrex. Must be something to do with the environment the glass in your specific case is exposed to.

Pyrex is just tempered glass now. You have to trawl yard sales and antique shops to find the borosylicate version.
Post reply on HN