> which are too small to be seen with the naked eye
Though likely a given, I wonder what the difference in outcome would be if consumers could see the issue with their own eyes. Maybe we'll need microplastic detectors at some point. It feels like a problem too easy to ignore while the effects pile up globally.
Governments respond to populist pressure. I think most people just aren't aware of how bad air pollution can be or that it even exists.
I was recently in a small Asian village where the pollution gets very bad for a couple months when farmers burn the sugar cane and rice fields. I mentioned it to some locals, and they thought the thick haze was just harmless "mist" from the winter weather patterns.
I wonder how the amount compares to other fine particulate pollution.. would it move the needle on a pm2.5 sensor? And would a standard air filter remove most of it?
Not that I believe any of this BS in the first place, but I've always found it quite amusing that traditional blown-film plastic bags are being replaced with "reusable" ones... which are also made of the same plastics, except in textile form and thus easily shed fibers everywhere.
You can buy microscopes for pretty cheap if you’d like to look for microplastics yourself. But regardless I’m curious what you think happens to the plastic you use. Where does the little bit you scrape away go when you cut on a plastic cutting board? What happened to the fluffy fleece jacket that’s no longer fluffy? This stuff doesn’t biodegrade so it’s gotta go somewhere.
> Detection of microplastics in human tissues and organs: A scoping review
> Conclusions
> Microplastics are commonly detected in human tissues and organs, with distinct characteristics and entry routes, and variable analytical techniques exist.
> In addition, we found that atmospheric inhalation and ingestion through food and water were the likely primary routes of entry of microplastics into human body.
This seems obvious to me why the heavier bags are better. They don't immediately blow away to the ocean or wherever else. We're also charged $1.50 for them where I am or you get a paper bag so people who want to save $4.50+ on a grocery run (which is a ton of people) will bring their own.
> which are too small to be seen with the naked eye
Though likely a given, I wonder what the difference in outcome would be if consumers could see the issue with their own eyes. Maybe we'll need microplastic detectors at some point. It feels like a problem too easy to ignore while the effects pile up globally.
Cheap, rudimentary, microscopes exist which can be used at home, automate the following?
https://old.reddit.com/r/AskScienceDiscussion/comments/mi9bw...
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016599361...
Nothing. Look at the deathscape polluted smoggy skies in India as people walk around without masks coughing.
You can see smog, but it still requires government intervention to effect change.
Governments respond to populist pressure. I think most people just aren't aware of how bad air pollution can be or that it even exists.
I was recently in a small Asian village where the pollution gets very bad for a couple months when farmers burn the sugar cane and rice fields. I mentioned it to some locals, and they thought the thick haze was just harmless "mist" from the winter weather patterns.
I wonder how the amount compares to other fine particulate pollution.. would it move the needle on a pm2.5 sensor? And would a standard air filter remove most of it?
Not that I believe any of this BS in the first place, but I've always found it quite amusing that traditional blown-film plastic bags are being replaced with "reusable" ones... which are also made of the same plastics, except in textile form and thus easily shed fibers everywhere.
You can buy microscopes for pretty cheap if you’d like to look for microplastics yourself. But regardless I’m curious what you think happens to the plastic you use. Where does the little bit you scrape away go when you cut on a plastic cutting board? What happened to the fluffy fleece jacket that’s no longer fluffy? This stuff doesn’t biodegrade so it’s gotta go somewhere.
It's going back where it came from. I really don't give a shit about this new hysterical idiocy.
Where do you think it came from and how does it get back there?
> Detection of microplastics in human tissues and organs: A scoping review
> Conclusions
> Microplastics are commonly detected in human tissues and organs, with distinct characteristics and entry routes, and variable analytical techniques exist.
> In addition, we found that atmospheric inhalation and ingestion through food and water were the likely primary routes of entry of microplastics into human body.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11342020/
This seems obvious to me why the heavier bags are better. They don't immediately blow away to the ocean or wherever else. We're also charged $1.50 for them where I am or you get a paper bag so people who want to save $4.50+ on a grocery run (which is a ton of people) will bring their own.
Cloth bags exist.
Okay, feel free to ignore everything about PFAS, etc.
A century of progress is getting destroyed thanks to radical misguided "environmentalism".