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Are you worried about microplastics? (lemmy.world)

submitted 8 months ago by Aurelius@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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I've been more and more conscious about microplastics. I was not aware that the laundry and dishwasher pods are just plastic which then goes into the water system.

What can be done to prevent microplastics?

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[-] kinther@lemmy.world 13 points 8 months ago

It takes a very long time for evolution to adapt to changing environments. We've littered the planet with microplastics in less than a century. I'm not sure it can adapt that quickly.

[-] Daft_ish@lemmy.world 8 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

It could give rise to organisms with mechanisms already in place to deal with them. Unfortunately, the organisms with no such traits aren't going to magically mutate. Good news for the organisms that can process micro plastics, less predation.

If people do start dieing en masse, though, and modern science has to quickly adapt we might see some major advancements in bio technology. Biggest thing being, lifting some of the taboos around gene manipulation.

Please take everything I say with a grain of salt. I tend to fantastical thinking.

[-] Icalasari@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

There are already plastic eating bacteria

So at least there's that

[-] kinther@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

There are, but it's more of a question of how quickly they could go global and counteract the microplastics.

this post was submitted on 14 Mar 2024

203 points (97.7% liked)

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