You’re Filled With Microplastics. So What?

Plastic pollution has been called “one of the greatest environmental challenges of the 21st century.” Billions of tons of it has entered the ecosystem, and entered YOU, in the form of so-called “microplastics.” But are microplastics actually bad? How would we even figure that out? Noted pollution Zaddy Kyle Hill explains why even when something seems obvious, the science of proving that obviousness can be difficult.

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[gabor]

What doesn't kill you, makes you more susceptible to things that can kill you.

[grayrook]

Average large plastic distributor: "Now hear me out, we melt down the poor for their plastic

[Marth]

My Grandfather was full of Lead.
My Father was full of Asbestos.
I'm full of Micro Plastics.

I'm noticing a trend and lack of accountability amongst businesses and governments here.

[Schizmatizmify]

The problem with doing studies comparing people with vs. without microplastics, is that almost nobody on the planet meets the criteria for the latter...

[Ashest]

You eat microplastics.
I eat macroplastics.
We are not the same.

[tasansmith-gandy]

Since I’m filled with plastic, I guess I’ll last forever then

[TheFireMaker]

Plastic is like glitter. Well glitter is plastic but we all know once it's out of the bottle, there is no puting it back in the bottle.

[Kor]

Why does it always fall on consumers to cleanup what producers have created? Why can't we hold companies responsible for not giving us non-plastic, non-recyclable containers?

[bodyweightbob]

Good thing there isn’t a large industrial complex that would be negatively impacted that could fund studies to state their product doesn’t seem to have any negative effects

[CRT.v]

Part of the reason I quit my last job (plastic blow mold operator/part trimmer) was me coughing up what I thought was a small tonsil stone, only to find a bright orange piece of plastic in the sink instead. All the plastic dust that got blown around by the industrial fans was bad, of course, but was easier to not think too hard about. Seeing that little piece of plastic that hadn't quite made it into my lungs was a hell of a shock. How many pieces had I breathed in that DIDN'T get caught in my throat? I peaced out of there that same week.

[mysticsmoke]

I'm so well aware of microplastics that I joke about it every single time I drink out of my juice jug

[mhtanks]

"Just a heads-up: That food you've been eating had microplastics in it so we could see the health affects it has on the human body. There's a slight chance the microplastics may clump together and vitrify your frontal lobe. Anyway, don't stress yourself thinking about it. I'm serious. Vizualizing the scenario while under stress actually triggers the reaction."

[RodsFromGod_]

Even if plastic production was completely halted today, there will forever remain tons of indestructible MP's in our food, water and air. One of the main contributors to the vast amount of plastic being produced is when manufacturers switched from glass to plastic, since it was cheaper to produce. Especially in the food industry. Glass is nearly infinitely recyclable, cheaper to recycle than plastic and actually sorta bio-degrades over time back into silica. As a kid, I remember returning bottles of Pepsi at the convenience store to get my 5 or 10 cent deposits back. They'd simply rewash/relabel the bottles and send them back out. Remember, this entire switch to plastics was done to make more profits for them.

[GuyIncognitoOfficial]

One of the reasons we have so many microplastics is that oil companies told us we could recycle them. The recycling process creates tons of microplastics and the waste water is just flushed away.

[conwarlock]

"Life in Plastic, it's... well, not all that good, but not because of the plastic, maybe."

[BillEco]

I wish I could get megaplastics instead

[spiritofthewinds]

how do we establish a control group if every human body is already afflicted?

[MidwestArtMan]

One thing that bugs me about environmentalist movements is that they seem to only focus on CO2 and never mention plastic pollution. I'm guessing it's because dealing with plastic pollution is hard, while you can just charge extra taxes for CO2 emissions and say you'll spend the money on trees.

[under-chonker]

Switching from plastic to glass bottles and containers would be one of the best things to do but plastic manufacturers say glass is "too heavy and expensive". Metal soda cans are lined with a protective plastic layer to not corrode the metal too.

[slavicgerman]

They can honeycomb my brain, destroy my liver, and shred my heart...but stay away from my balls!