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Microplastics found in 93% of bottled water tested in global study

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Re: Microplastics found in 93% of bottled water tested in global study

#161

Post by sametmax »

tedunangst wrote: post #137
sametmax wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last time I checked, we had very decent municipal water in France. In many cities it actually tastes better than bottled water. Water sources are quite well protected as well. It's not perfect, but honestly much better than the swimming pool water I drank in the US. So "Europe" is maybe a broad term here.

I think it's weird that whenever the subject of safe drinking water comes up, people immediately talk about how it tastes. As if that matters. I mean, lead is pretty tasty, too.

Once you sampled enough public water in your month around the world, you tend to associate bad taste with bad quality. Water that doesn't make you sick has a very subtle one, or taste like a swimming pool. But you won't drink the second one so...

Re: Microplastics found in 93% of bottled water tested in global study

#162

Post by rekado »

Siecje wrote: post #127
rekado wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oil is a limited resource that can be used for way more important things than disposable water bottles, such as medical supplies (syringes, IV bags, etc) and durable plastics components. Plastics themselves are a great resource that should not be wasted, not least because of the amount of energy and water it takes to produce them. Most plastic bottles are burnt, so they do contribute to climate change; the small perc…

Plastic is created with a by-product of diesel/gasoline, so since it is going to be created anyways it is not very wasteful.

Monomers like ethylene are a by-product of splitting oil; you still need polymerization and processing of the polymers (e.g. extruding, moulding, etc).

It's non-sequitur to say that the process is not wasteful because part of the initial work is done to obtain gasoline. Oil itself is a limited resource.

Re: Microplastics found in 93% of bottled water tested in global study

#163

Post by rekado »

tedunangst wrote: post #136
rekado wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oil is a limited resource that can be used for way more important things than disposable water bottles, such as medical supplies (syringes, IV bags, etc) and durable plastics components. Plastics themselves are a great resource that should not be wasted, not least because of the amount of energy and water it takes to produce them. Most plastic bottles are burnt, so they do contribute to climate change; the small perc…

Are we actually experiencing a syringe shortage because there's not enough plastic to go around?

No. But should we only begin prioritizing the allocation of resources once it has become a problem?

If it is correct that it will become increasingly uneconomical to process crude oil, the supply of virgin plastic will eventually decrease. It makes sense to reduce wasteful usage of that resource before that becomes a problem.

Re: Microplastics found in 93% of bottled water tested in global study

#164

Post by TomMarius »

jupp0r wrote: post #94
TomMarius wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Governments that do this in Europe fail horribly and just increase prices by huge multiples, nothing else. Last year a whole division of a capital city (Prague) got pretty seriously sick because of government failure. Today in the morning the water did not run at all. Thanks, government. I know HN is very leftist, so I expect downvotes. It'd be nice to have a discussion though.

Maybe it's your implementation of government, not the concept itself that's at fault. Having lived in Germany for 30 years, I never experienced anything like that nor met anyone who has.

You can't really make expectations based on literally one of the best cases.

Re: Microplastics found in 93% of bottled water tested in global study

#165

Post by c22 »

acct1771 wrote: post #134
culot wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would that be better?

If you use the right plants, it probably won't be carcinogenic/non-biodegradable. ("Bio" being your insides)

From what I understand "bioplastic" is just "plastic" made from non-petroleum sources. "Biodegradable" or "compostable" plastic is just microplastic particles held together with cellulose. Neither of these necessarily sound better for putting in my body.
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