Microplastics were found in human blood for the first time. Long term effects are unknown.

Mai72

Lifer
Sep 12, 2012
11,578
1,741
126
Crazy stuff. We are causing so much harm to the environment and to ourselves. More research is needed. This is all very alarming.

"The discovery shows the particles can travel around the body and may lodge in organs. The impact on health is as yet unknown. But researchers are concerned as microplastics cause damage to human cells in the laboratory and air pollution particles are already known to enter the body and cause millions of early deaths a year."

“It is certainly reasonable to be concerned,” Vethaak told the Guardian. “The particles are there and are transported throughout the body.” He said previous work had shown that microplastics were 10 times higher in the faeces of babies compared with adults and that babies fed with plastic bottles are swallowing millions of microplastic particles a day."

 

Franz316

Senior member
Sep 12, 2000
976
431
136
Yike, who knows what effects on the body it has. I can only imagine the amounts of plastic at the bottom of our lakes, rivers, and oceans slowing breaking down. I think plastic will go down as one of the best and one of worst inventions in the history of mankind. It's incredibly durabke, moldable, and lasts forever, yet we use in products that have a lifespan of minutes. It has it's place, but not in disposable products. We really need a replacement for it at that level.
 

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,246
10,748
136
C previous work had shown that microplastics were 10 times higher in the faeces of babies compared with adults and that babies fed with plastic bottles are swallowing millions of microplastic particles a day


Wonderful.... my mom had glass bottles for my brother and I when we were little but my wife and I had mostly plastic bottles for both my daughters.

100 years from now I bet we look at plastic like we look at the lead-lined Roman pipes and cisterns way back in the day.
 

Mai72

Lifer
Sep 12, 2012
11,578
1,741
126
Yike, who knows what effects on the body it has. I can only imagine the amounts of plastic at the bottom of our lakes, rivers, and oceans slowing breaking down. I think plastic will go down as one of the best and one of worst inventions in the history of mankind. It's incredibly durabke, moldable, and lasts forever, yet we use in products that have a lifespan of minutes. It has it's place, but not in disposable products. We really need a replacement for it at that level.

Yea. i was thinking about the plaatic containers I use to reheat my food in the microwave, and the plastic cups I use as well. I also have a few blenderbottles that I use daily for my protein shakes. I swear we can't win. It seems that we are doomed as a species.
 
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Mai72

Lifer
Sep 12, 2012
11,578
1,741
126
Wonderful.... my mom had glass bottles for my brother and I when we were little but we had mostly plastic bottles for both my daughters.

100 years from now I bet we look at this plastic like we look at the lead-lined Roman pipes and cisterns back in the day.

Yea. I remember those glass bottles. Life seemed easier back then. :confused:
 

Jaskalas

Lifer
Jun 23, 2004
33,382
7,445
136
I don't know what life is like without cheap and disposable plastic.
But I hope we can dig ourselves out of this mess.

It is far too late for us, whatever the consequences are to our health we WILL suffer it. But we should not condemn future generations to this toxic contaminate.
 

Mai72

Lifer
Sep 12, 2012
11,578
1,741
126
I don't know what life is like without cheap and disposable plastic.
But I hope we can dig ourselves out of this mess.

It is far too late for us, whatever the consequences are to our health we WILL suffer it. But we should not condemn future generations to this toxic contaminate.

Agreed. But, we have to defeat the large companies who only care about large profits. At the expense of our health.
 

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,246
10,748
136
the plastic containers I use to reheat my food in the microwave, and the plastic cups I use as well

Yikes! :oops:

Even plastic that can be safe to use with food at room temps potentially becomes unsafe when heated and leaching nasty chemicals into your food.

I strongly suggest you stop using plastics completely for hot things in general and especially for any kind of cooking!

Go exclusively glass or ceramic in the microwave.
 

tweaker2

Lifer
Aug 5, 2000
14,478
6,901
136
Pyrex is my go-to whenever anything goes into the microwave, all shapes and sizes. And 316 CRS or glass for water storage.
 
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UNCjigga

Lifer
Dec 12, 2000
24,802
9,004
136
Pyrex is my go-to whenever anything goes into the microwave, all shapes and sizes. And 316 CRS or glass for water storage.

Yeah I thought this was old news, but my family didn’t start shifting until our first pregnancy. That’s when parents told us to register for glass bottles and use Pyrex for baby food purees. BPA free doesn’t really mean much, either. It took us a bit longer to transition ourselves but now we use the steel/aluminum water bottles and glass/Pyrex/ceramic for everything else.

The last thing we did was get rid of all our PFAS-infused nonstick cookware after the GenX controversy blew up in NC.
 

hal2kilo

Lifer
Feb 24, 2009
23,331
10,238
136
Crazy stuff. We are causing so much harm to the environment and to ourselves. More research is needed. This is all very alarming.

"The discovery shows the particles can travel around the body and may lodge in organs. The impact on health is as yet unknown. But researchers are concerned as microplastics cause damage to human cells in the laboratory and air pollution particles are already known to enter the body and cause millions of early deaths a year."

“It is certainly reasonable to be concerned,” Vethaak told the Guardian. “The particles are there and are transported throughout the body.” He said previous work had shown that microplastics were 10 times higher in the faeces of babies compared with adults and that babies fed with plastic bottles are swallowing millions of microplastic particles a day."

You are what you eat. Watch out for the nano particles of everything, these days.
 

Mai72

Lifer
Sep 12, 2012
11,578
1,741
126
You are what you eat. Watch out for the nano particles of everything, these days.

Yea. The other issue is plastic is used for everything today. Even in our clothing.

