Are you worried about microplastics?
Are you worried about microplastics?
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?
Why worry about something I can't control. The sack of meat I call a body will only take so much abuse from the world's oligarchs before it gives up..their bodies too.
I can rearrange me life to the most extremes, but my neighbour will still burn garbage and consume twice as much as I ever will within a week. There's no stopping this until companies are held accountable and the rich are jailed, which we all know will never happen.
I assume you mean the clear plastic around the pods that gets sticky when you touch it with wet hands. Relevant YouTube short with Hank Green https://youtube.com/shorts/mm997MpLNeA?si=ZdBiX7ZTjbpLQMLS TLDW: you don't have to worry about this kind of plastic it is water soluble and turns into water and carbon dioxide when burned I believe.
Yes I am worried about microplastics in everyday things, for example drinking water from my tap. I am also worried about using plastics for anything food related that is heated up. As such i have removed all plastic containers in our kitchen that would be used near or with heat. Any containers remaining is only for cold foods and dry storage.
I think that being informed can help dilute the worry. Here’s what I’ve learned:
Most microplastics found inside humans come from synthetic clothing followed by car tires. Theres a great Veritasium video on this. Plastic cookware is also a consideration.
Food & Cookware
Don’t buy dishwasher pods, they're worse for the environment (plastic waste) and worse for your wallet than just a regular fluid container. Both fluid container and pod container are plastic so theres not much improvement to be had there.
My friend with a Chemical Engineering degree tells me that the plastics are stable chemically, and insufficient evidence exists to deem them harmful when left alone in cool temperatures. HOWEVER, unreacted precursor chemicals and thermosets are highly reactive, and new plastics come still coated with this. New car smell? Thats unreacted precursor, and it’s very harmful. Additionally, plastic cookware also gets hot, breaking it down slowly, and potentially making it harmful.
Avoid plastics and “non-stick” coatings in cookware.
Clothing
First thought is to avoid synthetic clothing, but theres a catch… Synthetic clothing is significantly better at blocking harmful UV light from the sun. For example, polyester & Nylon UPF is about 30-50+, whereas cotton is around 5. UPF = SPF generally. For this, I prefer wool (UPF ~40) or denim (UPF 1000+ off the chart). However, thats hot, so using some tight knit polyester shirts is a must in warm climates. Many shirts from retailers like REI have this stuff. So far, the ones I own have never shed noticeably, though that may change.
Why am I talking about sun protection? Remember, the goal is your health, not fearful avoidance of one harm that subjects you to another.
For all fabrics that aren't expected to protect from the sun, natural fibers are preferred. Included is bedding, towels, bathrobe, pajamas, casual clothing, socks, etc.
Other thoughts
For all of this, my friend says that I probably don't need to worry, and I have never seen convincing evidence that microplastics are harmful inside the body. Yet, I operate as if it were proven, because I don't want to risk reading that I’ve been poisoning myself ten years from now.
Detergent pods?
Boy are you about to lose 81 minutes of your life that you'll be happy to waste: https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFOQW4J4mT3E4f_Y6O7H4OFq2SXKpWLF2
I do my best to minimize micro plastics but also try not to worry about things I can't control. That cat is already out of the bag, micro plastics are inescapable. The silver lining this study show that they aren't that dangerous and its relatively easy for the body to get rid of them over the course of a month. While obviously its hard to say about long term toxicity it seems that life is at least generally resilient to it.
If I may add one personal anecdote. My parents were born in the 60s and 70s. They chain smoked cigarettes for many decades before their health finally caught up with them. Yet somehow they resisted the numerous toxins and carcinogens and tar they exposed themselves too every moment of the day. Maybe they are just really lucky but also maybe living things that got this far in the evolutionary tree already have expetience in biologically adapting to survive. Our cells aren't such easy pushovers to die over any and every little changes in the environment or new chemical players introducing themselves in the game of life.
Yes. I usually join several cleaning groups per year, cleaning thrash from nature. I also don't buy cheap plastic clothing (basically stop caring about fashionable trends) and repair as much as possible. I think about packaging when buying stuff, which I btw also limit as much as possible. Our waste stream is extremely low, with 95% going into recycling and upcycling.
I live a comfortable modern life, these are minor adjustments everybody can and should be able to make.
Always keep in mind that apathy and fomo are part of capitalist consumer ideology.
At some point in your life you realize that you can't worry about things you don't have control about
Just use dishwashing powder and laundry powder/liquid.
Dishwasher pods kinda suck anyway. And most dishwashers have a spot for powder during the prewash, which it's highly recommended to use. (Look up technology connections videos on the topic)
All I've ever heard about microplastics is that everyone is filled with them and that they are everywhere.
What I haven't heard is why that is a concern. Is it going to affect my health in the long run? When? How much do I have to have consumed for it be an issue?
Even if we identify those issues, can it be removed? Will it make a difference?
For such a 'everyone is now worried about this' type problem, I never once heard why they're concerned. I suppose I could look it up, but I'm surprised that all of the discussion is about the issue existing, but not why it's an issue to begin with.
Nothing can be done to prevent microplastics. They’re already out there.
The problem will solve itself via microbiology. Organisms will evolve that eat plastic and then it’ll be “over” (by which I mean there will be a constant, but not increasing, amount of microplastics in the environment).
In the meantime, our health will suffer and hopefully our medical technology will expand to handle the negative outcomes.
