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

sustainableplastics.com

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

#301
post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

True in the technical sense, but it doesn’t address the mystery that in the 40s, 50s, 60s people in rich countries had access to plenty of food, ate lots of calories, and yet obesity was very rare.

Nicotine suppresses appetite.

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

#302
post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because the united states valued individualism for a very long time, before and during the cold war, and even now. It's a cultural aspect. Blame people like Reagan and Milton Friedman for this. It's a highly political problem. Inequality is already somewhat caused by individualism, but climate change is also caused by climate change. For example, if China wants to reduce its co2 emissions, you only have to convince C…

Communist China is responsible for nearly 2/3rds of CO2 emissions since 2000. In the US it's been going down for the past decade. You also have to keep in mind the American entrepreneurial culture or DNA which has born fruit unlike any other system, and is even responsible for the very platform we're using right now. That's all about this idea that any individual can change the world.

I don't see what either of those things have to do with the parent comment. Can you explain further?

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

#303
post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of it ends up in landfills which are relatively safe IIRC from other microplastic articles?

Leachate analysis says otherwise: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00431...

Well, there goes that :/ Thanks.

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

#304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also the metabolic syndrome/obesity epidemic. 40% of US adults have obesity. By 2030 about half of US adults will, and in 29 states more than half of adults will be obese. We see obesity becoming increasingly normalized. People feel powerless to stop it and that we should just accept it. 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 so…

Alternative explanation (call me crazy) :-) A US comedian once commented that when he went to Europe 20 years ago, he noticed that people only ate three meals a day. What a concept!

You really shouldn't listen to comedians. They're only trying to make you laugh, not inform you. Yes even George Carlin.

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

#305

I know it's probably bad for me and that I need to stop, but I love sous vide meat. Especially steak—it's perfect every time.

There are several options for consumer priced steam injection ovens, I have one from Anova but there are other options too, and they can do sous vide to a degree without using a plastic bag.

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

#306

One of the biggest reason plastics are used is because they're inert. in this case, fluorescent polystyrene particles Did they neglect any effects of the fluorescent dye instead? The fact that plastics are everywhere , and we have been exposed to them for several generations, should be seen as evidence of their harmlessness; we would've seen many obvious effects if they weren't. I see this as very similar to the some…

Sure, but what about the more slight effects? A 2-point general decline in IQ is a huge problem, but not obvious. I am wary of any “bogeyman” that we are told to be worried about, in this case, the pervasiveness of plastic does actually worry me. Hopefully i’m wrong

Correlation does not equate causation. Maybe IQ has gone down because a lot of people literally do not give themselves time to think at all. Every free moment the phone is open dumping junk food tier information into their head. The mind didn’t evolve to be inundated by tick tocks while you pee. Its supposed to wander and be bored.

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

#307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's almost as if it was the adoption of the microwave oven that signaled the roller coaster was beginning to race downhill. God, I wish I could go back to non-plastic packaging. Natural peanut butter I can still find in glass, as I can for my jelly. But mayonnaise, ketchup and countless other items are in plastic-only containers.

What's wrong with microwave ovens? I find mine very handy and I never ever put plastic in it.

You might not but more microwave meals come in plastic trays, as do most other microwave foods. I use mine mainly to reheat leftovers, which are in glass of ceramic but that doesn't appear to be the majority use case judging from what I see at the houses of friends and family. Plastic and the microwave seem to be madly in love with each other.

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

#308
post #2

I am surprised there's no mention of male fertility. It's a very viable hypothesis in my opinion.

Also the rising prevalence of trans. Feeling like the other sex might be related to disruption of one's normal sex hormone profile.

Trans people make up a pretty small proportion of the population and are easily controlled for in medical studies.

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

#309
post #22

I'm still shocked that there hasn't been more of a regulatory push to eliminate single-use plastics. In the US the closest we've gotten is banning plastic straws and charging for plastic carry bags. Everything I've read about plastic recycling points to it being ineffective and requiring massive amounts of fossil fuel to move the waste around the globe, often with much of it just getting burned or dumped into the env…

It appears to be that paper straws have more PFAS than plastic. Seems no matter what we do we are boned.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/08/28/paper-...

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

#310
post #263
post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obesity is caused by eating too much of the wrong thing. Which happens to be the cheap thing in industrialized mass produced Western food chains. Cheap in terms of dollars and personal time. So obesity is really an economic problem. We should come down like a ton of bricks on fast food and require they offer healthier options at low prices, subsidized by taxes on their unhealthier options.

Or more simply, you could not subsidize the cheap unhealthy options at source (eg corn subsidies). But until very recently, I would absolutely have still chosen the unhealthy option. I'm not sure how much impact 20% on a bag of Doritos is really going to have.

Not sure you're going to shift US corn subsidies without changing the electoral system. ;)

To me, substitutability is key.

If you tax unhealthy food, but unhealthy food is the only option (from physical, financial, and time perspectives), people just pay more to eat unhealthy food.

If you tax unhealthy food, but also require healthier and low-cost options at the same establishment, then people begin to have options. I.e. do I want a $10 Big Mac or a $3 grilled chicken sandwich?

Even getting the Big Mac less often would be a net win.

And I call bullshit if McDonald's tries the "But it's impossible to run healthy food through our supply chain..." argument.

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