What, in your opinion, is going to be the effect of microplastics building up in our bodies?

[The Sum of Awe]

I’m honestly terrified whenever the thought crosses my mind. I imagine a seizure or sudden organ failure, or suddenly just a huge pain in an organ, or a terrible heart attack. And we all know microplastics are building up in our brains and arteries, there’s no avoiding it if you drink water or eat food

 

[JustGeorge]

Cancer, I suspect.

 

[We Never Know]

I’m honestly terrified whenever the thought crosses my mind. I imagine a seizure or sudden organ failure, or suddenly just a huge pain in an organ, or a terrible heart attack.

Its everywhere. Food, water, air. I think its been found at every place on the planet, even Antarctica.

We all know it can't be good but IMO what ever bad is found in studies won't be released to the public because it would cause wide spread massive panic.

 

[Stevicus]

I’m honestly terrified whenever the thought crosses my mind. I imagine a seizure or sudden organ failure, or suddenly just a huge pain in an organ, or a terrible heart attack. And we all know microplastics are building up in our brains and arteries, there’s no avoiding it if you drink water or eat food

Maybe our species will evolve into something like Plastic Man. We'll be able to stretch our arms and legs much further. More flexible overall.

Although we'll probably be some cheap imitation.

 

[We Never Know]

Maybe our species will evolve into something like Plastic Man. We'll be able to stretch our arms and legs much further. More flexible overall.

Although we'll probably be some cheap imitation.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I’m honestly terrified whenever the thought crosses my mind. I imagine a seizure or sudden organ failure, or suddenly just a huge pain in an organ, or a terrible heart attack. And we all know microplastics are building up in our brains and arteries, there’s no avoiding it if you drink water or eat food

The Yale University site associates it with Dementia and cell destruction.

Microplastics Found in Human Brains

e360.yale.edu

 

[Quintessence]

It's going to be subtle, like any other form of environmental pollution. You're not going to see sudden and dramatic health effects. What you're going to see are compounding risk factors that lead to more chronic illness among the population. For examples of the sort of subtle effects you'll see with another environmental pollutant, see:

Air Pollution and Your Health

Air pollution is a familiar environmental health hazard. We know what we’re looking at when brown haze settles over a city, exhaust billows across a busy highway, or a plume rises from a smokestack. Some air pollution is not seen, but its pungent smell alerts you.

www.niehs.nih.gov

Plastic is honestly going to probably look very similar to this, maybe affecting somewhat different organ systems. See:

Harmful effects of the microplastic pollution on animal health: a literature review

The environmental pollution by microplastics is a global problem arising from the extensive production and use of plastics. Small particles of different plastics, measured less than 5 mm in diameter, are found in water, air, soil, and various living organisms ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[GoodAttention]

Unless it slows down virus, bacteria, and parasites, thereby giving us a boost in immunity?

The very thin silver lining to the poly-plastic-micro-world.

 

[Revoltingest]

I'll be like Professor Impossible!

 

[Quagmire]

The discovery of fire gave early man asthma, bronchitis, and cancer.

Animal husbandry and an agrarian lifestyle gave us most of our infectious diseases and more virolent strains of diseases we already had.

The industrial revolution and the resulting urbanization led to constant, widespread outbreaks of cholera, smallpox, typhus, tuberculosis (the list goes on).

The advent of mechanization - the "machine age"- has helped give us a sedentary lifestyle which has led to heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, osteoporosis and other health conditions.

The overall rise in the quality of life in the first world in the 20th century gave us the opportunity to indulge and over-indulge in all kinds of unhealthy activities that has led to a host of degenerative diseases.

Every new development in transportation has given us a new way to wind up wrapped around a tree or splattered against the side of a mountain.

So now we're in an age where just about everything we use is either made out of plastic, comes in plastic, or both.

Progress is never free.

(And In my opinion it's very seldom progress)

The micro plastics in our bodies doesn't bother me nearly as much as this does:

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

 

[Brickjectivity]

I’m honestly terrified whenever the thought crosses my mind. I imagine a seizure or sudden organ failure, or suddenly just a huge pain in an organ, or a terrible heart attack. And we all know microplastics are building up in our brains and arteries, there’s no avoiding it if you drink water or eat food

The impact of sugar and ultra processed foods is probably more critical, but I don't see any reason we could not switch back from plastic to other materials. We could. It might be very good for the economy, too.

Maybe nothing bad will happen.

 

[We Never Know]

The discovery of fire gave early man asthma, bronchitis, and cancer.

Animal husbandry and an agrarian lifestyle gave us most of our infectious diseases and more virolent strains of diseases we already had.

The industrial revolution and the resulting urbanization led to constant, widespread outbreaks of cholera, smallpox, typhus, tuberculosis (the list goes on).