Our civilization relies too heavily on plastic. And that’s not a bad thing. It has its drawbacks, but plastic is also super useful as a material and it’s part of what we are.
We aren’t just Homo sapiens any more. We’re Homo sapiens cybogified. Giving up plastic means giving up what we are. Going back is an illusion that we create for children so they can have an environment that mimics our environment of evolutionary adaptedness. In the real world, the world that an adult by definition engages with, change is a constant.
We have filled the world with plastic and there’s no way in our power to get rid of it. But nature has a way. Life has a way to handle it, and it will.
Between climate change, civil unrest, and the possibility of WW3, I'm not sure if I or anyone else is going to live long enough for it to be an issue. When all the immediate civilization-collapsing problems are solved, I'll worry about microplastics in earnest.
Nothing? Stop using so many plastic things.
Unless everyone changes, there's microplastic in your drinking water. The problem is so far along that even if we stopped all plastic products sale and manufacturing today, and actively worked to clean out all of the microplastic from the globe on an unprecedented level, we would still have microplastic issues by the time you die, even if you live longer than any human has ever lived before.
This isn't "it's hopeless and we shouldn't bother", it's more "there's more to do than can be done in anyone's lifetime, so try not to make it any worse".
It's good that you're aware and trying, you should keep doing that. Worrying about it all the time isn't really helpful. Just try not to unnecessarily contribute to the problem.
I've been avoiding plasticware for food for about a decade, I drink from glasses or glass bottles, never use disposable utensils etc, but I wasn't paying that much attention to fabric content until I had a baby. I was more concerned with the chemical leeching directly, but then I read more about how microplastics effect the endocrine system and how infants are especially vulnerable due to their size and how they chew on everything. That spurred me to only get plant based fabrics for the kiddo, mostly from 2nd hand shops. I think the only plastic stuff he wears is his snow gear and shoes. I know I can't protect him forever, but I'll do what I can where I can.
this is a case where I basically decide not to worry about something so staggeringly out of my control
Nothing can be done to prevent it, it's already in every fresh water source.
How worried?
Super fucking worried, but there are also so many other things to be worried about rn that I just accept the fact that I will likely die from some form of forever chemical cancer.
I am as much an organatarian when it comes to things like plastics as I am a vegetarian when it comes to meat consumption. What better can the average person do?
First they came for our Lead based fuel Then they came for our Lead based paint They're not touching Lead based ammo, because Lead based ammo isn't killing people. People are killing people.
It won't be fixed without a revolution so worried isn't the right word. Resigned to the neoliberal order about to crumble into its natural progression.
I have actually a bit of insight in this topic. Right now, in Germany there is research done in how much microplastics will affect you or animals.
I've been to the laboratories where they test for this stuff and conduct the research and talked to them quite a bit.
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Plastic is used because its chemically stable. Which means, its not releasing chemicals or reacting a lot to chemicals. In fact: If you eat it, it will just flush out of your body in a few weeks of time. You don't have any chemical in your body that could potentially react with plastic and release dangerous chemicals.
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Even if it ends up in a cell of your body, it will just stay there and do nothing, since its chemically stable. After a few weeks the cell will die (which is fully normal, every cell in your body dies quite often and gets regenerated) and regenerate.
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The only, until now found theoretical maybe dangerous point is: If it enters your liver, it will stay in your liver (Your liver is designed to do this). If you eat too much microplastics your liver could potentially theoretically grow in size and affect other organs. But you'ld have to eat it spoonwise.
So, in short: No. I'm not afraid of it, or do I think about it a lot. Research suggests its actually doing nothing. Don't read the newspapers that earn money by scaring people, and start reading actual research papers. Fun fact: Most articles cite the research papers wrong, or are way to overexaggurating. Just read the linked papers, its way less grim than they want you to think. Even though, its quite a weird thought to me knowing that we f*cked our planet so much that they actually found this stuff in unborn babies. I mean. Come on.
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Not particularly
I’ll willingly eat for that I know has macro plastics because I don’t care
Fairly worried. I limit plastic but even limited it's in a lot. I want to install a filter on my washing machine to help catch micro plastics from my clothes. I have a septic but I think it would still be helpful in adding yet another barrier before they filter into groundwater.
I'm a little more worried since they said that it will create blockages in your veins and arteries so you're more likely to stroke the fuck out.
Everything sucks and there isn't much to do about it on the individual scale and the push to put the moral onus on consumers is fucking bullshit. I'm 90% certain the recycling service I pay extra for just dumps it with my regular garbage.
I don't sit around thinking about microplastics. Microplastics are something to worry about when you are making purchases, but not something you can realistically worry about while living the rest of your life.
Most of your microplastics aren't coming from your tide pods anyway. They actually come from plastic fibers in your clothing that get abraded in your washer and dryer.
What can you do about it? Try to use glass, metal and ceramic cookware. Avoid teflon cookware. Purchase clothing that has all natural fibers. Avoid facial scrubs that have micro beads, although those have been banned pretty much every in the US in the last decade.
At the end of the day, I worry about microplastics about as much as I worry about irradiated iodine from nuclear bomb tests.
No. Why worry about things you can't change?
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No.
Surely if microplastics were a problem the government would intervene and put regulations on the corporations producing them.
I'm not. I'm 52 years old. That ship sailed for me a long time ago.