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New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

sustainableplastics.com

281–290 of 403 posts

Re: New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

#281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plastic food containers aren't even close to being the largest source of microplastics. Synthetic fibres in clothing (like that cotton-poly blend shirt you're most likely wearing) and motor vehicle tyres are some of the bigger sources. These both also release particles directly into the atmosphere allowing them to get absolutely everywhere, unlike plastic in landfills that probably has a harder time escaping into the…

> Plastic food containers aren't even close to being the largest source of microplastics. Can you give me some citations? I know that microwaving plastic containers is about the worst thing you can do with regards to microplastics, because it releases tons of them right into your food: https://www.wired.com/story/for-the-love-of-god-stop-microwa...

Both that headline and article are cringeworthy. You can’t extrapolate a bunch of flawed experiments like that to anything real.

This is a hot area of research but that means it’s a hotbed of flawed and sensationalist research. Dunking embryonic cells in a bath of ridiculous concentrations of nanoplastic chemicals and watching them die is cute and a tired, stupid trick. If you put any of your cells in your favorite drinking water they’re going to lyse. It doesn’t prove shit.

Re: New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

#282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obesity is caused in part by environmental toxins, probably to different extents in different people: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/19/environm... https://www.webmd.com/obesity/what-to-know-obesogens These so called "obesogens" just increase the propensity towards obesity and depending on exposure and your sensitivity to then, you can overcome them or not via exercise and dieting and other means.

Obesity is caused by eating too much. If you don’t eat then you won’t gain weight, there is no subverting the laws of thermodynamics. It sounds callous but if you go to Africa or visit a prisoner of war camp you won’t find many fat people and so blaming chemicals in America for so many fat people doesn’t make much sense to me.

The tunnel-vision on this subject is truly astounding. I can't think of any subject that is treated in the same way.

Say that someone was failing at university because they have no motivation. And they have no motivation because they have depression. Then a vocal minority would always butt in with the following truism:

- Failing university courses is caused by not studying enough. There is no subverting the fact that you need to study the material in order to not fail the course.

This is of course a completely useless advice/truism.

Now say that someone overeats because they have depression. Or because of some pathology caused by microplastics. Or let's just say that there is a possibility that a different environment (no microplastics) would lead to them not overeating. Do you still want to derail this conversation with irrelevant “thermodynamics” truisms?

Re: New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

#283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is how they do it in Germany. Most working Germans I know of eat at the work canteen and have a small bread meal at home in the evening Weird that you're getting downvoted for this. HN is on a weird one recently

Source that this is the norm in Germany? How many Germans do you know who do this and how did you conclude that the sample is indicative of the broader population? How expensive is food in Germany that people have no independence to buy and prepare food? Parent is getting downvoted because the vast majority of people won’t agree with that nonsense. Leave it in the 1900s.

I work at a major research institution with a canteen and literally all of the Germans in my research group eat at the canteen. When I walk past it is very full.

Germans have a meal called Abendbrot which means "evening bread".

When COVID hit, Germans struggled to cook food at home, even leading to house fires https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-pandemic-reveals-germans-p...

My wife's startup does not have a canteen, so the Germans order in fast food. She is British like me so she has a small lunch and a big dinner.

> How expensive is food in Germany that people have no independence to buy and prepare food?

It is cheap but the work canteen is also often cheap. People have independence to buy and prepare food, they just don't want to.

> vast majority of people won’t agree with that nonsense. Leave it in the 1900s.

I don't think this is worthy of a response.

Re: New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

#284
post #5

This is the third time this week I've seen a study related to microplastics. Should I be alarmed? If so, what can I even do? If I'm understanding these studies correctly, these microplastics are everywhere. In our bodies, in our water supplies, in our food. And we can't even get rid of them.

I’m personally exhausted from hearing about all the terrible stuff that’s happening that I have very little to no control over. I have seen countless articles about micro plastics, forever chemicals, fresh water supplies decreasing at alarming levels, Gulf Stream collapse, etc. It’s enough to make you feel nihilistic. A big part of me feels like these are government problems, as the average person is preoccupied with…

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Re: New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

#285
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem of replacing plastic in food is the cost. If you use glass or steel or aluminum, you need new logistics to reuse them. Also, glass is heavier, and requires a lot of energy to be made, so it would require a production chain that ships back empty containers. The best silver bullet solution would be to have local canteen, a bit like in the army or at school, where you just get a subscription with a calendar…

So you want people to eat only when and where and what the state says you can eat??? The vast majority of people don’t want to choose your wet dream when they have the choice between their own private house versus a local canteen on a schedule. Nobody likes other people so much that they’d choose to be stuck in a school cafeteria environment for their food or their children’s food forever. Life is not perpetual kinde…

> Life is competition and mutually-beneficial cooperation in some things, and friends are made on the basis of mutual desire.

