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this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2024
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Can someone explain the microplastics thing to me?
Why has there been an increase?
Where does it come from?
How do you avoid it?
The plastic industry is a post WW2 event
Microplastics mostly come from degrading plastics, the biggest culprit seems to be ~~"temporary" one use plastics~~ textiles, tires, and city dust make up 80% of microplastics (source: Wikipedia)
That's the neat part! You don't.
What are one use plastics used for tho? And if it’s been happening since WW2 why are people only worrying about it now?
It took a while for the negative health consequences to be fully researched, and for the plastic industry to infiltrate every aspect of our life as much as it has.
And you can bet your ass the plastic industry does their best to suppress any research papers that would make people skeptical of their product, just like the Oil Industry hid all the negative consequences of burning through millenniums worth of oil
it's the same industry
Lol, fair enough. Very small level of separation. Just another 'shell' company
It's more like plastic production is a byproduct of oil production, like, it literally came about from oil companies looking for ways to profit from their waste, the two are intrinsically linked
I know. Similar to how floride was originally chemical waste from Nuclear programs and now they're putting it in our drinking water.
Fun fact! Back in the 70s plastic was hailed as a solution to deforestation.
straws, cutlery, packaging, wrapping.. there are a million 1 time use plastics
Scientists didn't know/care. The term "microplastics" was coined in 2004.
That's the thing, half of all plastics in existence have been made since about 2000. They've just displaced everything else that we used to use in packaging, and lots more.
One of the biggest sources is clothing made of polyester. Fibers come off each time you wash it. Plastic wrapping might be the biggest- everything that is bought retail or wholesale in plastic wrapping is part of this.
It doesn't get chemically broken down, but it does get scraped and ground down into really small pieces, and even the sun causes it to peel and chip and splinter on a micro level.
“You can draw a line – it’s increasing over time. It’s consistent with what you’re seeing in the environment,”
We use plastic for everything, and that trend hasn't slowed. Over time plastics and their mini-bits have been found in every part of the planet, in the soil and air, deep in a glacier, you name it. There is no avoiding it. Everything you touch, eat, drink, and wear at some point will contain these forever chemical plastics.
plastics are not "forever chemicals" god that term fucking sucks
Hope you have a better day tomorrow.
They should have just called them polyfluoroalkyls or something, but no "forever chemicals" just sounds more like dooooooooooomm
i can appreciate journalists can't say technical words but the emphasis is on the wrong characteristic and clearly people confuse the term for other things that are long-lasting. couldda called em cancer juice
You can't avoid it 100%, but you can mitigate the amount.
Use loose leaf and an infuser over pre-bagged tea
Reusable metal waterbottles
Avoid food that is heavily pre packaged in plastic
Don't be me and decide to work in an industry where vinyl dust was an unavoidable hazard