You wash your clothes. The plastic sheds off in the wash. The water gets drained off thru sewage system. That water then gets recycled and is then used to water our crops. Those plants are then fed to the cows. You consume the cow, and you are in turn digesting the micro plastics into your body. Or, maybe you're a vegan. You are still digesting micro plastics. What about the salads that we consume? They come in plastic bags and containers. Its insane. Hopefully, the microplastics won't have long term conseqquences on our health.

 

nakedfrog

No Lifer
Apr 3, 2001
58,055
12,245
136
Yea. i was thinking about the plaatic containers I use to reheat my food in the microwave, and the plastic cups I use as well. I also have a few blenderbottles that I use daily for my protein shakes. I swear we can't win. It seems that we are doomed as a species.
You can buy glass food storage containers as replacements for "Tupperware" type containers :)
 

hal2kilo

Lifer
Feb 24, 2009
23,331
10,238
136
Yea. The other issue is plastic is used for everything today. Even in our clothing.

You wash your clothes. The plastic sheds off in the wash. The water gets drained off thru sewage system. That water then gets recycled and is then used to water our crops. Those plants are then fed to the cows. You consume the cow, and you are in turn digesting the micro plastics into your body. Or, maybe you're a vegan. You are still digesting micro plastics. What about the salads that we consume? They come in plastic bags and containers. Its insane. Hopefully, the microplastics won't have long term conseqquences on our health.

The food packaging industry is addicted to plastic, especially the non-recyclable sheet plastic. I recycle and cook most of my food from other raw food items, and I still end up with unbelievable amounts of plastic in my garbage. The damn eggs I have been buying decided that chip paper isn't good enough for their eggs and have gone to plastic. It's crazy. I thought they were supposed to be trying to go to more recyclable packaging, but it's gone the complete opposite way. On top of that, plastic recycling in not economical anymore now that Asia's decided they don't want to be the world's plastic dump site.
 
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nickqt

Diamond Member
Jan 15, 2015
7,535
7,660
136
The world as we know it doesn't function without plastic. Take a walk through your house and see what doesn't contain plastic in it, and be aware that just because you can't see it on the outside doesn't mean it isn't on the inside.

The Anthropocene might as well be the Petrolocene. Without oil, modern human civilization collapses, which is right where the oil industry wants us and where we have virtually no choice in the matter.

All of that said, that plastic is inside us shouldn't really be a huge surprise at this point, and it's just another cog in the wheel of evolution, ultimately. This isn't an endorsement of plastic or the destruction of the earth's environment, by the way.
 

sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
94,686
14,935
126
Yeah I thought this was old news, but my family didn’t start shifting until our first pregnancy. That’s when parents told us to register for glass bottles and use Pyrex for baby food purees. BPA free doesn’t really mean much, either. It took us a bit longer to transition ourselves but now we use the steel/aluminum water bottles and glass/Pyrex/ceramic for everything else.

The last thing we did was get rid of all our PFAS-infused nonstick cookware after the GenX controversy blew up in NC.


Aluminum water bottles tend to be lined with plastic xd
 
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hal2kilo

Lifer
Feb 24, 2009
23,331
10,238
136
The food packaging industry is addicted to plastic, especially the non-recyclable sheet plastic. I recycle and cook most of my food from other raw food items, and I still end up with unbelievable amounts of plastic in my garbage. The damn eggs I have been buying decided that chip paper isn't good enough for their eggs and have gone to plastic. It's crazy. I thought they were supposed to be trying to go to more recyclable packaging, but it's gone the complete opposite way. On top of that, plastic recycling in not economical anymore now that Asia's decided they don't want to be the world's plastic dump site.
Good times...

Microplastics Found Deep in the Lungs of Humans for the First Time – Mother Jones
 

Moonbeam

Elite Member
Nov 24, 1999
72,329
6,040
126
Most of the individuals who make fortunes in the plastics industry will be dead before we go extinct. Why worry, right? It's how well off today you are that matters in a competitive system.
 

pete6032

Diamond Member
Dec 3, 2010
7,443
3,004
136
100 years from now I bet we look at plastic like we look at the lead-lined Roman pipes and cisterns way back in the day.
It won't just be plastics. It will also be indoor gas burning appliances like furnaces and gas ranges. They are awful for your health. People 100 years from now will look back at us using plastic and indoor gas appliances and think we were complete idiots just like we look back at smokers from the 40s and 50s and think how stupid could they have been?
 

Jaskalas

Lifer
Jun 23, 2004
33,382
7,445
136

PFAS measured, and it’s not looking good…

What, you don't like having a natural environment where near permanent contamination already exceeds safety levels?
Or the idea that our production and release of said chemicals is likely accelerating?
Whatever damage these chemicals do to our bodies, our grand kids are destined for far worse at much higher levels.

It's like the boiling frog story.
Nuclear winter would be just throwing the frog into boiling water.
Plastic and its associated chemicals is the gradually turning up the heat bit.
We care deeply about one due to how sudden and obvious it is. But we hardly pay attention to the other.
 

ch33zw1z

Lifer
Nov 4, 2004
37,734
18,004
146
What, you don't like having a natural environment where near permanent contamination already exceeds safety levels?
Or the idea that our production and release of said chemicals is likely accelerating?
Whatever damage these chemicals do to our bodies, our grand kids are destined for far worse at much higher levels.

It's like the boiling frog story.
Nuclear winter would be just throwing the frog into boiling water.
Plastic and its associated chemicals is the gradually turning up the heat bit.
We care deeply about one due to how sudden and obvious it is. But we hardly pay attention to the other.

yep, FYGM tho
 
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