How Bad Is Plastic? \ stacker news ~health

1603 sats \ 17 comments \ @kr 2 Feb health

Recently I’ve seen a number of comments (Exhibit A, B, C) advocating for more awareness and less usage of plastic products and by-products on health-related grounds (I understand there is an environmental aspect to this discussion too, but let’s stick to health for now).

I find the health arguments persuasive and have eliminated a lot of plastic from my life, but I want to hear all your thoughts on plastics and other “environmental toxins” found in synthetic clothing, packaging, and basically everywhere else.

A few questions for stackers…

Do you think plastic usage is a problem for your own health?
Have you taken steps to eliminate plastics from your life?
In which situations is plastic most difficult for you to avoid?
Do you think there is a realistic path to eliminating our dependence on plastics?
What is your best argument for why we should embrace and use more plastics?
Will there be more or less plastic usage on a Bitcoin standard?

view all related items

1190 sats \ 5 replies \ @justanumber 2 Feb

Do you think plastic usage is a problem for your own health?

Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals Plastics contain and leach hazardous chemicals, including endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), which can interfere with the body's hormone systems and cause cancers, diabetes, reproductive disorders, and neurological impairments in developing fetuses and children.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/bdr2.1778

https://www.endocrine.org/topics/edc/plastics-edcs-and-health

In which situations is plastic most difficult for you to avoid?

Off the top of my head, probably food packaging and clothing

Do you think there is a realistic path to eliminating our dependence on plastics?

Yes, I think it's possible but do I think it will happen? Probably not. It would take people to understand the threat, care about it, remember it (I think we as ppl generally do care and have good intentions but forget quickly and get on with life as normal). I doubt it happen because of that.

Will there be more or less plastic usage on a Bitcoin standard?

Quite likely, if it involves things like trading and buying naturally produced goods, clothing and items directly from Farmer's markets and the like. And if bitcoiners are more aware of the issues, which I think a lot are or at least have the potential.

107 sats \ 4 replies \ @kr OP 2 Feb

i see two competing views from bitcoiners.

there are some that like to see more oil and gas usage (plastic is a byproduct), and some that like to romanticize the simple, natural ways of the gold standard era (preferring durable wood, steel, stone, cotton over plastic)

688 sats \ 3 replies \ @justanumber 2 Feb

Yeah I agree, it's not a simple or black and white issue. There's absolutely no doubt that plastic is ubiquitous and an extremely useful, versatile substance in modern life. It's in so much. We'd be completely lost without it. I don't romanticize about plastic/oil free environment, have plenty of plastic in my cupboards yikes lol. I drive a very old petrol car and I don't care. I'm not driving a diesel and defo not going electric. We've been sold a con with automobiles, so we make the best of it out of necessity.

I think what we have to do as a society is look at where it is causing the most harm. Is using a plastic container to put some cookies in a major problem. Personally, I don't think so and environmentally, provided it's good quality plastic and lasts a decent amount of time, it's probably not a major issue. I think it's the plastic that's being used is in items / products / substances that that we just aren't aware of. i.e. plasticisers are prolific, used in paint and all sorts of things. Endocrine disruptors can mimic female hormones. As a female, I can say this is a huge problem for women and many are dealing with horrible side effects. It's not something we talk about, in fact we actively hide it because it's not cool or acceptable to talk about those things and there's a hush hush culture. A lot of women are also unaware themselves of what could be causing them so many issues. For men, well let's look at sperm counts compared to 1970. Of course, we have sooo many forever chemicals (think The Devil we know and Dupont) and endocrine disruptors in our environment now that some might argue you can't put the blame squarely on plastic and I would have to agree but I do believe it's one the big ones. Then there's the wider use of oil/petrochemicals, which is the bigger can of worms 🫣

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @arrivederci 3 Feb

and defo not going electric

(Non-judgemental) curiosity as to why not ?

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @kr OP 2 Feb

what are the other big sources of endocrine disruptors outside of plastics?

92 sats \ 0 replies \ @justanumber 3 Feb

Pesticides in our environment, food, personal care products (think how many personal care products the avg woman uses each day), flame retardants in furniture (beds, sofas etc), cookware.