This is a really sad, myopic view of life. Thankfully, it is wrong

It is ironic that you are peddling such fearful narratives given your name

Re: New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

#286

where is the chorus of people saying “…in mice?” it goes to show that this comment is used to beat down ideas that they decided they dont like long before reading anything. but for microplastics, which is exactly the kind of politically charged junk food they love, there is no chorus of “in mice.” anyway, how is it crossing the blood brain barrier? dubious. lots of things can cause change in behaviour through inflamm…

Why do you think necessarily that this is junk food? Fair that there is no chorus, but what is the problem using mice in an experiment? I mean, it’s done for a reason, right?

Re: New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

#287
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is the third time this week I've seen a study related to microplastics Most of Science is utter junk, driven by the willingness or desperate effort to publish anything to make a career in academia or funded by special interests. What matters is what can be consistently replicated, observed and explained.

what special interest benefits from showing negative impacts to mps? you've got to think who has the most to lose our gain. This is a more trustworthy study because usually showing negatives about huge entrenched products is fought by the special interests like plastic/oil companies, or DuPont in the case of Teflon aka forever chemicals. Though I think worrying about it is fruitless as we're more likely to solve glob…

It’s not trustworthy until dozens of independent labs across several countries can validate it.

Re: New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

#288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It feels to me like there is something besides diet changes happening to us. That's part of it, but I wonder if microplastics or some kind of gut biome disruption is playing a role as well. Based on what many people have in their shopping carts and the sugar water many people are constantly chugging, I see no reason to think anything other than excess calories is the cause. And lack of exercise as an exacerbating f…

Maybe fat as well ? Not the one in walnuts and linen seeds but the pork, diaries and coconut. Not an expert at all, just wondering in what extend we should avoid them comparing to sugar.

I was in the metabolic syndrome and obese group, and I have some thyroid problems (likely due to growing up near a uranium enrichment facility). I could diet and exercise and still gain weight that was largely visceral fat, and especially fat in my liver. I was in the beginning stages of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Under my doctor's supervision, I went on the keto diet. I eat high fat foods and meats, and I lost about 50 lbs in 2 months. My weight stabilized over the following months within a healthy range. Additionally, chronic pain, concentration, and energy levels all improved. Most of this is due to the weight loss, but not all of it. Sugar can cause inflammation in high quantities, and it can also cause an increase in blood pressure. Sugars are also metabolized by cancer cells while ketones are not, which would explain the rise in cancer rates as sugar consumption has increased across the planet. My liver function improved, cholesterol levels improved, blood sugar stabilized, and insulin resistance went down.

I personally believe that there is some kind of difference among humans in how we digest things that goes beyond the microbiome. Some people can eat high amounts of carbohydrates and sugars without negative consequences beyond tooth decay. Other people cannot eat any sugar without incurring weight gain and cognitive problems.

Re: New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

#289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plastic food containers aren't even close to being the largest source of microplastics. Synthetic fibres in clothing (like that cotton-poly blend shirt you're most likely wearing) and motor vehicle tyres are some of the bigger sources. These both also release particles directly into the atmosphere allowing them to get absolutely everywhere, unlike plastic in landfills that probably has a harder time escaping into the…

> Plastic food containers aren't even close to being the largest source of microplastics. Can you give me some citations? I know that microwaving plastic containers is about the worst thing you can do with regards to microplastics, because it releases tons of them right into your food: https://www.wired.com/story/for-the-love-of-god-stop-microwa...

For synthetic fibres : https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4426466/

For tyre particulate : https://spiral.imperial.ac.uk/bitstream/10044/1/101707/9/Tyr...

Re: New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

#290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obesity is caused in part by environmental toxins, probably to different extents in different people: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/19/environm... https://www.webmd.com/obesity/what-to-know-obesogens These so called "obesogens" just increase the propensity towards obesity and depending on exposure and your sensitivity to then, you can overcome them or not via exercise and dieting and other means.

Obesity is caused by eating too much. If you don’t eat then you won’t gain weight, there is no subverting the laws of thermodynamics. It sounds callous but if you go to Africa or visit a prisoner of war camp you won’t find many fat people and so blaming chemicals in America for so many fat people doesn’t make much sense to me.

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