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Study Finds Microplastics in Nearly 90% of Proteins Sampled

oceanconservancy.org

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Re: Study Finds Microplastics in Nearly 90% of Proteins Sampled

#31

Post by jwells89 »

ProfessorLayton wrote: post #24

>Notably, across all samples, nearly half (44%) of the identified microplastics were fibers, which is consistent with other studies suggesting that fibers are the most prevalent form of microplastic in the environment. Seems like one could live on a vegan diet and still be consuming a lot of plastic fiber. My favorite blankets, rugs, and t-shirts are all 100% polyester. Even if I managed to use avoid plastics at home…

Avoiding synthetics in clothing is indeed difficult. I buy 100% natural fibers where I can, but sadly often the best one can do is ~90% natural ~10% synthetic.

Re: Study Finds Microplastics in Nearly 90% of Proteins Sampled

#32

Post by Arrath »

tmccrary55 wrote: post #22

Makes me think of scifi. What if there's some kind of plastic cliff that most species in the universe don't survive? We worry about virus epidemics, global warming, asteroids, etc.

Fitting venue for the "two astronauts, always has been" genre of meme.

Re: Study Finds Microplastics in Nearly 90% of Proteins Sampled

#33

Post by tppiotrowski »

philipkglass wrote: post #6

The article only reports number of microplastics without reporting mass. This is particularly difficult to interpret when fibers are responsible for so much of the total: Notably, across all samples, nearly half (44%) of the identified microplastics were fibers, which is consistent with other studies suggesting that fibers are the most prevalent form of microplastic in the environment. Are 4 fibers of 50 micron lengt…

I wonder how much of this stuff we inhale from our dryer exhaust when washing outdoor/athletic wear? I used the lint from my dryer as a fire-starter once and it definitely smelled like burning plastic.

Re: Study Finds Microplastics in Nearly 90% of Proteins Sampled

#34

Post by corytheboyd »

riku_iki wrote: post #17
corytheboyd wrote: post #11

I have done zero research, am not at all qualified to say any such things… but I feel like microplastics will eventually be looked back on the way we look back on asbestos today. “People used to throw PLASTIC in the ocean?!” We are in that awkward period of being aware, yet the damage has been done, so now we wait for the long-term effects to manifest. Again, probably wrong, not at all an opinion to be taken as fact,…

we have robust replacement for asbestos, but not clear if we will get replacement for plastic..

Yeah it’s wild, plastic is so ubiquitous and amazingly useful that I don’t see it ever going away.

My guess is that it is never replaced, and instead, we will pour time and money into treating whatever (if any) issues microplastic consumption cause instead. Theorizing for fun, it’s pretty bleak though hah

Re: Study Finds Microplastics in Nearly 90% of Proteins Sampled

#35

Post by glial »

olalonde wrote: post #28
epistasis wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stop driving? Most microplastic in water come from tires. I've been trying to make small moves away from car infrastructure in my town and the response is, well, less than positive. We already tacitly accept that cars are one of the biggest causes of death. Reducing car infrastructure to reduce microplastics, where we don't even really know the harm, seems far far more challenging.

> Stop driving? Not a realistic solution. The vast majority of people will take the microplastics over not driving.

Until the concentration is high enough it affects birth rates.

Re: Study Finds Microplastics in Nearly 90% of Proteins Sampled

#36

Post by philipkglass »

seydor wrote: post #4
stevenpetryk wrote: post #3

Feels truly irreversible, save moving to a new earth.

life adapts to plastic

Plastic gets consumed by oceanic microorganisms, though slowly. Take a look at the fascinating microscopic images of plastic partially eaten by microorganisms in this 2013 research article, "Life in the Plastisphere: Microbial Communities on Plastic Marine Debris":

http://onemoregeneration.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Life...

Plastics also break down to simpler hydrocarbons and carbon dioxide with prolonged exposure to sunlight. Unfortunately, these gaseous small molecules are greenhouse gases, but they don't persist for as long.

"Production of methane and ethylene from plastic in the environment"

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal...

Re: Study Finds Microplastics in Nearly 90% of Proteins Sampled

#37

Post by toomuchtodo »

rhplus wrote: post #30

Can someone ELI5 this for me: how would microplastics passing through a digestive system end up in "proteins*"? Are they being stored directly in the fats, within cells, between muscle fibers...? (* the article seems to be using the term "protein" in the culinary sense, not the molecular sense).

You know how mercury bioaccumulates up the food chain? It looks like microplastics are similar [1] [2], and they are everywhere in the food web [3]. It's even in the bottled water [4].

[1] https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/08/30/microplastics-could...

[2] https://www.uri.edu/news/2023/08/microplastics-infiltrate-al...

[3] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...

[4] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38917410

(edit: yes, yes, no surprise it's in the bottled water, maybe we shouldn't be selling bottled water if it's full of microplastics? Less bottled water, more water dispensers everywhere)

Re: Study Finds Microplastics in Nearly 90% of Proteins Sampled

#38

Post by Ryan_IRL »

Solvency wrote: post #20

If this has been happening for decades, why are lifespans still increasing, why are average heights of new generations increasing, etc? I know PFAS are hormonal disrupters in research but it seems like most people are doing... just fine?

We might be doing fine on average, despite it. Yet, there are seemingly links to autoimmune diseases and cancers, and still more research to do.

So maybe a good % of the population could be doing more fine without the micro plastics?

Re: Study Finds Microplastics in Nearly 90% of Proteins Sampled

#39

Post by cma »

ahazred8ta wrote: post #29
epistasis wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stop driving? Most microplastic in water come from tires. I've been trying to make small moves away from car infrastructure in my town and the response is, well, less than positive. We already tacitly accept that cars are one of the biggest causes of death. Reducing car infrastructure to reduce microplastics, where we don't even really know the harm, seems far far more challenging.

No. Most microplastic in water comes from washing machines. Synthetic fibers from clothes.

Each time you clean your dryer lint trap I think you inhale more microplastics than a lifetime of food.

Re: Study Finds Microplastics in Nearly 90% of Proteins Sampled

#40

Post by dashundchen »

stcg wrote: post #14
david422 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hope we don't get cancer. Become vegetarian.

I don't think becoming vegetarian helps. From the article: > The study found evidence that food processing is a likely source of microplastic contamination, as highly processed protein products (like fish sticks, chicken nuggets, tofu, and plant-based burgers, among others) contained significantly more microplastics per gram than minimally processed products (items like packaged wild Alaska pollock, raw chicken breas…

If you look at the actual data, tofu had the third lowest concentration of microplastic particles per gram (0.03, vs 0.02 for pork loin chop and 0.01 for whole chicken breast).

The press release does a disservice to the study by referring to the highly processed group as a whole and not excluding tofu. For reference, the breaded shrimp and fish sticks were measured to have 1.2 and 0.26 particles per gram.

Table 3.7 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S026974912...

Regardless if a processed food like tofu has minimal plastic concentration, I would assume minimally processed whole plant food like beans and nuts would also have low microplastic exposure. The study found little total plastic from packaging, their evidence pointed towards the processing.

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