So, uh, is this bad? I mean, it doesn't sound good on the face of it and we should probably try to avoid, but have microplastics been implicated as responsible for any specific environmental harms we know of yet?
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We can’t avoid it. Microplastics are ubiquitous.
Your comment is on a completely different value ranking than my own. I’m over here thinking that this permanent pollution is an effing tragedy, and hoping we can prevent it from worsening further. I’m not even thinking about the possible consequences, which would only make the situation worse.
Not any kind of answer?
I surveyed the literature a year ago. Lots of 'microplastics exist!' but no 'microplastics cause harm'.
There's dust and sand everywhere too. Yes, plastic is artificial. Other than that label, is there any, any evidence it is an actual problem?
Is your value system that nature is sacred, and humans should not affect it?
Yes, I believe we should not litter with wanton abandon. If we can avoid it, we should.
filtering them from your blood causes organ damage to your liver and kidneys. here's just two, but have fun exploring more. seems like a pretty obvious pathway when you think about it. probably can affect a lot of organs, especially those containing small blood vessels (ie, all of them)
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35835713/ https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsomega.2c03453