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7,000 Microplastics Studies Show We Have One Really Big Problem (www.sciencealert.com)
submitted 10 months ago by just_another_person@lemmy.world to c/science@lemmy.world
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[-] erlend_sh@lemmy.world 73 points 10 months ago

Studies have identified some of the main sources of microplastics as:

  • plastic-coated fertilisers
  • plastic film used as mulch in agriculture

WTF?

  • plastics recycling.

Uuuuh…

[-] MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml 25 points 10 months ago
  • plastic film used as mulch in agriculture

Wtf. Where and why?!

[-] SuperCub@sh.itjust.works 65 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

It's the black plastic bag material that people used to cover their soil and poke holes through for their crops.

I never thought it was called plastic mulch though.

[-] Revan343@lemmy.ca 20 points 10 months ago

It serves the same purpose as actual mulch, which is blocking out weeds

[-] SuperCub@sh.itjust.works 2 points 10 months ago

Yes, but mulch has the meaning of ground up wood, so I think most people would think it was ground up plastics.

[-] capital_sniff@lemmy.world 0 points 10 months ago

If it was ground up plastic it would probably just get carried off by the wind.

[-] tb_@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago

Or plastic greenhouses

[-] kurwa@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago

Plastic was never meant to be recycled.

[-] Wiz@midwest.social 4 points 10 months ago

So, what you're telling us is, they've been lying for decades?

[-] MataVatnik@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago

Yup passing on the responsibility from the manufacturer to the consumer

[-] ConstantPain@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

Other great source of plastics are synthetic fabrics. It releases a lot of micro particles in the water during washing and drying cycles.

[-] nossaquesapao@lemmy.eco.br -1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Have you seen the process used in plastic recycling? The plastic is literally triturated into tiny bits before being heated up for the next stages.

Edit: why the downvotes? I'm just trying to give some context on why plastic recycling is a great source of microplastics

this post was submitted on 21 Sep 2024
516 points (98.1% liked)

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