#231

Some good news today, finally something is eating the plasic completely and cleanly:

This won’t help you in your house or reduce the plastic in your brain.

2 Likes
#232

@AlexKChen it looks like Bryan has a new micro plastics test coming out that may be of interest:

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Source: x.com

3 Likes
#233

Plastic worker diseases at high dose: 2.2 mg/m3 (Flock worker’s lung), a term for more research?

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Chemicals in plastics a possible very important separate issue.

Car tire pollution patterns across Earth and compositon of tires:

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Human-made mass is more than living biomass and seems to increase exponentially.

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Plastic burning i.e Bangladesh.

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1 Like
#234

So what is the occupational exposure needed for Byssinosis - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf vs flock worker’s lung? Is the former less toxic or more toxic for each average level of exposure?

#235

a second “microplastics in brain” study that got into twitter popular tags [8/15 had MPs in their entorhinal cortex], though if it’s only 8/15, I’m curious if their technique wasn’t sensitive enough…

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-find-microplastics-in-human-brain-tissue-above-the-nose-180985100/#:~:text=Microplastics%20have%20been%20found%20in,areas%20beyond%20the%20olfactory%20bulb.

#236
1 Like
#237

Twenty years of microplastics pollution research—what have we learned?

Twenty years after the first publication using the term microplastics, we review current understanding, refine definitions and consider future prospects. Microplastics arise from multiple sources including tires, textiles, cosmetics, paint and the fragmentation of larger items. They are widely distributed throughout the natural environment with evidence of harm at multiple levels of biological organization. They are pervasive in food and drink and have been detected throughout the human body, with emerging evidence of negative effects. Environmental contamination could double by 2040 and widescale harm has been predicted. Public concern is increasing and diverse measures to address microplastics pollution are being considered in international negotiations. Clear evidence on the efficacy of potential solutions is now needed to address the issue and to minimize the risks of unintended consequences.

GX4dkWrXkAAdDoC

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adl2746

1 Like
#238
#239

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Link: What Microplastics Are Doing to the Brain, Body, and Reproductive Systems

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3 Likes
#240

Reverse osmosis filters also often introduce plastics into the water…

#241

Oh no… so in the end it may be better to NOT use a RO system??
We don’t have RO Systems with stainless steel storage here.
I had a RO system installed because of the microplastics in tap water :roll_eyes:…
This is all enough to drive one totally insane.

2 Likes
#242

I will bet they take out more than they put in.

#243

https://www.reddit.com/r/WaterTreatment/comments/1b6sc49/does_ro_give_microplastics/
look at the columbia university study…

#244

Avoid the Teflon frying pans!

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The Lancet:

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/ebiom/article/PIIS2352-3964(24)00405-5/fulltext

4 Likes
#245

How do you ask if a restaurant uses teflon frying pans

#246

You eat at home. :wink: (20 characters)

1 Like
#247

Podcast… A good one on microplastics. It seems pretty well balanced and non-extremist.

Microplastics have been turning up in our blood, our lungs, and even our balls! But exactly what are they doing to us? And what about all the chemicals in plastics — can they mess with our hormones? We talk to reproductive biologists Prof. Patricia Hunt and Prof. Fred vom Saal, and pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Anne-Simone Parent.

Find our transcript here: Microplastics Public Transcript - Google Docs

Chapters:

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Pat’s mice

(06:26) Our plastic world

(08:03) What do microplastics actually do in our bodies?

(11:53) Plastics contain endocrine disrupting chemicals

(15:06) Endocrine disruptors and…obesity?!

(20:38) Are they funking up our junk?

(29:23) Are we really eating that much microplastic?

(32:50) What should we do?

This episode was produced by Rose Rimler, with help from Wendy Zukerman, along with Meryl Horn, Ekedi Fausther-Keeys, and Michelle Dang. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Erica Akiko Howard. Mix and sound design by Sam Bair. Music written by Bobby Lord, Bumi Hidaka, and Peter Leonard. Thanks to all the researchers we spoke with for this episode, including Dr. Meiru Wang, Dr. Roger Kuhlman, Dr. Christopher Tubbs, Dr. Giusseppe Paolisso, Prof. Jerry Heindel, Dr. Laura Geer, Dr. Mohan Qin, Dr. Haoran Wei, Dr. Thaddeus Schug, Dr. Thava Palanisami, and Dr. Xiaozhong Yu. Special thanks to Miah Foster and Diana Kenney

2 Likes
#248

RR And one thing they told me over and over again - they try to avoid canned food. That’s because of the plastic in the can’s lining.

WZ Oh man, ughh … Do you know how many cans of chickpeas I —!

RR Well —

WZ Downstairs right now is a box FULL of canned chickpeas. And you tell me now?? What am I supposed to soak them? Am I going to become a soaker now?

RR That’s what they would say, yeah. But like, I don’t know, the thing is, like, the thing is with this topic that’s so frustrating, I still, even though I’ve been working on this for a couple months, and I’ve had these conversations with scientists who are like, Oh, I don’t I don’t buy canned food if I can help it. Every time I go to the grocery store, I stock up on my canned beans. I can’t quit it. And it’s like I think the problem is like without more specific information about how bad is it. What is my risk? I’m not able to weigh the risks of the plastics getting into my canned beans against the benefits of canned beans. I know the benefits: They’re cheap, healthy, easy. I like em. So for right now I’m kind of assuming the benefits outweigh the risks, for me.

Well, how much plastic is in the can lining of BPA-free cans compared with plastic in the alternatives, which are ultraflexible plastic bags that easily latch the plastic out?

Soda cans, we know, have loads of plastic in their can linings, but we’re not sure how much of that compared with plastic on the insides of sturdy cans…

===

Recycling tins and cans

Aluminium cans are infinitely recyclable as it ‘claims on the can’, despite being lined with plastic. The plastic liners in and on tins and cans - referred to as lacquer in the industry - don’t impact recycling. When the tins are heated to thousands of degrees for recycling, what is left of the plastic liner, the inks and UV materials; is separated and basically skimmed off, leaving the metal.

====

BulliedTeacher1

•4y ago•

Glass. The metal containers are lined with plastic which cannot be recycled. Tomatoes are very acidic and the cans must have a plastic lining so that the acid from the tomatoes don’t eat through the metal.

Source: hubby worked at a canning plant for 32 years.

Sometimes the can lining is PVC which is bad, but sometimes it’s an innocuous chemical. The SHAPE/STRUCTURE of the plastic makes a huge difference too, and the plastic in plastic bags would, I feel, have a more “chaotic”/disorganized structure than phenolic plastics in plastic can linings… But it’s just hard to find ANYTHING on plastic can linings (as opposed to flexible plastic bags, esp chip bags), which means I’m still going to buy canned food…

https://archive.ph/vYy3o#selection-1483.58-1483.306

1 Like
#249

Interestingly, we replaced plastic straws with paper ones. However, the glue that holds the paper straws together is incredibly toxic. So, we’re poisoning ourselves for the environment. Sometimes the alternative is worse than the original!

Stainless steel is the way to go. However, I doubt McDonald’s will be using them… BYO?

3 Likes
#250

Oh, you have to have seen these:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=glass+straws&mfadid=adm&tag=admarketus-20&ref=pd_sl_a71c226e8a96bfdb7ae5bc6d1f30e9e88d9e4e3436d7bfb941a95d0a

1 Like