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health

A plateful of plastic: Visualizing the microplastic we consume

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Plastic does not biodegrade. Instead, it breaks down into smaller pieces, and ultimately ends up everywhere, including in the food chain.

In a week, we ingest a plastic bottle cap's worth, and in six months, we consume a cereal bowl full.

Yikes!

3 ( +3 / -0 )

How do the researcher's fears square with the fact that within that timeframe life expectancy has been increasing in every developed country, and in most of the developing ones?

I guess richer nations can be more choosy about what they eat? It's when those nations start developing health problems, maybe something will be done?

Either that, or eating plastic is really good for you.

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Big Yen:

According to the article, increased plastic consumption by humans must have been happening for decades. How do the researcher's fears square with the fact that within that timeframe life expectancy has been increasing in every developed country, and in most of the developing ones?

Non sequitur. Firstly, these are average numbers from different populations, and secondly, we do not know by how much life expectancy would have changed without the added plastic food.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Scientists will eventually develop bacteria which will thrive on microplastics starting

600 year long earth cleanup era.

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in a decade, we could be eating 2.5 kg in plastic.

And in that time, how much iron, potassium, mercury, dead flies, and other stuff do we consume?

From high school chemistry, I recall that plastic is organic. Should we celebrate?

We also don't fully know what impact this ingestion of micro and nano-sized plastic particles has on our health,

I suspect we don't fully know the effect of half the stuff we consume.

Sorry for the grumpy post. But articles like this make me feel no more knowledgable than I was before.

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BigYen said;

"According to the article, increased plastic consumption by humans must have been happening for decades. How do the researcher's fears square with the fact that within that timeframe life expectancy has been increasing in every developed country, and in most of the developing ones?"

The increase in life expectancy is not necessarily because people are living longer. Life expectancy is the "average" age at which people die. Infant mortality, which used to be rampant, has been considerably tamed in recent years and that accounts for the higher average age at death.

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Infant mortality, which used to be rampant, has been considerably tamed in recent years and that accounts for the higher average age at death.

I think it only accounts for part of it. The proportion of people aged over 100 has also increased. I'd guess the two things are related. Whatever the cause, physical health has generally improved. And thus the question - because of or despite plastic consumption? Or is plastic consumption largely irrelevant?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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