I’m not surprised in the slightest, sadly. I’m more surprised it wasn’t found sooner.
> “The big question is what is happening in our body?” Vethaak said. “Are the particles retained in the body? Are they transported to certain organs, such as getting past the blood-brain barrier?” And are these levels sufficiently high to trigger disease? We urgently need to fund further research so we can find out.”
That’s the next stage that needs to be understood.
One aspect that seems to get little press attention is the source of much of this pollution. Everyone jumps on things like littering of plastic bottles, but significant pollution comes from man made clothing. Every time you wash man made fibres they get into the water system and are too small to be filtered out.
> When you do laundry, synthetic clothes shed tiny threads which end up in the water – about 700,000 fibres in a single domestic wash.
>
> Less than a millimetre in length, the microfibres then make their way into the waterways and seas.
>
> The worst offenders are polyester, acrylic and nylon.
>
> A polyester fleece jacket releases 1,000,000 fibres per wash, according to one study, while a pair of nylon socks is responsible for 136,000 fibres.
>
> Scientists from the University of Manchester found those fibres are littering riverbeds across the UK.
>
> Research highlighted by MPs this week shows they end up being eaten by fish and other aquatic creatures, ultimately ending up in the food chain.
>
> Earlier this year, scientists found fibres, including strands of underwear, in every sample of mussels they tested in British seawaters or bought from UK supermarkets.
>
> Another study, from the University of Exeter, found microfibres in the environment altered animals’ behaviour.
This will be this generations lead.
Difference is, we can’t stop microplastics, the damage is already locked in for hundreds and hundreds of years.
Amateurs, i’ve been eating plastic for years. Labels on fruits, plastic wrappers on chocolate bars, lids on drinks bottles… Removing those is precious time taken away from the noble pursuit of working to death under capitalism.
Well I’m going to get drunk and have another cigarette because why the fuck not.
It’s not even funny how much of a mess we’ve made of the world.
Why even announce that? The Facebook educated scientists will have them called “COVID vaccine nanobots” by this afternoon. Wait and see…
Ah sweet! Man-made horrors beyond my comprehension.
We really need to switch to synthetic biology for manufacturing.
Who knows, these could be one of the causes of cancer and other auto immune disorders.
It was found in the amniotic fluid of pregnant women years ago, so finding it in blood was inevitable. Plastic can be fond in the Mariana Trench, the summit of Everest and in the Amazon rainforest. It would be naive to think we would not find it within our own system.
I don’t eat meat or fish, but did for years. Microplastics have started turning up in fish at ridiculous levels.
It is possible that microplastics have been with us (and in us) for some time. Possibly it is a cause of heart attacks and other ailments?
12 comments
I’m not surprised in the slightest, sadly. I’m more surprised it wasn’t found sooner.
> “The big question is what is happening in our body?” Vethaak said. “Are the particles retained in the body? Are they transported to certain organs, such as getting past the blood-brain barrier?” And are these levels sufficiently high to trigger disease? We urgently need to fund further research so we can find out.”
That’s the next stage that needs to be understood.
One aspect that seems to get little press attention is the source of much of this pollution. Everyone jumps on things like littering of plastic bottles, but significant pollution comes from man made clothing. Every time you wash man made fibres they get into the water system and are too small to be filtered out.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45770358 from 2018 reports
> When you do laundry, synthetic clothes shed tiny threads which end up in the water – about 700,000 fibres in a single domestic wash.
>
> Less than a millimetre in length, the microfibres then make their way into the waterways and seas.
>
> The worst offenders are polyester, acrylic and nylon.
>
> A polyester fleece jacket releases 1,000,000 fibres per wash, according to one study, while a pair of nylon socks is responsible for 136,000 fibres.
>
> Scientists from the University of Manchester found those fibres are littering riverbeds across the UK.
>
> Research highlighted by MPs this week shows they end up being eaten by fish and other aquatic creatures, ultimately ending up in the food chain.
>
> Earlier this year, scientists found fibres, including strands of underwear, in every sample of mussels they tested in British seawaters or bought from UK supermarkets.
>
> Another study, from the University of Exeter, found microfibres in the environment altered animals’ behaviour.
This will be this generations lead.
Difference is, we can’t stop microplastics, the damage is already locked in for hundreds and hundreds of years.
Amateurs, i’ve been eating plastic for years. Labels on fruits, plastic wrappers on chocolate bars, lids on drinks bottles… Removing those is precious time taken away from the noble pursuit of working to death under capitalism.
Well I’m going to get drunk and have another cigarette because why the fuck not.
It’s not even funny how much of a mess we’ve made of the world.
Why even announce that? The Facebook educated scientists will have them called “COVID vaccine nanobots” by this afternoon. Wait and see…
Ah sweet! Man-made horrors beyond my comprehension.
We really need to switch to synthetic biology for manufacturing.
Who knows, these could be one of the causes of cancer and other auto immune disorders.
It was found in the amniotic fluid of pregnant women years ago, so finding it in blood was inevitable. Plastic can be fond in the Mariana Trench, the summit of Everest and in the Amazon rainforest. It would be naive to think we would not find it within our own system.
I don’t eat meat or fish, but did for years. Microplastics have started turning up in fish at ridiculous levels.
It is possible that microplastics have been with us (and in us) for some time. Possibly it is a cause of heart attacks and other ailments?