[HN Gopher] The global threat from plastic pollution
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The global threat from plastic pollution
Author : doener
Score : 96 points
Date : 2021-07-10 09:42 UTC (13 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (science.sciencemag.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (science.sciencemag.org)
| xyzal wrote:
| Still, almost impossible for a regular consumer to buy most
| foodstuff without plastic wrappings.
| f6v wrote:
| Not only food, try buying a razor or floss that's not wrapped
| in that annoying plastic package.
| user3939382 wrote:
| It's not easy but can be done if you look closely. Here's one
| I like for floss (there are other similar brands too) The
| Humble Co. Dental Floss (4pack) - Vegan, Eco Friendly,
| Sustainable Waxed Dental Floss with Natural Xylitol, 55 Yards
| of Adult and Kids Floss for Gum Care and Dental Care (Mint)
| https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08DCGMXVB/
|
| There's also a blog on the topic which I've come across from
| time to time https://myplasticfreelife.com/
| goblin89 wrote:
| Among the uses of plastic, external packaging and disposable
| utensils have the benefit of at least being obvious. Not so
| with insides of aluminium cans, paper cups, receipts (I bet
| this one is even BPA still), cigarette filters, and so on.
| These mass uses of plastic are insidious in that they are
| generally entirely invisible to consumers, do not affect any
| corporate or political brand, and hence attract no attention.
| [deleted]
| dmix wrote:
| I'm also not convinced paper straws are going to be a
| sufficient replacement.
| [deleted]
| 0xb0565e487 wrote:
| Drinking from a paper straw is unpleasant.
| pmlnr wrote:
| Then drink from the glass itself. Or with a pasta.
| WalterBright wrote:
| Put a tax on plastic. That'll reduce its use, and provide funds
| for cleanup.
| pstuart wrote:
| Yep. But why not incentivize on the other side of reclaiming
| plastic as well? Invest in better plastic recycling/reclamation
| (recognizing that current recycling efforts appear to be more
| theater in that regards).
| gelert wrote:
| Well, one of the big risks of plastics are the hormonal
| effects which are still little understood. There are serious
| reasons to remove most plastics from our day-to-day lives
| which makes reclaiming/recycling existing plastics less
| desirable - we should be removing them.
| grouphugs wrote:
| my mom cooked a bass last week for dinner. was cheweing through
| and swallowing micro plastics. it was bad
| daxfohl wrote:
| I keep thinking this is such small beans compared to global
| warming, it's hard to feel concerned about it. Even this article
| seems full of maybes with little major consequence. Am I missing
| something?
| _red wrote:
| Phthalate's are "plasticizers" - chemicals added to make
| plastics durable, flexible, transparent (ie. like every single
| water bottle).
|
| Its been increasingly shown that "Phthalates act by mimicking
| the female hormone estrogen, which in turn inhibits production
| of the male hormone testosterone. As such, phthalates are
| considered to be endocrine disruptors" [1]
|
| In fact, Phthalates are one of the candidates to explain the
| significant drop in male sperm production [2].
|
| The point here is its possible that the effects of plastics are
| much more significant than anyone realizes...how much of the
| LGBT / gender identity issues could be related to environmental
| toxins?
|
| [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phthalate
|
| [2]
| https://journals.lww.com/epidem/Fulltext/2003/05000/Phthalat...
| MegaButts wrote:
| Just because there is a bigger threat doesn't mean this isn't
| still a threat. And it's better to address an issue before it
| becomes insurmountable. Imagine if we'd taken global warming
| seriously 50 years ago. Who knows how bad the plastic problem
| will be in 50 years? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of
| cure.
| eddietejeda wrote:
| Plastics are petrochemicals, meaning they're made by combining
| fossil fuels (usually fracked gas) with chemicals.
| Petrochemical plants are among the most polluting industries in
| terms of harmful air and water pollution, and greenhouse gases.
| In the US, most petrochemical plants are clustered in a low-
| income, largely Black area of Louisiana known as "Cancer
| Alley." So from fracking, to chemical production, to
| petrochemical manufacturing, people and the environment are
| harmed--that's not even counting the end of the plastics
| lifecycle, like ocean pollution and incineration.
|
| The concern:
|
| https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/plastics-plants-a...
|
| An insider view of industry:
|
| https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/chemicals/our-insights/p...
|
| My source: my wife is an environmental lawyer who is very
| concerned about climate change and works closely on these
| issues.
| nebula8804 wrote:
| Is it possible that plastic pyrosis powered by renewable
| sources will one day be economical?
|
| For example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPIHJRIpLRk
|
| This is an old video of a tabletop model. It runs at 1Kw/hr
| and takes ~3-4 hours to convert 1 kg of plastic into ~800ml
| of fuel.
|
| The machine is really just a demonstration unit for their
| bigger models. I always wondered why don't we just use these
| machines in a scaled up manner with renewable sources to
| recover the fuel to be turned back into plastics. I'm
| assuming its just a cost issue.
| FooHentai wrote:
| You can power the process using a feedback loop where a
| small amount of the output gas (prior to condensing into
| liquid form) is used to heat the plastic. There's videos on
| YouTube of folks rigging up a system in the back yard with
| basic pipes and drums, and obtaining usable output liquid
| fuel. You just need enough initial energy input to reach
| the target temperature, after which it can self sustain.
|
| The issue with plastic pyrolysis is it's turning fossil
| fuels sequestered in plastic form back into burnable fuels
| that end up in the atmosphere, further contributing to
| climate change. A better option is to sequester that
| plastic permanently back in the ground again. Even
| landfill, using this lens, is a better option.
| newsclues wrote:
| My local health authority has this summer mandated disposable
| masks for clients for certain indoor settings and it's bothered
| me greatly because I'm used to the same bandanna mask and I
| recall we were told climate change was an emergency and plastic
| straws were banned.
| ciconia wrote:
| I suspect it will only be 5-10 years until humanity finds
| itself face to face with the environmental disaster that is
| disposable masks, this stuff will be just _everywhere_.
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