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General Category => Off the Record => Topic started by: Syt on August 15, 2019, 03:36:35 AM

Title: We're probably breathing plastic.
Post by: Syt on August 15, 2019, 03:36:35 AM
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49295051

QuotePlastic particles falling out of sky with snow in Arctic

Even in the Arctic, microscopic particles of plastic are falling out of the sky with snow, a study has found.

The scientists said they were shocked by the sheer number of particles they found: more than 10,000 of them per litre in the Arctic.

It means that even there, people are likely to be breathing in microplastics from the air - though the health implications remain unclear.

The region is often seen as one of the world's last pristine environments.

A German-Swiss team of researchers has published the work in the journal Science Advances.

The scientists also found rubber particles and fibres in the snow.

How did the researchers carry out the study?

Researchers collected snow samples from the Svalbard islands using a low-tech method - a dessert spoon and a flask.

In the laboratory at Germany's Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven they discovered far more contaminating particles than they'd expected.

Many were so small that it was hard to ascertain where they had come from.

The majority appeared to be composed of natural materials like plant cellulose and animal fur. But there were also particles of plastic, along with fragments of rubber tyres, varnish, paint and possibly synthetic fibres.

The lead scientist, Dr Melanie Bergmann, told BBC News: "We expected to find some contamination but to find this many microplastics was a real shock."

She said: "It's readily apparent that the majority of the microplastic in the snow comes from the air."

Microplastics are defined as those particles below 5mm in size.

Addressing their potential effects on people, Dr Bergmann explained: "We don't know if the plastics will be harmful to human health or not. But we need to take much better care of the way we're treating our environment."

The scientists also analysed snow from sites in Germany and Switzerland. Samples taken from some areas of Germany showed higher concentrations than in the Arctic.

How is plastic pollution reaching the Arctic?

The researchers think microplastics are being blown about by winds and then - through mechanisms which are not fully understood - transported long distances through the atmosphere.

The particles are then "washed" out of the atmosphere through precipitation, particularly snow.

A study published in April by a British-French team showed that microplastics were falling from the sky onto the French Pyrenees, another supposedly pristine region.

Previously, research groups have found plastics in the atmospheric fallout of Dongguan, China, Tehran in Iran, and Paris, France.

As for where the pollution is coming from, here too there are uncertainties.

The presence of so many varnish particles in the Arctic was a puzzle.

The researchers assume that some of the contamination may have come from ships grinding against the ice. But they also speculate that some may have come off wind turbines.

The fibre fragments may be from people's clothing, although it's not possible to tell at the moment.

Dr Bergmann explained: "We have to ask - do we need so much plastic packaging? Do we need all the polymers in the paints we use? Can we come up with differently designed car tyres? These are important issues."

Dr Eldbjørg Sofie Heimstad, from the Norwegian Institute for Air Research, Kjeller, who was not involved in the latest study, told me that some of the particle pollution was local and some had drifted from afar.

She said: "We know that most of what we are analysing up there and measuring are long-range transported pollution coming from [Europe], from Asia, coming from all over the world.

"Some of these chemicals have properties that are a threat for the ecosystem, for living animals."

What does this mean for the Arctic?

The results follow on the heels of our exclusive report last year that the highest concentrations of plastic particles in the ocean were to be found in Arctic sea-ice.

Plastic waste is also drifting for hundreds or even thousands of kilometres to land on remote Arctic beaches.

It is depressing news for people who have regarded the far north as one of the last pristine environments on Earth.

At a dog sledding centre near Tromsø in the Norwegian Arctic, one of the staff, Lili, told us: "It makes me incredibly sad. We've got plastics in the sea-ice. We've got plastics in the ocean and on the beaches. Now plastic in snow.

"Up here we see the beauty of it every day, and to see that it's changing so much and being tainted - it hurts."


A German article covering the story quoted these scientists who also did comparison studies in the Swiss and Bavarian Alps that concentrations there are over 15 times higher.
Title: Re: We're probably breathing plastic.
Post by: mongers on August 15, 2019, 07:35:54 AM
Interesting,thanks Syt.


One of the reasons I gave up cycling alongside or on busy roads,the air often 'tasted' bad. I wonder how much the tyre and brake debris played a part in that vs exhaust fumes?
Title: Re: We're probably breathing plastic.
Post by: Tamas on August 15, 2019, 08:20:09 AM
Quote from: mongers on August 15, 2019, 07:35:54 AM
Interesting,thanks Syt.


One of the reasons I gave up cycling alongside or on busy roads,the air often 'tasted' bad. I wonder how much the tyre and brake debris played a part in that vs exhaust fumes?

