Humans produce a lot of waste and we don’t often dispose of it well, especially in poorer countries it tends to end up in water and other places where it can threaten health. A lot of this waste is plastics and there have been claims about widespread circulation of microplastic particles that are then accumulating in human bodies. Let’s call this microplastic hysteria, because more thoughtful researchers have now published a letter challenging these claims made by sensationalist studies that garnered a lot of media attention. Turns out those studies suck, to put it mildly, with a variety of methodological issues and with results that have a lot of more likely alternative explanations.
To my great distress, science and scientists have become infested with ideology and desire for glory that leads to a lot of bad research and even outright fraud. Climate science is one of the worst areas, but as this article demonstrates, it is widespread across multiple areas of research. (Nature Letter)
In Minnesota – with the water utilities and testing – it all got pushed on them by MDH. Does this truly shock you?
Around 2019 the township I live in came up with new guidelines for plastics to be recycle. That is when I learned to my disappointment the recycled plastics basically get shipped overseas to other countries where we lose control how it is disposed of. In our township we have an incinerator where the non-recycled garbage goes to be burnt, and the byproduct is electricity and a smaller amount of waste that goes to the landfill. When recycling took a strong foot hold the incinerator had to add tires to the mix to get the flame hotter, the emission equipment required a high burn temperature to function properly.
Plastics has been a huge advancement for society in many ways. Look at all the nifty food containers available today. Having said that there is one practice I avoid. I make an effort to avoid having plastic containers with food or drink in them being in direct sunlight for extended periods of time. I believe there is a degree of oxidizing that takes place with plastics. On automobiles the film that gets on the inside of wind shields is from that process. I am sure the level absorbed by the food or drink is minor, but I still avoid it.
I am with you that there is good reason to be cautious about plastic particles, residues, etc.