SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the sounds-cough-about-wheeze-right dept.
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
Researchers from King's have carried out the first study of microplastics in the atmosphere in London to determine what people within the city might be exposed to and where this comes from.
In the study published today in Environment International, they found that microplastics are present in the air in London at higher abundances than any other major city examined so far. Their findings indicate that cities are a likely source of microplastics to the wider environment with the weather and meteorological patterns having little influence on their abundance in this urban environment.
[...] They found that:
- Microplastics were present in every sample taken in London and greater than previously reported by any other study.
- Levels of microplastics were higher in London compared to Dongguan, China and Paris, France and Hamburg, Germany.
- Levels of microplastics in London are almost 20 times greater than in the French Pyrenees when comparing particles of the same size.
- 92% were fibrous microplastics that come from the wear down of plastic textiles including clothing, upholstery and carpets.
- The other sources include fragments from larger plastic products, films from thin plastic items such as disposable plastic bags and foam from polystyrene items.
- Microplastics can become airborne and travel as far as 95 km by the wind however local sources have a greater influence on deposition in central London.
Lead author Dr. Stephanie Wright, UKRI Rutherford Fellow in the School of Population Health & Environmental Sciences at King's said: "We found some of the highest reported levels of microplastics in atmospheric dust, with local sources appearing influential. Fibres were the most abundant for the size range we looked at, mirroring the marine environment. From where microplastics are emitted and for how long they are airborne remain unknown but are key for understanding long-range transport potential to the wider environment. An important next step in predicting risk is to estimate human exposure to airborne microplastics."
Although the impact of microplastics on humans is still relatively unknown, occupational studies indicate that workers exposed to very high levels of plastic dust suffer chronic inflammation of the airway, in some (worst) cases interstitial lung disease and tissue scarring. Despite not all sources of microplastics being known and the impact on human health, the authors suggest there can be ways to mitigate your exposure.
More information: S.L. Wright et al. Atmospheric microplastic deposition in an urban environment and an evaluation of transport, Environment International (2019). DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.105411
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday January 03 2020, @08:27AM (4 children)
I mean, look, the Londoners like the smell of microplastics in the morning (and all the day long) and other (brown) people are so keen about it they kill themselves to get to breathing it.
Only days now and we give the fling to those blood-sucking European parasites and their environment regulations. By bloody Jove, who do they think they are, we'll increase the appeal of microplastics in air and we'll be the first capital city to launch the "breath nanoplastics" campaign.
(grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Unixnut on Friday January 03 2020, @10:50AM (3 children)
> I mean, look, the Londoners like the smell of microplastics in the morning...
Considering how many Londoners smoke, I doubt they can smell much at all anymore, which explains why they can live there.
In seriousness, I lived in London my entire life, and I never noticed how much the place stank, until work took me out to the shires for 9 months. After relocating, every time I went to London I noticed a distinct all-encompassing stench that persisted everywhere (Except the underground, where it was thousands of times worse).
At the time I thought it was the combined BO of 9 million people crammed like sardines in a concrete jungle, stuck in a valley with no airflow, but perhaps the microplastics in the air were the cause (or some combination thereof). Either way. not a place I ever wanted to live in, so I was glad to leave as soon as I could.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by meisterister on Friday January 03 2020, @07:38PM
You can often distinguish between major cities based on their smell. While I don't exactly remember the particular stench London had, New York City will always be burned in my mind as smelling like diesel and cigarettes.
(May or may not have been) Posted from my K6-2, Athlon XP, or Pentium I/II/III.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 03 2020, @07:47PM (1 child)
I worked there for a decade, the last three years of which I escaped back to Scotland every weekend. By the time I got off the train at the nearest station to my home up here, my nose started working again, the sea air cleared the London spoor from my lungs, it was great to actually savour food again, come Monday morning getting off the overnight bus at Victoria coach station my nose would shut down again for another week.
You could escape the smell for a while and still be in London, early mornings walking the dog in Brockwell park did wonders for the nose, unfortunately by the time I got to work in Ec1 it had shut down again.
It's been a couple of decades, I've now forgotten what the 'London smell' was like, the smell of the Tube however, specifically the Northern Line during rush hour, that I'll never forget...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 04 2020, @10:36PM
The worst smell I experienced in London was a young gentleman on the Piccadilly Line wearing an Animal Liberation Front T-shirt. I think he was being kind to bacteria.