
Microplastics Are Blowing in the Wind - pseudolus
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/microplastics-are-blowing-in-the-wind/
======
titzer
Well, you can forget about worrying about whether microplastics are harmful to
the environment, because they are out there now, all over the damn place and
there's no going back. Plastic is literally and figuratively the 20th century
turning itself to dust and getting sucked up in Earth's massive recycling
systems. It's in everything from seawater to freshwater to salt
([https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/10/micro...](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/10/microplastics-
found-90-percent-table-salt-sea-salt/)) to the air we breathe. It's in the
entire food web--our food, our food's food, our food's food's food, and our
feces of course
([https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/10/news-...](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/10/news-
plastics-microplastics-human-feces/)). And it's bad for everybody
([https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/from-fish-to-
huma...](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/from-fish-to-humans-a-
microplastic-invasion-may-be-taking-a-toll/)). It will be in sediment for
aeons, a permanent part of Earth's story, forever. There is absolutely zero
chance of ever cleaning it all up.

Good job, 20th century. And right on, 21st century! We really doubled down on
money-making at the expense of the environment!

After sifting through the dust, if they ever figured out that it was our
_refuse_ , future intelligent beings might well refer to us, quite aptly, as
_trash monkeys_.

~~~
afarah
Leaving aside the environmental damage, which is obvious albeit somewhat
sensationalized in this comment, how is said plastic actually harming human
health today?

The article from Scientific America in the comment refers to the harm plastic
can have in other animals in words such as "may", "might", "could". Has there
been any study on how it is, now and actually, harming our health? Any
measurements, case studies, or collective data from people suffering from any
sort of disease related to plastic pollution?

~~~
lm28469
> words such as "may", "might", "could".

It's Earth, not a deployment you can rollback, we don't get to play that game.

We're talking hundreds or thousands of years before we'll know how bad we
fucked up. Almost every life forms on the planet are linked one way or
another, every changes has an impact.

Remember when DDT, asbestos and lead plumbing were harmless to humans ? Then
they were classified as "could" be dangerous or "may" be harmful. Now they're
straight up banned everywhere.

[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5918521/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5918521/)

[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4780651/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4780651/)

[https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/from-fish-to-
huma...](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/from-fish-to-humans-a-
microplastic-invasion-may-be-taking-a-toll/)

[https://www.healthline.com/health-news/how-dangerous-are-
mic...](https://www.healthline.com/health-news/how-dangerous-are-
microplastics-to-your-health)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endocrine_disruptor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endocrine_disruptor)

[https://environmentjournal.online/articles/microplastic-
poll...](https://environmentjournal.online/articles/microplastic-pollution-
number-one-threat-to-humankind/)

~~~
dsfyu404ed
>It's Earth, not deployment you can rollback, we don't get to play that game.

>We're talking hundreds or thousands of years before we'll know how bad we
fucked up. Almost every life forms on the planet are linked one way or
another, every changes has an impact.

>Remember when DDT, asbestos and lead plumbing were harmless to humans ? Then
they were classified as "could" be dangerous or "may" be harmful. Now they're
straight up banned everywhere.

This is exactly the kind of emotional appeals the GP is complaining about.
There are tons of different substances you come into contact with on a day to
day basis. Most of them will not be harmful in any reasonable quantity. If
paper or cotton clothing was invented today the parchment and wool industries
would be talking up how it's not proven to not be harmful. Yes, some plastics
are probably bad even in small concentrations. Just from a common sense point
of view it's highly unlikely that all plastics are bad in all concentrations.
No you shouldn't ingest it intentionally. Yes, I'd like to see less plastics
in the world. No I don't think it's going to be a massive future problem. If
it really does turn out to be a serious problem we'll find a way to solve it.
Remember when CFCs were going to deplete the ozone and give us all skin
cancer?

~~~
lm28469
I hate to be that guy but, did you read any of the links I provided ? It's not
as if a weird hippie guy was predicting the end of the world. It's
scientifically proven, measurable, it's right here, right now. And it's just
the beginning of a very long process.

~~~
dsfyu404ed
I read the first few and skimmed the rest. Yes plastics are a problem, the
same way that smog in cities (mostly solved in developed nations) and CFCs
were problems. None of them present an existential crisis to humanity. Sure we
might spend a fraction of a percentage of global wealth dealing with the
trade-offs of spewing plastic everywhere but we'll be fine in the long run.

~~~
lm28469
> the same way that smog in cities (mostly solved in developed nations) and
> CFCs were problems.

"were" ?

Unless you live in the country side it _is_ an immediate problem to your
health and a time bomb for the planet.

