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posted by martyb on Friday June 12 2020, @09:58PM   Printer-friendly
from the hail-generator? dept.

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.


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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday June 13 2020, @01:18AM (2 children)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Saturday June 13 2020, @01:18AM (#1007210) Journal

    Now you're saying that using metal, wooden, and other tools is bad for me.

    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.

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  • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Saturday June 13 2020, @12:24PM (1 child)

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Saturday June 13 2020, @12:24PM (#1007419) Journal

    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.

    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.

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    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 13 2020, @04:13PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 13 2020, @04:13PM (#1007467)

      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.