Compared to the fumes? Not at all, of that I am sure.
Title: Re: We're probably breathing plastic.
Post by: mongers on August 15, 2019, 12:16:59 PM
Quote from: Tamas on August 15, 2019, 08:20:09 AM
Quote from: mongers on August 15, 2019, 07:35:54 AM
Interesting,thanks Syt.


One of the reasons I gave up cycling alongside or on busy roads,the air often 'tasted' bad. I wonder how much the tyre and brake debris played a part in that vs exhaust fumes?

Compared to the fumes? Not at all, of that I am sure.

Well the devils in the detail, certainly not for CO or NOx, but I've seen reports saying around 50% of the nano particles (can't remember the size band off-hand) were tyre and brake particles rather than solely diesel fumes or other combustion products.
Title: Re: We're probably breathing plastic.
Post by: Solmyr on August 15, 2019, 01:45:42 PM
I didn't think this would be how humans evolve into cyborgs.
Title: Re: We're probably breathing plastic.
Post by: Tonitrus on August 15, 2019, 02:18:21 PM
It's how we evolve into the Michelin Man.
Title: Re: We're probably breathing plastic.
Post by: HVC on August 15, 2019, 02:32:32 PM
Quote from: Tonitrus on August 15, 2019, 02:18:21 PM
It's how we evolve into the Michelin Man.

I thought that was because of the high fructose corn syrup? :P
Title: Re: We're probably breathing plastic.
Post by: Valmy on August 15, 2019, 02:33:43 PM
I hope it is like comic books where ingesting toxic substances makes you super human.
Title: Re: We're probably breathing plastic.
Post by: Valmy on August 15, 2019, 02:35:04 PM
But seriously what are we going to do about all this plastic? I guess we need to develop some kind of biodegradable plastic substitute to take its place? Is such a thing feasible? I am no chemist.
Title: Re: We're probably breathing plastic.
Post by: The Brain on August 15, 2019, 02:51:26 PM
We should call them "plasticles" for starters.
Title: Re: We're probably breathing plastic.
Post by: Eddie Teach on August 15, 2019, 03:46:54 PM
Quote from: Valmy on August 15, 2019, 02:35:04 PM
But seriously what are we going to do about all this plastic? I guess we need to develop some kind of biodegradable plastic substitute to take its place? Is such a thing feasible? I am no chemist.

You're the closest thing we've got.
Title: Re: We're probably breathing plastic.
Post by: jimmy olsen on August 15, 2019, 06:10:55 PM
Quote from: Valmy on August 15, 2019, 02:35:04 PM
But seriously what are we going to do about all this plastic? I guess we need to develop some kind of biodegradable plastic substitute to take its place? Is such a thing feasible? I am no chemist.

Lots of folks are working on it, and several kinds have been developed, but none have caught on yet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioplastic
Title: Re: We're probably breathing plastic.
Post by: Josquius on August 16, 2019, 02:20:27 AM
The only way is to set taxes such that plastic is more expensive than non plastic items.
Otherwise the selfish majority will always keep using plastic.
Title: Re: We're probably breathing plastic.
Post by: Tamas on August 16, 2019, 07:57:48 AM
Quote from: Valmy on August 15, 2019, 02:35:04 PM
But seriously what are we going to do about all this plastic? I guess we need to develop some kind of biodegradable plastic substitute to take its place? Is such a thing feasible? I am no chemist.

One more reason to invest into industrialising the solar system. Once we have an efficient way of getting stuff out of Earth's gravity (like a space elevator) we can just chuck big bowls of plastic toward the Sun :P
Title: Re: We're probably breathing plastic.
Post by: Malthus on August 16, 2019, 09:19:09 AM
Quote from: Valmy on August 15, 2019, 02:35:04 PM
But seriously what are we going to do about all this plastic? I guess we need to develop some kind of biodegradable plastic substitute to take its place? Is such a thing feasible? I am no chemist.

There are paper straws, for example - Ive used them and they do work:

https://www.pulpandpapercanada.com/sustainability/canadian-made-paper-straws-set-for-success-as-single-use-plastics-ban-announced-1100001742
Title: Re: We're probably breathing plastic.
Post by: Valmy on August 16, 2019, 09:31:39 AM
Sure. I have used paper straws. But we use a lot more plastic than just straws.
Title: Re: We're probably breathing plastic.
Post by: Josquius on August 16, 2019, 09:42:07 AM
Though the trumpys obsession with paper straws is gloriously bizzare.
Title: Re: We're probably breathing plastic.
Post by: Malthus on August 16, 2019, 09:44:40 AM
Quote from: Valmy on August 16, 2019, 09:31:39 AM
Sure. I have used paper straws. But we use a lot more plastic than just straws.