Take the 💊 and jump down the 🐇🕳️ 😂

https://draxe.com/health/endocrine-disruptors-how-to-avoid-excess-estrogen/

https://prhe.ucsf.edu/sites/g/files/tkssra341/f/Hormone%20Disruptors.pdf

https://www.nachi.org/brominated-fire-retardant-dangers.htm

https://www.mychemicalfreehouse.net/2018/03/personal-care-best-of-natural-non-toxic.html

https://www.endocrine.org/-/media/endocrine/files/patient-engagement/hormones-and-series/hormones_and_edcs_what_you_need_to_know.pdf

https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/endocrine

https://goop.com/beauty/personal-care/6-of-the-most-common-endocrine-disruptors-and-how-to-avoid-them/

https://www.healthydirections.com/articles/womens-health/hormone-disrupters

657 sats \ 4 replies \ @Undisciplined 2 Feb

I'm aware of the idea that plastics expose us to endocrine disrupting compounds, but I've not seen convincing evidence for the harmfulness of that exposure. I have seen enough, though, to want to reduce my own exposure where possible.

The main way to avoid plastics (and a bunch of other harmful stuff) is increasing the amount of whole foods in your diet; particularly produce and other foods that were never plastic wrapped.

In general, plastics are way too valuable to go back. The only realistic path to eliminate our dependence on plastics is the development of a new material that is superior for those functions.

Bitcoin standard world will be wealthier and wealthier societies use more plastics.

134 sats \ 3 replies \ @kr OP 2 Feb

The only realistic path to eliminate our dependence on plastics is the development of a new material that is superior for those functions

are there any leading candidates you think might one day be better?

497 sats \ 2 replies \ @Undisciplined 2 Feb

No. Plastic is unbelievably cheap, so there's almost no way for a new material to come in cheaper.

467 sats \ 1 reply \ @kr OP 2 Feb

what about some of the 3D printing materials? i’m not an expert, but if i recall there is one common material that 3d printers use that is basically just a corn starch derivative

456 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 2 Feb

I also am not an expert, but my guess would be that it is also a plastic. Whether organic plastics have the same issues as synthetic plastics, I have no idea.

507 sats \ 4 replies \ @OriginalSize 2 Feb

Do you think plastic usage is a problem for your own health?

Not really. At least my doctor and HMO don't seem to ask about it.

Have you taken steps to eliminate plastics from your life?

Minor ones like shaving with bar soap rather than gel from a plastic+metal can.

In which situations is plastic most difficult for you to avoid?

Straws, baggies, envelope windows, coatings on paper products, bubble wrap.

Do you think there is a realistic path to eliminating our dependence on plastics?

It'd have to be taxed probably and I'm not a fan of that. Biodegradable plastics probably the best option but that is largely theater. Most compostable plastic says it needs to be processed in an industrial facility and that's about as bad as plastic.

What is your best argument for why we should embrace and use more plastics?

It's cheap and solves a lot of problems.

Will there be more or less plastic usage on a Bitcoin standard?

Same or more.

10 sats \ 3 replies \ @kr OP 2 Feb

It'd have to be taxed probably and I'm not a fan of that. Biodegradable plastics probably the best option but that is largely theater. Most compostable plastic says it needs to be processed in an industrial facility and that's about as bad as plastic.

in canada they’ve already banned plastics in a number of places. i’ve definitely noticed that grocery stores are not allowed to give out plastic bags.

for a while i remember they all started charging a small tax (i think 10 cents or so), but now they offer paper bags or some other biodegradable version for $0.25 to $1.

i’m not sure if this was planned, but i wouldn’t be surprised if bags were the biggest source of profits for grocery stores up here

285 sats \ 2 replies \ @OriginalSize 2 Feb

Stores have to charge for bags here but I think they give the money to the county. We reuse the ones we still get for small trash cans.

I'd love to see evidence that all of this clutter, time and money has amounted to something.

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @kr OP 2 Feb

I'd love to see evidence that all of this clutter, time and money has amounted to something

same 😅

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @justanumber 2 Feb

the banning of plastic shopping bags or making shoppers pay for them, plastic straws and the likes, pales into insignificance when you consider how many tonnes of single-use recycled plastic has been used since 2020 in the name of a pandemic (masks, PPE, plastic sheeting etc). It's staggering.

420 sats \ 0 replies \ @OT 2 Feb

It might be a good idea to limit or stop drinking from plastic water bottles. Maybe we need more research into this field.

But plastic is pretty amazing for other uses because its cheap and lasts for 1000 years. My parents have kept a lot of the plastic toys that I used to play with and now our kids are playing with them too. So for items that you want to keep for a long period of time, plastic serves as a good use.