
Plastic rain is the new acid rain - kyle_morris_
https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/06/plastic-rain-is-the-new-acid-rain/
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IX-103
Yes, pollution is bad, but in some ways it's good that the plastic is getting
spread out. Low levels spread across a wide area makes it more likely some
bacteria would evolve to be able to eat it efficiently.

Of course it still sucks if you want to drink the water or breathe the air and
there are all these polymers in them.

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vikramkr
It would be quite a bit better if it was all in one place so the bacteria we
are engineering to eat them have one particular place they can be deployed
instead of the plastic microparticles and polymers wrecking havoc everywhere.
If all the plastic was just stable in a giant landfill, it wouldn't even be
that much of a problem/a significant ecological risk.

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londons_explore
It isn't clear to me quite how risky these plastics are - is a grain of
plastic worse than say a grain of sand?

Sure, the sand has more density so usually settles sooner, but apart from that
both are effectively biologically inert.

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vikramkr
Plastic is not biologically inert. Micro plastics accumulate inside tissues
and many plastics contain endocrine disruptors, including some non BPA
plastics. Glass waste (basically just sand) is not a big problem pollution
wise since like sand it's basically just a rock, but plastic does break down
slowly, making it far more of a concern.

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londons_explore
Sand and rocks break down slowly too, and frequently give off heavy metals,
arsenic, etc. in the process.

What's key is defining the magnitude of the harm of each, and just stating 'X
million microparticles' doesn't do it.

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starpilot
Some stay dry and others feel the pain...

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labster
Microplastics running through our veins

