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Revealed: more than 1,000 metric tons of microplastics rain down on US parks and wilderness
Microplastic particles equivalent to as many as 300m plastic water bottles are raining down on the Grand Canyon, Joshua Tree and other US national parks, researchers have found.
In a survey of 11 remote western locations, also including the Great Basin and Craters of the Moon national parks, researchers discovered [DOI: 10.1126/science.aaz5819] [DX] more than 1,000 metric tons of microplastic particles that had traveled through the atmosphere like rain or water particles.
Most microplastics are fragments from larger pieces of plastic. Since plastics aren't biodegradable, plastics that end up in waste piles or landfills break down into microparticles and make their way through the Earth's atmosphere, soil and water systems.
[...] Scientists have also linked [open, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.9b01339] [DX] microplastic particles to fluctuations in soil thermal properties, leading to losses in plant life.
Some stay dry and others feel the pain.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Saturday June 13 2020, @12:18AM (9 children)
Why does everyone suddenly have their panties in a bunch over plastic dust? We've been coated in rubber dust, and metal dust (all those brake pads wearing down, you see), and glass dust, and wood dust, and every other human material dust for a long, long time now. If there are hippies that are horrified at the idea of being covered in, argh, plastic dust, or any other human-caused dust, then they should move to a humid, fetid swamp. And be covered in slime.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by takyon on Saturday June 13 2020, @12:27AM
Yes, all that shit is bad for you too! If you can smell it and it ain't food or flowers, it's probably bad.
And a "long, long time now" is only centuries at best for large numbers of people (industrial revolution) and less than a century for many novel chemicals. Now entire populations are exposed to whatever compounds have made it out of the lab without instantly causing cancer.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 5, Interesting) by MostCynical on Saturday June 13 2020, @12:29AM (7 children)
because almost all those you mention have been shown to have detrimental effects on life, so knowing plastic kills plants, and now finding out that it is getting everywhere is more than a bit of a concern, for those of us who appreciate, well, life and living
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Saturday June 13 2020, @01:00AM (6 children)
I can't keep up with you guys. Just yesterday c0lo was telling me that using my oldest functional gadget, my trusty rock, to grind my food was bad for me because grit would wind up in my food and damage my teeth. Now you're saying that using metal, wooden, and other tools is bad for me.
What are we supposed to do, draw sustenance from the universal karma as breathaireans, and dream what objects we need into existence?
Bah. As my granddad used to say, "It ain't a real job until you bleed."
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday June 13 2020, @01:18AM (2 children)
You didn't specify that. You said dust.
Wood dust in particular is carcinogenic, and the fine wood dust (particle size matters) created with modern tools (e.g. a circular saw) is unlike what would be produced by Neolithic woodcarvers, for example. But the end products with dust cleared or washed away should probably be fine.
Rubber dust doesn't sound too good. Reminds me of the Chinesium black rubber/polymer smell that is either a product of poor environmental regulations or a long-term project to troll Americans by selling them cheap products that cause cancer.
I don't think you want to be breathing metal dust. But cooking with cast iron and having some iron leach into your food is probably fine unless you have hemochromatosis.
In general, I just think there are a lot of situations where people should be wearing respirators or ideally a self-contained oxygen supply. And your body is accumulating all sorts of unnatural or harmful crap that it wouldn't have 500 years ago or 100 years ago. Maybe the effect is only to shear off 6 months from your life expectancy or make your breathing worse late in life. Harm that you didn't sign up for, but not easily quantified harm.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Saturday June 13 2020, @12:24PM (1 child)
Dammit, takyon, are you now trying to tell me that humans are not adapted to living on Earth, the planet where they evolved?
As for rubber dust, well, everybody should stop wearing shoes and driving cars and walk everywhere barefoot. But then you're going to be breathing Bob's toe jam and that's just gross.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 13 2020, @04:13PM
Bob probably wouldn't have fungus growing on his feet if he wasn't indoctrinated into believing that wearing socks 24/7 was sometthing normal.
(Score: 4, Touché) by c0lo on Saturday June 13 2020, @02:25AM (2 children)
Oh, but you totally misunderstood what was the problem I was pointing out. Let me clarify
Teeth damage is not a bug, those dentists need to live too.
The problem I was pointing to: the damage is done to your property, the rock. It erodes and you'll be left with no rock after a while.
To put this in perspective - that rock was whole for millions of years, if not longer; were you not to use it for grinding, it would have lasted even longer. See??
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Saturday June 13 2020, @11:56AM (1 child)
You're concerned with the state of my rock, but the people worrying about "microplastics" are not worrying about preserving the state of the plastics. They're concerned about the plastic dust that comes off the plastic, and its presumed effect on the environment and health. Those are two separate things.
As far as my rock goes, it seems you are looking at it the wrong way. My rock is slowly, non-violently shaping itself better to use through a mutually consensual, organic relationship. It is becoming the best rock it can possibly be. And, it will pass on to future generations, recycled and upcycled, over and over again in a natural, loving transfer.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Sunday June 14 2020, @08:49AM
I am not to blame for the confusion. When I advised you to not use your rock for grinding, it was in the context of your oldest gizmo. No concerns about plastic and whatnot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford