cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/21698005
As government regulators focused on reigning in air pollution, companies were busy generating new sources of pollution, including plastics and PFAS, the so-called forever chemicals. PFAS, which stands for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a large group of compounds used, among other things, to make fabric stain-resistant and pans nonstick.
Over time, these modern-era substances — which famously take decades to millennia to degrade — have leached into the environment, reaching every corner of the planet, no matter how tall or deep. Microplastics, PFAS, and some other compounds, such as pesticides, are now so widespread that they’ve essentially become part of our biome, not unlike bacteria or fungi.
They’re so common, in fact, that they’re even found in the rain.
A number of studies, for example, have documented microplastics in rain falling all over the world — even in remote, unpopulated regions. For one 2020 analysis in the journal Science, researchers documented microplastics in rainwater that fell on several national parks and wilderness areas in the Western US. Most of the plastic bits were microfibers, such as those shed from polyester sweaters or carpeting on the floor of a car. The researchers estimated that more than 1,000 metric tons of plastic from the atmosphere fall on parks in the West each year, including both as rainfall and as dry dust. That’s equivalent to roughly 120 to 300 million plastic water bottles, according to the study.
archived (Wayback Machine)
I actually think the acid is more scary than microplastics. The plastic isn’t gonna burn.
PFAS ≠ microplastics! PFAS is potentially worse and can clog up your body for the duration of its lifespan, hence “forever chemicals”… At least acid can get neutralized by a base.
You seem to know more about this than I do, so what’s the damage? Like, it stays in the body, which is all I’ve heard multiple times, but is that it? Like it just stays there and nothing happens? Does it cause cancer or organ failure?
'cause if it doesn’t actually do any damage, then sure, it sucks that we’re poluting everything, but it wouldn’t really be the worst type of polution we’re currently ignoring.
They are, at the very least, likely to be endocrine disrupters in humans: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7926449/
The exposure to PFASs is known to cause liver toxicity, reproductive disorders, neurotoxicity and immunotoxicity (Table 2). Harmful health effects observed as a result of PFASs exposure could be highly associated with disturbance of hormone homeostasis. It has been reported that PFASs could interfere with molecular components of the endocrine system and modulate synthesis or secretions of selected hormones [27,28,29]. PFOA and PFOS act as endocrine disruptors mainly via effect on distribution of sex hormones, through mechanisms related to estrogen receptor activation and transcription of selected genes [29,30,31]. An in vivo and in vitro study conducted on animals have shown negative impact of two short-chain PFASs, i.e., PFBS and PFHxS on reproduction through the hypothalamus–pituitary–gonad axis [32], mainly due to deregulation of thyroid function [33,34,35,36]. Epidemiologic evidence of endocrine-disrupting activity of short-chain PFASs is limited and, similar to study on long-chain PFASs, in many cases inconsistent. As a result, none of PFASs has been categorized as EDCs by any legislative bodies up to these days. The main reason for considering these compounds to be endocrine-toxic was based on consistent reports, showing thyroid hormone level alterations and high risk of hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis in animals exposed to PFOS [37,38,39,40].
Also see: https://www.endocrine.org/topics/edc/what-edcs-are/common-edcs/pfas
“Although data is still quite limited, maybe all these epidemics that we have — obesity, cardiovascular disease, everybody getting cancer — are related,” LaBeaud said. “People are trying to figure out if they’re associated with the plastics that we’re inhaling and imbibing.”
Children, whose organs are still developing, could be at higher risk of harm. Kara Meister, MD, a pediatric otolaryngologist and head and neck surgeon at Stanford Medicine, noticed that thyroid cancer was becoming more common among her patients and was often linked to autoimmune disease. Considering what could be disrupting kids’ hormones, she decided to research microplastics.
In early 2024, Meister and her team began looking for microplastics in tonsils they’d removed from healthy children with conditions such as sleep apnea. “What we found is there are definitely microplastics in a high proportion of pediatric tonsil tissue, and they seem to be not only on the surface but also deep within,” she said. In one child’s tonsils, the team found specs of Teflon visible with a microscope.
Next, Meister and her team are developing techniques to identify and quantify the microplastics they’re finding and to determine where exactly they’re embedded. Eventually, her aim is to illuminate the potential role of microplastics in pediatric thyroid disease. “We have a long way to go,” she said.
Scientists don’t yet know how long microplastics stay in the body or how effects are tempered by genetics, the environment or other factors. They haven’t determined whether some plastics or forms of exposure are worse than others. Nor do studies exist on the direct dangers of microplastics in humans. “Because plastic is so ubiquitous, it’s difficult to have a lot of evidence that’s causal,” LaBeaud said. “It’s not like we’re going to have randomized control trials where people aren’t exposed.”
- Microplastics and our health: What the science says
Microplastics’ physical properties are one source of potential hazards. Some marine organisms seem to be eating more microplastics and fewer nutrients, which can reverberate up the food chain. In humans, researchers point to illnesses caused by particulate air pollution, which contains microplastics, and by workplace exposure to plastic dust.
Other threats arise from chemicals in and on microplastic particles, including plastic components — such as BPA, phthalates, and heavy metals — that are known or suspected to cause disruption to nervous, reproductive, and other systems.
Although the variety of microplastics and the difficulty of estimating accumulation in human tissues make it challenging to pin down risks, findings in models show inflammation, cell death, lung and liver effects, changes in the gut microbiome, and altered lipid and hormone metabolism.
Mounting evidence suggests that microplastics magnify the potency of other toxicant exposures, such as cadmium, as Demir and Turna Demir have confirmed in fruit flies and Lemos has confirmed in mice and fruit flies. Others are chasing down hints that microplastics can carry antibiotic-resistant bacteria and other pathogens on their surfaces and into our bodies.
- Microplastics Everywhere | Harvard Health Magazine
So yeah, it’s baaaaad. I literally only have stainless steel cookware. I store food almost exclusively in glass containers and I carry a metal fork and spoon with me whenever I dine if the restaurant would serve plastic utensils (but I’m declining more and more outside food in general).
Most recently, I’ve adopted the practice of filtering water, boiling it for 5 min, cooling it for 10, and then sending it through a tea strainer: Boiling, Filtering Water Can Get Rid of Microplastics, Study Finds (Yale)
A number of studies, for example, have documented microplastics in rain falling all over the world — even in remote, unpopulated regions. For one 2020 analysis in the journal Science, researchers documented microplastics in rainwater that fell on several national parks and wilderness areas in the Western US. Most of the plastic bits were microfibers, such as those shed from polyester sweaters or carpeting on the floor of a car. The researchers estimated that more than 1,000 metric tons of plastic from the atmosphere fall on parks in the West each year, including both as rainfall and as dry dust. That’s equivalent to roughly 120 to 300 million plastic water bottles, according to the study.
Yes, that’s the second half of the quoted portion. What about the first? The point is that it’s all bad and not any better than acid rain.
