Plastics: Difference between revisions
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|title=Environment-Plastics== | |title=Environment-Plastics== | ||
|description=Information about plastics and the environment | |||
|keywords=micro plastics, brain, organs, plastic pollution, | |||
|image=File:Plastic pollution Guardian.jpg | |||
|image_width=300 | |||
|image_height=200 | |||
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File:Plastic pollution Guardian.jpg | |||
File:Micro Beads Common Dreams.jpg | |||
File:Micro Plastics Brain NYT.jpg | |||
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See improvements you could make on this page? Go ahead [[Special:CreateAccount|become a member]] and make your changes. | |||
=====Microplastics are everywhere: Is it possible to reduce our exposure?===== | |||
[https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240110-microplastics-are-everywhere-is-it-possible-to-reduce-our-exposure by Isabelle Gerretsen 6/3/24 BBC] | |||
Microplastics have been found on every part of the planet. The tiny particles of this anthropogenic material have been found buried in Antarctic sea ice, inside the guts of marine animals inhabiting the deepest ocean trenches, and in drinking water around the world. | |||
=====Your brain is full of microplastics: are they harming you?===== | |||
[https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00405-8 by Max Kozlov 11/2/25 nature] | |||
A sliver of human brain in a small vial starts to melt as lye is added to it. Over the next few days, the caustic chemical will break down the neurons and blood vessels within, leaving behind a grisly slurry containing thousands of tiny plastic particles. | |||
=====Microplastics Are Filling the Skies. Will They Affect the Climate?===== | |||
[https://e360.yale.edu/features/plastic-waste-atmosphere-climate-weather by Nicola Jones 1/2/23 YaleEnvironment] | |||
Plastic has become an obvious pollutant over recent decades, choking turtles and seabirds, clogging up our landfills and waterways. But in just the past few years, a less-obvious problem has emerged. Researchers are starting to get concerned about how tiny bits of plastic in the air, lofted into the skies from seafoam bubbles or spinning tires on the highway, might potentially change our future climate. | |||
=====Bioaccumulation of microplastics in decedent human brains===== | |||
[https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-03453-1 by Alexander J. Nihart 3/2/25 nature medicine] | |||
Rising global concentrations of environmental microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPs) drive concerns for human exposure and health outcomes. Complementary methods for the robust detection of tissue MNPs, including pyrolysis gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, attenuated total reflectance–Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy, confirm the presence of MNPs in human kidney, liver and brain. | |||
=====How microplastics are infiltrating the food you eat===== | |||
[https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230103-how-plastic-is-getting-into-our-food by Isabelle Gerretsen 3/1/23 BBC] | |||
Microplastics have infiltrated every part of the planet. They have been found buried in Antarctic sea ice, within the guts of marine animals inhabiting the deepest ocean trenches, and in drinking water around the world. Plastic pollution has been found on beaches of remote, uninhabited islands and it shows up in sea water samples across the planet. One study estimated that there are around 24.4 trillion fragments of microplastics in the upper regions of the world's oceans. | |||
=====Microplastics infiltrate human organs, raising health concerns===== | |||
[https://www.ehn.org/microplastics-infiltrate-human-organs-raising-health-concerns by EHN Curators 27/2/25 EHN] | |||
In 2024, toxicologist Matthew Campen discovered that the adult human brain contains about a disposable spoon's worth of plastic, a 50% increase from eight years prior. | |||
Studies have found microplastics in human tissues such as placentas, breast milk, and semen, suggesting widespread infiltration of our bodies. | |||
Research indicates potential links between microplastic exposure and health issues like cardiovascular disease, reduced sperm count, and certain cancers. | |||
=====Microplastics are in our bodies. How much do they harm us?===== | |||
[https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/microplastics-are-in-our-bodies-how-much-do-they-harm-us by Laura Parker 8/5/23 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC] | |||
A few years ago, as microplastics began turning up in the guts of fish and shellfish, the concern was focused on the safety of seafood. Shellfish were a particular worry, because in their case, unlike fish, we eat the entire animal—stomach, microplastics and all. In 2017, Belgian scientists announced that seafood lovers could consume up to 11,000 plastic particles a year by eating mussels, a favorite dish in that country. | |||
=====How do microplastics impact our gut health?===== | =====How do microplastics impact our gut health?===== | ||
[https://www.ehn.org/microplastics-and-gut-health by Allison Guy 6/10/23 EHN] | [https://www.ehn.org/microplastics-and-gut-health by Allison Guy 6/10/23 EHN] | ||
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[https://insideclimatenews.org/news/16052025/texas-microplastic-bay-pollution/ by Dylan Baddour 16/5/25 Inside Climate News] | [https://insideclimatenews.org/news/16052025/texas-microplastic-bay-pollution/ by Dylan Baddour 16/5/25 Inside Climate News] | ||
The first study of microplastics in Texas coastal sediment was funded through a local environmental activist’s landmark legal victory over plastic pollution, one of many such research projects. | The first study of microplastics in Texas coastal sediment was funded through a local environmental activist’s landmark legal victory over plastic pollution, one of many such research projects. | ||
