Microplastics in the sea

[Hardhead]

This doesn't sound really great. No one knows what the impact on the food chain will be. Plenty of bottled water to pay for though, and no one needs to drink out of a tap or jug anymore like in the 80's, so that's a real plus for the standard of living at least.


https://www.wired.com/story/monterey-bay-microplastic/

[john61ct]

Single use plastics should be banned as much as possible, and otherwise heavily taxed, deposits etc.

Too late for all the stuff that's already out there, impossible to remove from the food chain.

But we can (in theory) stop it getting worse

[GordMay]

See also (post #236) ➥ http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f80/in-the-news-211628.html#post2903313

[john61ct]

And selling bottled water has always been an unforgivable scam, quality drinking water from the tap is really a basic definition of a civilized nation.

[Hardhead]

Also in the air too it seems.

https://www.wired.com/story/wind-microplastics/


I apologize for the pop-ups, that site is crazy with them unfortunately. Gotta make money to stay in business though I guess.

[250224]

Originally Posted by john61ct

Single use plastics should be banned as much as possible, and otherwise heavily taxed, deposits etc.
Too late for all the stuff that's already out there, impossible to remove from the food chain.

But we can (in theory) stop it getting worse

Can we?

> In the article they write: "We know how much plastic is going into the ocean".

Huh? I wonder how they would know this? Seems very difficult to measure. They don't provide any numbers or references in the article.

> They also write: "A still outstanding piece of that puzzle, though, is where this microplastic is coming from. By running tests in the lab, the researchers found that most of the particles they collected were PET, a component of single-use plastics.".

If it is correct what I read in a study that most plastic is being inducted by ~6 large rivers in Asia (plus Amazonas? don't remember), a ban in e.g. North-America and EU wouldn't help (much). The regulations would have to be done in those countries. And maybe those rivers could be filtered somehow?

This is not to say that I don't support a ban on one-way-plastic. Only that I'm critical about the justification to introduce it.

[GordMay]

“A Brief History of Bottled Water” ➥ https://www.thekitchn.com/a-brief-hi...d-water-228642

“THE STORY OF BOTTLED WATER”
The story of manufactured demand. How you get Americans to buy more than half a billion bottles of water every week, when it already flows from the tap.
➥ https://storyofstuff.org/wp-content/...ted_Script.pdf

"Story of Bottled Water Myth v Reality" ➥ https://www.scribd.com/document/4759...Myth-v-Reality

[john61ct]

And none of this is that new, NatGeo from a year ago

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/e...anetorplastic/

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jQdBag_p6kE

[RaymondR]

I pretty well always clear the filters in the dryers at the laundromat every time I use them and am often surprised at the amount of fluff in them. This appears to be largely comprised of very small pieces of the fabric threads which have abraded of whilst the clothes are being tumbled.

I assume that a similar process is in play in the washing machine but the material is carried out with the waste water which goes into the sewage system a lot of which goes into the sea and rivers after treatment.

Since most fabrics are natural/synthetic fiber mixes I wonder how much finely dispersed plastics are introduced into the environment this way.

[250224]

Originally Posted by Hardhead

I apologize for the pop-ups, that site is crazy with them unfortunately. Gotta make money to stay in business though I guess.

(offtopic) Use 'uBlock Origin'. If a site is particularly crazy you may limit scripting with 'YesScript2'. In case you run the Chrome browser, I'd switch to Firefox, as the former tracks you (and aims to disable the API which allows efficient blocking [1]).

I don't mind reasonable adverts but disapprove of trackers which follows along the whole internet and have a noticeable cost on the browsing experience. As websites need an income I subscribe to some pages or disable the blocker.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20050173

[leandroflaherty]

Bottled water is almost always worse than local tap water. It actually contains a large amount of micro plastics from the container it sits in, and its chemical leaching. Then there's the single use and its inevitable end in a landfill or the ocean. Dont use bottled water unless its an emergency. Dont be part of the problem. Reusable water bottles and a water filter from the tap (or watermaker / rain) is the way to go.


As for clothing, yes, tons of plastic ends up in our water supply from the synthetic fibers breaking down. Outside of extreme applications, like sports wear, its foolish to not use natural fibers, cotton, wool, linen, etc.


The only reason all this plastic is there is because of short sighted profit $$. Shame their use and lead by example. When regular people demand (by paying for it in their daily lives) sustainable green alternatives its when industry will respond.

[Dave22q]

I would be much more impressed if proof presented that consuming microplastics is harmful to man or beast. Until that day I put it with global warming, extinction of polar bears, co2 poisoning/pollution and other pseudo-scientific fake news stories.

[fivecapes]

What good is proof if it doesn't conform to your closed mind you probably won't believe it anyway?

[Hardhead]

Well - we'll find out the ultimate biological effects when the whole food chain is ingesting microplastics for a few generations. No practice runs. It's a live fire reality exercise so to speak.

[Cpt Mark]

Originally Posted by john61ct

And selling bottled water has always been an unforgivable scam, quality drinking water from the tap is really a basic definition of a civilized nation.

And then there is Flint MI. Maybe we're not as civilized as we think