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Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

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Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#151

Post by klipt »

Filligree wrote: post #126
parentheses wrote: post #69

I absolutely despise microwaves. It comes from a (seemingly) irrational fear of my dad's - formerly a trained chemist, but also just a smart guy. 1. I feel that as with many products, microwaves are also maximized for perceived customer happiness - this means food hot ASAP. So, they're probably pushing out the legal maximum of energy in microwave form. "Better" microwaves are probably worse for this. 2. I notice a di…

Re. 2, cooking meat in the microwave almost never burns it. This is as opposed to the oven, where you’re always going to have a seared surface. A lot of people find that tasty, and it certainly adds a lot of tastes. However, searing the meat always adds carcinogens, so… The safest method is probably boiling.

Boiling loses many nutrients to the water. Unless you’re making soup, steaming is superior.

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#152

Post by aziaziazi »

devjab wrote: post #143
parentheses wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article is only presenting that: 1. nano/microplastics kill kidney cells in a lab environment 2. nano/microplastics come from microwaving containers Regardless of whether you agree with the conclusion _you_ are drawing from reading the article, the article is saying those things. In order to make a real-world-ish experiment, we'd have to start experimenting on children. I feel that while you're expressing outrage…

You wouldn’t have to experiment on children as such. You can follow children who were Brest fed and children who were bottle fed and compare the two. It’s sort of a worrying study for me personally. Because bottle feeding only really works so well because you can microwave, both for cleaning and for heating, modern bottles so easily. If you have to go back to glass containers it’ll be a literal nightmare for most par…

Not a parent, but curious: can’t you microwave glass booties ? I do microwave water in glass and don’t see problems. Is it the fragility of the glass ? In that case I guess any fabric protection can solve it ?

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#153

Post by iforgotpassword »

y7 wrote: post #145
teekert wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We are seeing a steady increase in childhood cancer [0] and our male population now has half the sperm count the same population had in 70s [1]. [0]: https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2020/212/3/incidence-childhoo... [1]: https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2022/11/why-are-male-testo...

Those things could be related to any change in society. There's nothing to suggest it's plastics in particular, right?

Right, but is your suggestion to say "business as usual" until we have definite irrefutable proof for each and everything? I have no idea how likely or unlikely it is that having plastic in our bodies has any negative impact whatsoever, but that doesn't mean I can't still try to reduce the risk of accumulating more of it in my body. As with most things in life it's a tradeoff, with convenience mostly.

I don't have pans with teflon anymore. I avoid plastic bottles for beverages, which means I almost never drink any soda. I got rid of almost all my Tupperware and use paper bags or boxes made of steel when possible. And even though I grew up using the microwave a lot as a teen, I somehow ended up never owning one myself after moving out.

Yet for some reason I still managed to survive.

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#154

Post by [deleted] »

sourcecodeplz wrote: post #144

I've always had a not so enthusiastic opinion about microwaves. The tech just didn't sit right with me. Finally some years I gave in and bought one. 2 months later it broke. Never replaced it. Good riddance. I just use the stove/oven. It is slower but I understand it.

[deleted]

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#155

Post by Dah00n »

epolanski wrote: post #129
autoexec wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, this is one of those cases where I think it's better to take the cautious route. Now that we know we're ingesting massive amounts of plastics and it's been found in every human organ, and in blood, and in breast milk, etc I think it's probably a good idea to take what steps we can to cut down on it until things are more clear about the harms. Avoiding this exposure will be easy for me, because I was never very…

> Avoiding this exposure will be easy for me, because I was never very comfortable microwaving plastic. Maybe this specific one, but microplastics are in everything you eat and drink, the presented article merely points out that this specific use case produces lost of micro plastics which are ingested by children.

If you avoid this and other easily avoided situations, like stop using soft plastic drinking bottles and stop reusing bottled water bottles, you would be a big step in the right direction though.

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#156

Post by Dah00n »

layoric wrote: post #105
chrisco255 wrote: post #98

I'm one of the most skeptical people when it comes to these types of claims. I think the effects are being exaggerated. However, I've recently begun to replace all plastic containers and dishware from my kitchen with stainless steel and glass. Drinks taste better in glass anyways, and steel is a good non-fragile alternative. And I cook in cast iron. It's almost impossible to avoid plastic, and I'm not religious about…

On the exact same journey as well. Ceramic, glass and cast iron, but still avoiding non-stick coating. My partner has IBD, and various gastro issues. Probably not related, but doing what we can to avoid anything that can make things worse. Still end up nuking plastics though tbh, trying to form better buying + cooking habits, but takes time.

Can't you just use the ceramic or glass in the microwave?

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#157

Post by Dah00n »

XorNot wrote: post #139
epolanski wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think the effects are being exaggerated. Are they? The article points out that effects of nanoplastics on humans are still unclear.

Unclear means no one's got a plausible mechanism, which for the widespread existence of them being implied is a bit of a problem. They're inert long chain polymers, and amongst other things you need to show bioavailability in the area t you propose would cause damage at sufficient concentrations. In the current case: how efficiently do nanoplastics cross from the digestive system to the blood stream, how long do they…

But micro plastic have been found in newborns, so why not avoid it until science isn't unclear? Seems to be the smart way but I'm no expert.

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#158

Post by flangola7 »

y7 wrote: post #145
teekert wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We are seeing a steady increase in childhood cancer [0] and our male population now has half the sperm count the same population had in 70s [1]. [0]: https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2020/212/3/incidence-childhoo... [1]: https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2022/11/why-are-male-testo...

Those things could be related to any change in society. There's nothing to suggest it's plastics in particular, right?

If it isn't plastic then what is it? We have been steadily identifying and reducing the number of toxic agents the public is exposed to. Fifty years ago in the 70s the average person would have regular exposure to lead gas, lead paint, tobacco smoke (even if they didn't smoke themselves - indoor smoking was still legal), potent pesticides, and maybe even asbestos. But there were far fewer everyday plastics at the time.

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#159

Post by Dah00n »

Ekaros wrote: post #81
NovaDudely wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The more chemists I have spoken to over the years, the more I hear warnings about polymers in general. Seems as though, that in general structure simply cannot be manufactured in a way that is innocuous to our health. It is plausible that plastic will be the next tobacco/leaded gasoline. Time will tell however.

I have wondered about carbon steel and cast iron for cooking. The common method is to "season" them for use. But that is done with fats and high heat? What is the stuff that forms? Is it also some type of polymer? It doesn't seem to survive acidic environment too well. So acids could break it down, is it actually safe to eat? Or something comparable to plastics?

I have no idea about this stuff but wouldn't it be fair to say that those ... byproducts.. haven't been found in humans, so at least it isn't comparable to plastics?

Re: Study finds billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving containers

#160

Post by refurb »

Aurornis wrote: post #35

> Rather than introduce just the number of particles released by one container, the researchers instead exposed the cells to particle concentrations that infants and toddlers might accumulate over days or from multiple sources. > After two days, just 23% of kidney cells exposed to the highest concentrations had managed to survive So they used concentrations that they believe toddlers might accumulate over two days an…

this model doesn’t seem at all representative of real-world outcomes.

That made laugh. Like you said, it doesn't pass the sniff test.

That should be the first thing any scientist does with their results - Does this match up with what we current know about X?

If it doesn't, you need to go back and find out what's wrong with your model.

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