[https://www.who.int/airpollution/en/](https://www.who.int/airpollution/en/)

> mostly solved in developed nations

That's exactly the type of thinking that will destroy us. It's always China,
or Russia, or developing countries, or your neighbours, or the damn
democrats/republicans. Nobody wants to take responsibility. Let's continue to
act like 8 years old while our home is slowly burning.

~~~
lexpar
I think their point was that technological advancements have 'solved' the
problem of smog in the cities that have the legal and physical infrastructure
(i.e. developed) to implement the solutions. They did not seem to be saying
that pollution is someone else's fault.

~~~
welearndnothing
I live it one of these cities. In California. Beautiful landscape. Fields and
mountains and ocean. My car is always covered in filth from the air. As is my
balcony. I often stand atop a mountain and look out over the thick, visible
layer of smog that tops the city - a city that has made vast progress in the
last 4 decades. That progress has gotten us from nearly inhabitable to simply
disgusting and unhealthy. Where are these solutions, exactly?

~~~
lexpar
I don't live in a city with a smog problem, and this is not my area of
expertise. I was just clarifying what I thought @dsfyu404ed was saying, since
it seemed to me that @lm28469 had taken it out of context and jumped to a
nasty reply that wasn't really pertinent to what was being claimed.

~~~
macawfish
You could argue that @dsfu404ed's reply was actually way "nastier", as
nonchalant as their attitude was, in the sense that it downplays the effects
of "nasty" pollution in general.

------
growlist
Just to point out that for decades there has been asbestos flying around in
the air many of us breathe, yet asbestos-related diseases not related to
habitual exposure are incredibly rare.

~~~
flarg
Add smoke from wood fires, pollen and microbes from flora, Cross infection
from living in close proximity to livestock, and balance that all out against
better hygiene standards, better nutrition etc. Micro plastics don't seem like
a great thing, but we're probably going to be OK with it in the environment.

~~~
redisman
Plastic is a lot more ubiquitous and less biodegradable though

------
crypticlizard
Here we are on a forum with highly educated ppl. talking about what's
happening. But what should we do to effect change? It seems to me that some
way for us to unite our efforts in some modern internet/technology/mass-
communication kinda way might help us break through the barriers to actually
making progress. I honestly don't know what that looks like, but I believe if
even the ppl. on this thread were able to band together effectively to work on
this problem that is whatever-it-is-our-worlds-become I would have hope. I
don't know what this "solution" looks like though. A website? A forum? A
technology of some form? Unfortunately, I don't think anyone else knows either
:(

~~~
crispinb
There are groups all over the world with intimate knowledge of every thematic
and regional issue working their brains & hearts out trying to effect change.
Reinventing wheels is a luxury our living planet doesn't have the time for
right now. If you feel strongly about one of the many ways our 'civilisation'
is killing our common home, join up with a group you find congenial. The best
action is one you can maintain over time, so find something you think you'll
enjoy.

Tech isn't a cheap & easy shortcut unfortunately. It's already used with some
sophistication all over the world. Attention is in short supply, and grabbing
it tends to be expensive or risky. Personally I think Extinction Rebellion is
on to something - they've done their empirical homework and are willing to
take the necessary risks. But only time will tell.

------
tenkabuto
We all might be dead before it pays off, but on the upside this could lead
organisms the world over to figure out how to deal with our plastics problem.

~~~
worldsayshi
It feels like this development will eventually force us to "help evolution" in
this regard and heavily invest in engineering plastic eating organisms that
can sustainably live in the environment.

~~~
carlmr
We might not need to engineer them, they already evolved, and they might
succeed us.

~~~
oarsinsync
Wikipedia suggests the first man-made plastics were made around 1856. I'm not
sure 163 years is enough time for evolution to do it's thing.

~~~
kamarg
For microorganisms it's plenty of time. Things with very short reproductive
cycles can evolve quicker than humans. In
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._coli_long-
term_evolution_ex...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._coli_long-
term_evolution_experiment) they state that the e. coli went through 66,000
generations in 28 years. That allows for a very large amount of genetic
differences to respond to environmental pressures.

------
Dirlewanger
Anyone know of any water filters for home use that absolutely 100% filter out
microplastics? Brita has no mention of it on their website, and I'm guessing
if they don't, competitors most likely don't either.

~~~
cwkoss
I'd look at ceramic water filters. Seems like microplastics would slowly work
their way through sediment-based filters.

EDIT: quick google search also points at 'carbon block' and reverse osmosis
filters

------
xorfish
How dangerous are microplastics?

~~~
carlmr
We'll see in a few years. We just don't know the long-term effects yet. And
even if we stopped using plastic today, we probably haven't reached peak
microplastic yet.

------
vectorEQ
i can imagine this stuff works miracles for our lungs too

~~~
0-_-0
It's likely to be negligible relative to everything else that gets into our
lungs

