The average brain weighs 1300-1400 grams. If 0.5% of that is plastic by weight, your brain contains 6.5 - 7 grams of plastic. The average plastic credit card weighs 5 grams.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/21/microplastics-brain-pollution-health
Jesus christ. I really thought that headline was exaggerated, but no, the brain samples they tested actually ended up being 0.5% plastic by weight. That's seriously disturbing, I really would have thought the blood-brain barrier would do a better job of keeping plastics out.
Neuroplasticity makes so much more sense to me now.
For every kilometer you drive, your tires shed 1 trillion plastic particles. 78% of microplastics in the ocean are from tires.
What are you suggesting? That I stop peeling out of every parking lot and doing sick doughnuts!?
What I'm saying is that we need to figure out to make tires out of some unholy bamboo/cheese composite.
What if the roads were rubber and the tires were asphalt?
How does one become an anti plastic advocate? How do I target plastic specifically? Are some plastics better than others?
It comes from car tires, single-use plastics teflon pans, and plastic food containers. Plastic items that are meant to last a long time aren’t shedding as much.
So if you want to reduce your microplastic contributions, avoid driving, avoid single-use plastics, don’t buy non-stick pans, and use glass food containers.
There's also carpeting, synthetic fibers from clothing, PVC and PEX piping for water supply, paint, etc. The one that gets me is the plastic Brita filter pitcher. This thing is supposed to clean my water.
It took us decades to get to this point and it'll take us more time to back out of it. And we have to start somewhere.
Do PVC and PEX pipes/multiple use plastic containers (like the Brita pitcher) actually release microplastics? I’m aware of evidence that PEX pipes leach chemicals (also very bad), but I can’t find anything showing they increase microplastics.
Chlorinated water adversely affects PEX pipes. I don't know that the amount of microplastics or nanoplastics has been quantified in a study yet.
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.9b03673
The Brita pitcher comment is about my own growing paranoia about plastics that get scratched or cracked. I don't know the conditions and time line under which this particular formulation of plastic keeps it from shedding MPs.
Thanks for the information, I too am somewhat paranoid about plastics and chemicals leaching into my food/drink.