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Microplastics in the olfactory bulb of the human brain

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Re: Microplastics in the olfactory bulb of the human brain

#131

Post by colechristensen »

hammock wrote: post #70
colechristensen wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can back that question up one level to "what are the biological effects of plastics?" And the answer is, broadly, they mimic hormones. Compounds in plastics can activate endocrine receptors because they are similar enough to hormones which are more or less everywhere across the animal kingdom. Sometimes it can be hard to pin down the specific negative effects in isolation, but there are some pretty clear metrics.…

The most common plastic, PET, is inert and does not mimic hormones

This is not correct.

"When comparing water of the same spring that is packed in glass or plastic bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), estrogenic activity is three times higher in water from plastic bottles."

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096007601...

Re: Microplastics in the olfactory bulb of the human brain

#132

Post by quantified »

tangjurine wrote: post #96
Dalewyn wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>We should go back to glass bottles, whenever possible. There are very good, very practical reasons we moved from glass (and metal and other materials) containers to plastic. Unless those factors are sufficiently addressed, plastic is here to stay. For those who haven't been keeping track or are just too damn young to know history, those factors include: * Weight. Glass and metal, and also other materials like cerami…

> cost Oh yes, I love paying a couple cents less per drink to have micro plastics in me

And when your girlfriend finds out you have microplastics in your emissions, she'll say "yay, thank you for putting microplastics in me."

Re: Microplastics in the olfactory bulb of the human brain

#133

Post by quantified »

specialist wrote: post #90
Dalewyn wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>We should go back to glass bottles, whenever possible. There are very good, very practical reasons we moved from glass (and metal and other materials) containers to plastic. Unless those factors are sufficiently addressed, plastic is here to stay. For those who haven't been keeping track or are just too damn young to know history, those factors include: * Weight. Glass and metal, and also other materials like cerami…

What's the toxicity of microglass particulates?

You mean sand?

Re: Microplastics in the olfactory bulb of the human brain

#134

Post by quantified »

im3w1l wrote: post #111
londons_explore wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One doesn't reduce the use of plastics without using something else as a replacement. If we replace all plastic cups with glass cups, might we get micro-glass inside ourselves instead? Glass, mostly silicon dioxide, might sound harmless, but glass can chip off in microscopic sharp fragments (think fiberglass dust - which some suggest might be as bad as asbestos). Glass also slightly dissolves in water (this is how gl…

I think we can find and should seek out easy wins. That is we should identify the major sources of microplastics and eliminate them. From my personal observation it seems the major issue could be textiles made from plastic. Clothes and carpets made from polyester, nylon, I would guess these are subject to a lot of wear and tear and rubbing which produces plastic dust that may be breathed.

The clothes dryer is a major culprit, as it turns fabric into lint especially when the fabric is mostly dry. The appropriate care for plastic clothing is to at least end the drying on a clothes horse or clothesline. The horse is a great way to get cotton relatively wrinkle free and not turn your favorite shirts into dryer lint. But it's a bit more labor-intensive to set up that drying, so it's unlikely to catch on.

Re: Microplastics in the olfactory bulb of the human brain

#135

Post by latentcall »

bluSCALE4 wrote: post #11
ushiroda80 wrote: post #6

Plastics need be banned from clothing and food.

From clothing? Do you have any idea how prevalent it's become? It is hard/impossible to find clothes without traces of plastic.

It isn’t hard at all to find 100% cotton clothes though?

Re: Microplastics in the olfactory bulb of the human brain

#136

Post by quantified »

Sharlin wrote: post #35
cubefox wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems plastic in fabrics can mostly be replaced with cotton.

Cotton production, however, is extremely resource-intensive (particularly water) to the point of unsustainability – and it's largely grown in parts of the world that are likely to suffer catastrophic droughts in the future.

Too many people! We can grow enough cotton without too much damage if it needs to go on fewer people.

Re: Microplastics in the olfactory bulb of the human brain

#137

Post by latentcall »

ninininino wrote: post #65
FrankoDelMar wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do hate fast fashion, but I can think of many exceptions where natural fibers won't cut it. There is no natural fabric product on the market that can properly replace lightweight, waterproof clothing. Waxed cotton is waterproof but heavy. Rubber is not breathable. Technical synthetics like Goretex have its issues (low durability, high cost, coated with PFAS), but it sure beats getting hypothermia.

It's a rare exception that natural fibers won't serve. Alaska, Arctic circle, Antarctica, disaster prep. You don't need lightweight waterproof clothing, you just like it. Getting a little sweaty under a non-breathable fabric or getting wet but staying insulated with wool will be just fine. Umbrellas are great as well. What beats lightweight breathable fabric is not desecrating the planet.

People will make all kinds of excuses as to not impose any minor inconvenience to themselves, even if it means making species go extinct and killing the planet.

Re: Microplastics in the olfactory bulb of the human brain

#138

Post by specialist »

thfuran wrote: post #107
specialist wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the toxicity of microglass particulates?

Silica is one of the most common substances on earth — the crust is more than half silica by mass. Pretty much all life can, by necessity, tolerate a good deal of silica exposure. You don't really want to breathe a lot of fine silica dust (or, frankly, any size of glass bits), but actively grinding it into dust that gets airborne is just about the only way it'll cause problems, other than cutting yourself.

So glassware is safer than plastics? I'm not going to get bits of glass in my brain just from drinking soda out of bottles?

Re: Microplastics in the olfactory bulb of the human brain

#140

Post by taeric »

ninininino wrote: post #68
taeric wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing is replacing nylon where it is best used anytime soon.

We can replace Nylon with get this, poorer alternatives, if we gave a shit about the environment. I know it's unthinkable to switch to a worse product or user experience, but imagine caring more about the health of the planet.

This feels naive. For things like parachutes or airbags, I question whether you would actually have benefits from using something like cotton. In particular, they almost certainly do not perform at the same level. As such, you run the real risk of losing gains from other material to losses to maintenance.
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