It actually mentioned this in the article but it was kind of buried.
"These findings highlight the pervasive presence of microplastics in the male reproductive system in both canine and human testes, with potential consequences on male fertility."
This terrifies me. How are we supposed to avoid plastic when it's literally EVERYWHERE and in EVERYTHING?!??!?!
Go further in this analysis. How, precisely? Congress is so beholden to special interest groups with a stake in plastic, from petrochemicals to bottling industries, that it seems paralyzed to do anything about it. Does the American government have the regulatory authority to halt plastics absent legislation? It does not seem to be so.
What other ways aside from depending on government?
> This terrifies me. How are we supposed to avoid plastic when it's literally EVERYWHERE and in EVERYTHING?!??!?!
You can always reduce the intake and your microplastic footprint. Avoid buying food in plastic packaging, use glass or steel containers for food at home, drink tap water with a good filter. Do not buy cheap clothes with synthetic fibers, install filter for your washing machine to reduce the release of microplastic. Shift your lifestyle to minimalism, reduce unnecessary consumption, maximize use of things, choose wood, glass or metals over plastic in things you buy. Smaller houses or apartments will also result in less consumption and plastic contamination.
All very good ideas, but I think plastic pollution has become inescapable. The plastic is not just in the products we may use, but it's in the water we drink, the food we eat and, according to this study, in the air we breathe. It's like radiation...
Is there any question at this point that plastics are the next lead paint / asbestos? We should be moving to ban single use plastics, especially in products consumed by humans.
Yep, right here on this forum you'll have people argue that we can't know they're bad because:
1. Ethically you can't really do interventional studies where you're putting pretty well-established toxins into people
2. Practically you can't do observational studies very well because a) observational studies generally are atrocious, especially for understanding intake of a substance and its biological effects and b) there aren't any natural control groups because the entire globe has microplastics
3. We can ignore the fact that in-vivo and animal studies show very similar effects as to what we're seeing at population-scale in humans, because... well there are other variables that are hard to control for (and it'd be super inconvenient to have to refactor these out of our global supply chain)
Not just single use, but all things with short lifecycle. Cheap electronics, plastic toys, fast fashion clothing with 100% polyester (good bye, Zara, lock‘em up Shein) etc etc. It must be illegal for businesses to offer plastic merch to customers and employees as a gift (all that ugly branded stuff is a crime against humanity committed just to spend some HR or marketing budget).
NOOOO! Please don't take away yoga pants. They have done great things in this world.
Seriously though, nearly everything we use today is made with some plastic. Banning short lifecycle plastic would be extremely disruptive to life in general. Like many things, a better product needs to be made to dethrone plastic. It's really hard to beat the combination of cheap, moldable, light, and durable.
Define cheap. A piece of clothing for 10$ that you can wear 10 times is more expensive than the one that costs $100 and lasts 500 wear cycles. A glass container for food may be heavier and more expensive, but it will last much longer. There’s often a hidden trade-off for longevity with plastic things that consumers ignore or don’t notice.
No, plastic is not as bad as either of those things. That's not to say it's all good. But plastics have some upsides: cheap, durable, sanitary, lightweight, moldable. Switching back to aluminum/steel/glass for containers and paper and cardboard for packaging would have its own set of environmental and economic consequences.
Fleece blankets and clothing should go though. How many fleece hoodies do you need with your company logo embroidered on the breast? Why do we hand these things out at every company meeting as gifts when 90% of them sit in a closet or get thrown away.
Stop buying plastic junk. But plastic is not going away.
it’s everywhere and in everything. banning single use plastics and car tires is placebo because you will still be getting microplastics in meat, vegetables, and water for hundreds of years at this point.
We can't use the fact that these will be around for a very long time as a reason to not get rid of them where possible because then we'll continue producing them and the problem will only get worse.
I was a little surprised that the values are higher for humans than dogs b/c I am used to seeing dogs gnaw on any random thing, trying to drink from puddles, etc, which I would have thought would lead to higher intake. But ... is it just that this is these bioaccumulate and humans live longer and eventually have higher levels? Or do people actually have a higher intake through e.g. hot beverages in lined disposable cups, plastic cutlery and takeout containers, etc?
I mean, I've heard that clothes are a major source in that washing synthetic fabrics produces microplastics that end up in the water supply. Are you saying that wearing clothes somehow means we take them in through contact? Certainly domestic docs get a lot of contact with synthetic fabric furniture, carpet, stuffed toys, etc.
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[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 80.4 ms ] thread"These findings highlight the pervasive presence of microplastics in the male reproductive system in both canine and human testes, with potential consequences on male fertility."
This terrifies me. How are we supposed to avoid plastic when it's literally EVERYWHERE and in EVERYTHING?!??!?!
What other ways aside from depending on government?
Step 1: Get the GOP out of power in our federal government.
(Not suggesting every Dem would be active in pushing this forward, but those who aren't wouldn't be successful in stopping those who are)
You can always reduce the intake and your microplastic footprint. Avoid buying food in plastic packaging, use glass or steel containers for food at home, drink tap water with a good filter. Do not buy cheap clothes with synthetic fibers, install filter for your washing machine to reduce the release of microplastic. Shift your lifestyle to minimalism, reduce unnecessary consumption, maximize use of things, choose wood, glass or metals over plastic in things you buy. Smaller houses or apartments will also result in less consumption and plastic contamination.
1. Ethically you can't really do interventional studies where you're putting pretty well-established toxins into people
2. Practically you can't do observational studies very well because a) observational studies generally are atrocious, especially for understanding intake of a substance and its biological effects and b) there aren't any natural control groups because the entire globe has microplastics
3. We can ignore the fact that in-vivo and animal studies show very similar effects as to what we're seeing at population-scale in humans, because... well there are other variables that are hard to control for (and it'd be super inconvenient to have to refactor these out of our global supply chain)
Seriously though, nearly everything we use today is made with some plastic. Banning short lifecycle plastic would be extremely disruptive to life in general. Like many things, a better product needs to be made to dethrone plastic. It's really hard to beat the combination of cheap, moldable, light, and durable.
Fleece blankets and clothing should go though. How many fleece hoodies do you need with your company logo embroidered on the breast? Why do we hand these things out at every company meeting as gifts when 90% of them sit in a closet or get thrown away.
Stop buying plastic junk. But plastic is not going away.
And then a higher plastic concentration on average in human testis.
Wild.
Some more discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40429247
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40421787
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/08/micropla...
there are too many people on this Earth and the population numbers are propped up by our usage of plastics.
Thomas Malthus or Club of Rome much?