Anthropocene

[Irrelevant]

Plastic Rain Is the New Acid Rain

Researchers find that over 1,000 metric tons of microplastic fall on 11 protected areas in the US annually, equivalent to over 120 million plastic water bottles.

www.wired.com

So while we might not be able to see it with out eyes, there is significantly more evidence of our human activities in our most wild places than just mylar balloons.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

That was a really interesting read.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

Interesting stuff.

 

[noharleyyet]

That's some gross minutiae...interesting neffa

 

[Irrelevant]

We joked in college about future generations studying Concreterite, but now apparently it'll be like a global ash layer of Plastite. Which from a practical sense could greatly help date formations in a couple millennia.

 

[1_pointer]

I find unintended consequences fascinating. Interesting to see the effects (or hopefully lack thereof) of this over time. This will lead to changes in some industries.

Maybe paper/cardboard/glass weren't so bad...

 

[dcopas78]

PFAS (so called "forever" chemicals) have became a huge topic in water and wastewater treatment over the last few years as more information about their potential to cause health problems is being discovered. All convenient things in life (plastic containers, teflon, clothing water-proofing, etc.) come with the inconvenience of problems they cause the environment. Don't look for water or sewer treatment bills to be getting any cheaper in the future. Treatment methods to remove these contaminants are very pricey and complicated. Good article, thanks for posting.

 

[hank4elk]

I petty much have always hated plastic. Almost killed myself getting a damn ice cream carton open last night .

 

[mdeerjunkie]

I petty much have always hated plastic. Almost killed myself getting a damn ice cream carton open last night .

Or when you try to get the new knife you bought out of the the completely sealed plastic container.

 

[Irrelevant]

There's a very good chance that micro-plastics are currently playing an active role the demise of PNW salmon

 

[Wildabeest]

Or when you try to get the new knife you bought out of the the completely sealed plastic container.

Which especially sucks when the reason for buying the new knife is because you lost your other one!

 

[Northwoods Labs]

Yea this stuff is fascinating, a little depressing too

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariellasimke/2020/01/21/there-is-plastic-in-your-fish/#6ba085137071

 

[Irrelevant]

Yea this stuff is fascinating, a little depressing too

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariellasimke/2020/01/21/there-is-plastic-in-your-fish/#6ba085137071

it's is so many things. https://www.theguardian.com/environ...st-50000-plastic-particles-a-year-study-finds

 

[Irrelevant]

Wow, really not good.

Microplastics are contaminating fruit and veg

Microplastics are contaminating the fruit and vegetables that we eat, according to new research published in the journal Nature Sustainability. Researchers at the Yanthai Institute in China and Leiden University in the Netherlands, have discovered that microplastics are penetrating the…

environmentjournal.online

 

[TOGIE]

don't take this comment any other way other than just inquisitiveness

if you eat like a millimeter sized piece of plastic you can just chalk that up as extra fiber in the diet right? so does this mean microplastics are small enough to end up in our blood? and then being stored in our fat cells? co mingling in our muscles? our brains?

or is this just extra fiber that the doctor did order?

slight jest, but also serious question

more research i guess. i fail to see what we can do about this. it's just like the fossil fuel/carbon footprint problem - i'm convinced the only real solution is use less, way way way way less

 

[JLS]

Easy fix. Just ignore science.

 

[Irrelevant]

don't take this comment any other way other than just inquisitiveness

if you eat like a millimeter sized piece of plastic you can just chalk that up as extra fiber in the diet right? so does this mean microplastics are small enough to end up in our blood? and then being stored in our fat cells? co mingling in our muscles? our brains?

or is this just extra fiber that the doctor did order?

slight jest, but also serious question

more research i guess. i fail to see what we can do about this. it's just like the fossil fuel/carbon footprint problem - i'm convinced the only real solution is use less, way way way way less

No idea, and I don't think anyone else really knows either. But we've already found that many of the additives in plastics were or are harmful, i.e. BPA is an endocrine disruptor. If these plastics are small enough to be absorbed through roots then I've got believe they can be absorbed by our digestive system. At that size they are also more likely to be dissolved by our stomach acid. From a 40k foot level I simply can't see how this is in any way, shape, or form, "good".

 

[TOGIE]

No idea, and I don't think anyone else really knows either. But we've already found that many of the additives in plastics were or are harmful, i.e. BPA is an endocrine disruptor. If these plastics are small enough to be absorbed through roots then I've got believe they can be absorbed by our digestive system. At that size they are also more likely to be dissolved by our stomach acid. From a 40k foot level I simply can't see how this is in any way, shape, or form, "good".

yeah i agree. nothing good about it. so yeah, the obvious question becomes "how bad is it?"

i can't bury my head in the sand on this one, since the sand is full of plastic, can't stop breathing or eating either

 

[Irrelevant]

yeah i agree. nothing good about it. so yeah, the obvious question becomes "how bad is it?"

i can't bury my head in the sand on this one, since the sand is full of plastic, can't stop breathing or eating either

The worse part is, what if it's really bad, they're really not a damn thing we can do about it in the short term. There's already so much in the environment and tons being generated by other countries that it could really by just a SOL scenario.

 

[azelkhntr]

There’s no way out of this trap. Everything is made out of plastics today. Depressing.