Microplastics are so pervasive that they're even found in human breastmilk now. Maybe it's fatalistic, but what is the point of worrying about this on an individual level beyond limiting use of certain plastic products? And it's not just microplastics - we're seeing other news about "forever chemicals," hormones in our food, the <i>global</i> drop of average male sperm production by 50% (!!!), etc.<p>At a certain point, apathy sets in. If this is our generation's mesothelioma, so be it.
Plastics are inert. This is why they don't biodegrade easily. It is the additives in the plastics (to make them softer, or color them, or whatever) that are terrible for you.<p>By the time these things are 'microplastics' I am having a hard time feeling scared that they are harmful. I'm not saying they aren't, but until someone can tie them to an actual problem, I don't see an issue -- especially since there is nothing we can do about it.<p>That said, one-time-use plastics are absolutely obscene and need to be removed from society as soon as humanly possible.
Something I don’t understand:<p>Patagonia's stated mission is to save the earth and microplastics entering the oceans is a major environmental concern. However, it is also true that many of Patagonia's clothes are made from synthetic materials such as plastic. The use of synthetic materials in clothing (and each washing) greatly contribute to the problem of microplastics in the oceans.<p>I’m I missing something? Is the above wrong? Or is Patagonia lying about their mission driven approach?
It feels to me like this ship has sailed even before we were even aware of it. All of a sudden, all the news is that plastic is in everything now, including our blood, placentas, fruit, etc.<p>And we've never cared much about plastic in our water; everybody knows that water that's spent some time in a plastic bottle tastes different from water from a glass container, but we never had any problem drinking water from plastic bottles.<p>Is this issue really worth worrying about? And if it is, is there any chance it can be turned back? Because it seems like plastic is in everything already. Though we should probably stop producing more plastic for temporary packaging; that only exists to get thrown away.
Wow, so no even vegetarian diet is safe from micro plastics anymore. Anyone know if organic food soil is treated with this nasty 'sewage sludge' ?
I see many fatalistic posts.<p>Of course, saying "we are doomed" is the easiest way to continue to do what we are doing. It's just a defensive mechanism at this point.<p>We should be stopping the production of plastic and replace it with bioplastics immediately.<p>Difficult? Yes. Impossible? No.
Im getting really worried about the impact this will have on our kidneys. I had a tap water filtering on very dusty tap water and the filter was supposed to last 1 year it lasted 3 weeks.<p>I believe it might be a good analogy to how those microplastics are destroying our kidneys
Lots of speculation about how evil microplastics are. I worry it's theatre that's preventing real discussions about real problems.<p>Hey go ahead and disagree, but maybe post a link to some evidence beyond 'microplastics exist'?
(reposted comment)
I’ve got a bee in my bonnet about “plastic roads”.<p>Many countries, desperate to make use of the gargantuan flow of waste plastic, and desperate to avoid it going into landfill, are putting the waste plastic into roads.<p>This is called “recycling”.<p>Sounds like a great idea until you realize that cars and trucks drive on the roads and grind them into dust - dust containing microplastics.<p>The microplastic dust will go into air, waterways, rivers, oceans, food, plants animals and people.<p>All this is because the environmentalists have decided that “keeping plastics out of landfill” is more important than anything.<p>Plastic roads are an environmental disaster in an epic scale being created in the name of “recycling”.<p>The worst thing is that for some reason it’s not obvious that this is a disastrous idea, and all around the world people are breathlessly talking up plastic roads like its a solution to the plastic waste problem.<p>“In 2015, the Indian government made it mandatory for plastic waste to be used in constructing roads near large cities of more than 500,000 people”<p><a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210302-could-plastic-ro" rel="nofollow">https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210302-could-plastic-ro</a>...<p>Mandated madness. The safest place for the fire hydrant of waste plastic is in landfill, not “recycled” into microplastic dust.<p>Would you like a plastic road outside your house, or outside your kids school?