True. However, the solution to this problem will have to come one product at a time, starting with stuff we use once and throw out like straws and cutlery, consumer products and packaging. We do use an absurd amount of plastic to package and carry stuff.
Title: Re: We're probably breathing plastic.
Post by: Valmy on August 16, 2019, 09:45:29 AM
Yeah I would say packaging is the biggest problem, at least from a consumer waste perspective.
Title: Re: We're probably breathing plastic.
Post by: Zoupa on August 16, 2019, 05:56:34 PM
I'm no chemist either, but I think the solution will come from tech. With the amounts we're dealing with, there needs to a process where you can chug all kinds of plastics through a machine and stuff comes out the other side.
Or maybe incineration with toxic emissions capture and re-use. Increase corporate tax to fund it.
Title: Re: We're probably breathing plastic.
Post by: viper37 on August 16, 2019, 11:56:48 PM
Quote from: Valmy on August 15, 2019, 02:35:04 PM
But seriously what are we going to do about all this plastic? I guess we need to develop some kind of biodegradable plastic substitute to take its place? Is such a thing feasible? I am no chemist.
I just read something about it, the technical feasibility is there, as for the rest... not my field of expertise, so I do not remember much, sorry.
Title: Re: We're probably breathing plastic.
Post by: Tonitrus on August 17, 2019, 03:28:03 AM
We need to invent a Mr Fusion.
Title: Re: We're probably breathing plastic.
Post by: Syt on August 30, 2019, 04:01:58 AM
https://www.dezeen.com/2019/08/27/pornhub-dirtiest-porn-ever-plastic-ocean-cleanup/

QuotePornhub launches Dirtiest Porn Ever campaign to clean up the world's oceans

Adult video website Pornhub has filmed a movie on a litter-filled beach to raise money to remove plastic from the world's oceans.

Every time the Dirtiest Porn Ever is played Pornhub will make a donation to Ocean Polymers – a non-profit organisation that is planning to launch a ship to collect and reprocess plastic from the sea.

"We're dirty here at Pornhub, but that doesn't mean our beaches need to be," explained Corey Price, vice president of Pornhub.

The movie features a couple known as Leolulu having sex on a beach surrounded by rubbish to demonstrate "how plastic and waste can ruin an otherwise beautiful scene".

As the couple has sex, litter pickers wearing Pornhub-branded boiler suits clean up around them.

The adult website launched the campaign as part of its Pornhub Cares initiative as there is increasing attention being paid to the state of the world's oceans.

"Ocean pollution has grown to become one of the most significant global issues of our lifetime, and it's only getting worse," continued Price.

"That's why it's imperative that we use our platform to raise awareness and inspire change – not just for the time being but for generations to come."

Alongside the video, Pornhub has created a website that advises its viewers how they can help avoid single-use plastics ending up in the ocean.

The site outlines three steps to help: buying as little plastic as possible, recycling all single-use plastics and cleaning up after yourself if you are enjoying the great outdoors.

Ocean Polymers believes that working with Pornhub will help spread the message about plastics pollution to people who may not otherwise be aware.

"We are all part of the problem and must work together to find solutions," said Heather Wigglesworth, executive director of Ocean Polymers.

"This is a brand with significant global reach spanning all demographics, so it is a very effective platform to raise awareness and support for the crisis we face in our oceans today. It would be great to see more companies of this size and stature taking the same responsibility with the audience they engage."

Ocean Polymers plans to clean the world's ocean by launching a converted tanker that will collect plastic from the water and process it into fuel. This fuel would then be used to power the tanker.

This is one of many proposed solutions to remove plastic from the sea. Dutch non-profit The Ocean Cleanup launched a floating device to collect plastic, however, earlier this year it broke down leading to many sustainability experts criticising its validity.

Speaking to Dezeen Cyrill Gutsch, founder of Parley for the Oceans, said that eliminating plastic from the seas is not possible.

PornHub - doing more to save the oceans than your government! :P
Title: Re: We're probably breathing plastic.
Post by: Eddie Teach on August 30, 2019, 08:48:00 AM
Sounds like a terrible porno.
Title: Re: We're probably breathing plastic.
Post by: Malthus on August 30, 2019, 08:52:33 AM
The plastic should stay where it belongs, in the porn actresses' implants.  ;)