The advent of mechanization - the "machine age"- has helped give us a sedentary lifestyle which has led to heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, osteoporosis and other health conditions.

The overall rise in the quality of life in the first world in the 20th century gave us the opportunity to indulge and over-indulge in all kinds of unhealthy activities that has led to a host of degenerative diseases.

Every new development in transportation has given us a new way to wind up wrapped around a tree or splattered against the side of a mountain.

So now we're in an age where just about everything we use is either made out of plastic, comes in plastic, or both.

Progress is never free.

(And In my opinion it's very seldom progress)

The micro plastics in our bodies doesn't bother me nearly as much as this does:

View attachment 96194
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Yeah that garbage patch is huge. Roughly 600,000 square miles.

Sadly its one of five

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch | The Ocean Cleanup

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest accumulation of ocean plastic in the world and is located between Hawaii and California. Scientists of The Ocean Cleanup Foundation have conducted the most extensive analysis ever of this area.

theoceancleanup.com

 

[JustGeorge]

The impact of sugar and ultra processed foods is probably more critical, but I don't see any reason we could not switch back from plastic to other materials. We could. It might be very good for the economy, too.

Maybe nothing bad will happen.

Why do you think sugar and processed food will be more critical?

I'm not necessarily disagreeing, just wondering what your take it.

 

[Quagmire]

Yeah that garbage patch is huge. Roughly 600,000 square miles.

Wow. About the same size as Alaska.

Sadly its one of five

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch | The Ocean Cleanup

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest accumulation of ocean plastic in the world and is located between Hawaii and California. Scientists of The Ocean Cleanup Foundation have conducted the most extensive analysis ever of this area.

theoceancleanup.com

The good news is we should be able to walk from California to Hawaii any day now.

 

[The Sum of Awe]

The discovery of fire gave early man asthma, bronchitis, and cancer.

Animal husbandry and an agrarian lifestyle gave us most of our infectious diseases and more virolent strains of diseases we already had.

The industrial revolution and the resulting urbanization led to constant, widespread outbreaks of cholera, smallpox, typhus, tuberculosis (the list goes on).

The advent of mechanization - the "machine age"- has helped give us a sedentary lifestyle which has led to heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, osteoporosis and other health conditions.

The overall rise in the quality of life in the first world in the 20th century gave us the opportunity to indulge and over-indulge in all kinds of unhealthy activities that has led to a host of degenerative diseases.

Every new development in transportation has given us a new way to wind up wrapped around a tree or splattered against the side of a mountain.

So now we're in an age where just about everything we use is either made out of plastic, comes in plastic, or both.

Progress is never free.

(And In my opinion it's very seldom progress)

The micro plastics in our bodies doesn't bother me nearly as much as this does:

View attachment 96194
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Well written and very true.

I suppose the “progress” parts of plastic are 1) The concept of a durable, long lasting container. 2) The scare it gave us has humans now trying to find a more biodegradable solution.

Good things did come from the bad you’ve listed. And we still use them to this day, we learned how to deal with the repercussions.

 

[Brickjectivity]

Why do you think sugar and processed food will be more critical?

I'm not necessarily disagreeing, just wondering what your take it.

I think that microplastics enter our bodies in very small amounts and do not have a metabolic niche. They are a risk. They could cause inflammation and therefore encourage cancers. By themselves I think they are a very low risk. I also worry about them sometimes, however they are not bad in the way cadmium is. If I use that as an example it shows how bad something can be for you. Cadmium gets into your bones, replacing calcium and weakening bones. It gets into your brain and causes retardation. Cadmium tends to accumulate in chocolate; so when we eat chocolate we get a dose of it. Do we stop eating chocolate, then?

So I am cutting back on chocolate (which always comes in a plastic container by-the-way). At least its not tin. People used to get their chocolate in tins.

You see how the available information is vague and generic and leaves us with little except anxiety? The following site lists some potential risks to almost every body system except skin: cardiovascular, immune, liver & kidney, reproductive, neurological, gastrointestinal. Did they leave anything out? Oh, they didn't mention skin. They mentioned that everything else could conceivably be compromised. Why not skin? I'll add skin. There could be some impact to your skin. They also left out the lungs. Possibly microplastics could clogg the lungs, too.

"https://www.everydayhealth.com/healthy-living/what-are-the-health-risks-of-microplastics-in-our-bodies/"

 

[Quagmire]

Good things did come from the bad you’ve listed. And we still use them to this day, we learned how to deal with the repercussions.

Somewhat anyway. A lot of it's just personal choice. All the nasty stuff floating around in our environment is one of the reasons I try to fast for a few days every month.

The human body is pretty resilient if you treat it right.