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posted by Fnord666 on Thursday August 22 2019, @06:27AM   Printer-friendly
from the does-this-taste-plasticky-to-you? dept.

Microplastics in water not harmful to humans, says WHO report

Microplastics are increasingly found in drinking water, but there is no evidence so far that this poses a risk to humans, according to a new assessment by the World Health Organization.

However, the United Nations body warned against complacency because more research is needed to fully understand how plastic spreads into the environment and works its way through human bodies.

There is no universally agreed definition of microplastics but they are generally considered to be smaller than half a millimetre across.

Plastic production has grown exponentially in recent decades and is predicted to double again by 2025, said the report, which means more beads and threads are breaking down into minute particles and winding up in water supplies, pipes, cups, throats and bellies. Studies suggest bottled drinking water even contains minuscule elements of the polymers used in the container and cap.

Also at CNN.

Related: Car Tyres Cause 55% of Microplastic Waste, According to Study
Paper on Microplastic's Harm to Fish Will Likely be Retracted
Microplastics Found in 90 Percent of Table Salt


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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by DeathMonkey on Thursday August 22 2019, @05:46PM

    by DeathMonkey (1380) on Thursday August 22 2019, @05:46PM (#883731) Journal

    1950: Five out of six doctors prefer Lucky Strike cigarettes

    Bullshit!

    When Cigarette Companies Used Doctors to Push Smoking [history.com]

    In 1930, it published an ad claiming “20,679 Physicians say ‘LUCKIES are less irritating’” to the throat. To get this number, the company’s ad agency had sent physicians cartons of Lucky Strike cigarettes and a letter asking if they thought Lucky Strikes were “less irritating to sensitive and tender throats than other cigarettes,” while noting “a good many people” had already said they were.

    That's eighteen years before the WHO even existed.

    Starting Score:    1  point
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    Total Score:   4