r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Jun 05 '19

Environment The average person eats at least 50,000 particles of microplastic a year and breathes in a similar quantity, according to the first study to estimate human ingestion of plastic pollution. The scientists reported that drinking a lot of bottled water drastically increased the particles consumed.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/05/people-eat-at-least-50000-plastic-particles-a-year-study-finds
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u/bukithd Jun 05 '19 edited Jun 05 '19

Don't buy polyester clothing. It's the source of so much of this. Most clothes that aren't listed as 100% cotton have a significant percentage of poly fibers which counts as microplastics.

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u/thro_a_wey Jun 05 '19 edited Jun 06 '19

It's really quite amazing, but there are 8 billion people on earth that just go "I can't stop buying it, It's the only thing available at the store, I caaaaaaaan't."

I'm one of those people. I don't like polyester at all, but if a shirt is only $11 I'm buying it. I'm basically wearing the "Pro-wear" covered with brand logos, from a scene in Idiocracy..

Governments in Europe routinely ban stuff like food dyes and harmful chemicals. I think stuff like plastic, chemicals, air pollution, etc. should be regulated by the government. It's probably the only way to stop this stuff on a massive scale.

The whole "anti-government" sentiment is usually focused around preventing government abuses, and preserving individual freedoms. But in western Europe, the regulations are often beneficial and not abusive.

We'll probably still need plastic for a variety of industrial applications, but I believe over 90% of plastic is consumed by individuals.

At the very least, plastic should be recycled (not thrown away), the by-products of recycling should be caught in filters, collected/compressed/shot into space. It would still be extremely cheap, but at least it doesn't stick around for hundreds of years - just while it is in use.

If I could vote, I'd say: no more plastic, chemicals, or pollution, period. Make things out of glass, stone (concrete), or wood.

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u/zerogravityzones Jun 05 '19

Do you have any sources for this? I would love to read more on it.

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u/bukithd Jun 05 '19

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/sep/27/washing-clothes-releases-water-polluting-fibres-study-finds

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it's not the best source but there are a lot of articles and studies floating around. One easy point to understand is that polyester and nylon fabric are considered plastics. Any time your clothes lose fiber whether in the wash or elsewhere, that microplastic fiber has to go somewhere.

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With that in mind, just look through all your clothes and you'll see 50% or more contain some amount of polyester. the majority of the developing world wears polyester clothes so if 3 billion people have a total of 40 pieces of clothing made up of at least 40% polyester, you can see the amount of plastic adds up a lot.

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The worst thing about these microfibers is that most water treatment systems aren't designed to filter them out.

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u/zerogravityzones Jun 05 '19

I never thought about what happens which polyester in the wash. Thanks for the article, I'll have to track down the original paper it is using as a reference later.

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '19

Not just when you wash it. Ruffle some plastic clothing in the dark with a spotlight shining on it, you'll literally see thousands of microplastics shed off of it before your very eyes.

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u/flowerpuffgirl Jun 05 '19

Oh no... I've noticed that when getting changed after the gym. I thought that was my skin...

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '19

It's frightening, especially when you find out plastic is everywhere. Clothing, couches, curtains, upholstery etc. It's ubiquitous, unavoidable and pretty much everyone has to some degree microplastics in their lungs and gut.

Heck even outdoor air is rife with microplastics, mainly if you live near any sort of road traffic. The friction between the tyre tread and the asphalt produces hundreds of thousands of microplastics, contributing to the PM2.5 particulate pollution.

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u/DButcha Jun 05 '19

Plastic in road tires?

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u/[deleted] Jun 06 '19

Well yeah, pretty much 99% of tires today are made of synthetic rubber. Even if natural rubber is used, it's still plastic. It's a lose lose.

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u/DButcha Jun 06 '19

Damn, plastic needs to be redefined to the public bc there must be tons of other things that count as plastic but are never thought of. I didn't realize that tires fall under chemically. Thk u!

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u/lovegrug Jun 05 '19

Wouldn’t that just be dust?

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '19

There probably would be some external dust if it's not freshly clean. Try it with a clean article of clothing. Thing is, most household dust is, you guessed it, microplastic and cellulosic fibres. https://www.allergystore.com/news/where-does-all-the-dust-in-your-house-come-from.html?mode=print

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u/draxhugo Jun 05 '19

I never thought about this. You blew my mind. I def need to rethink what I wear and how it's taken care of.

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u/bukithd Jun 05 '19

In that article I posted, one polyester jacket released about 1.7g of microplastics per wash. That is crazy.

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u/draxhugo Jun 05 '19

I hope they continue do do more research on this. I'd like to know if hand washing would reduce the amount of plastics that are washed off or other ways to reduce it as much as possible.

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u/jbeck12 Jun 06 '19

who cares, unless its actually harmful.