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How Microplastics Get into Our Food From Sponges to Frictionwww.scientificamerican.com/article/how-microplastics-get-into-our-food/
196 sats \ 2 comments \ @Cje95 27 Mar science
I could see microplastics being the next thing that governments and industry both try to tackle. However, there is not a lot of research out there about how to tackle this issue and alternatives that make cutting down the amount of microplastics ingested economically viable.
Given the sheer amount of microplastics consumed by individuals and how they have been found throughout the human body it is a place that is going to require a ton of research. This research will likely have to come from the Federal Government given that it really does not have any monetary value to companies.
According to one estimate, every American consumes between 39,000 and 52,000 microplastic particles every year.
They then accumulate inside our body. Studies have found microplastics in human brains (roughly the amount in a heaping teaspoon of table salt), as well as in our stomach, lungs and bones. Researchers have linked microplastics with a higher risk of stroke, inflammatory bowel disease and dementia.
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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @Akg10s3 27 Mar
I highly doubt the government or any company would fund research that isn't in their best interest.
It's a terrible thing... I recently read an article that talked about microplastics and their brain damage, which can even lead to dementia.
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9 sats \ 0 replies \ @Cje95 OP 27 Mar
For a government it becomes a bigger thing than you would expect due to general competition between the East and West. Both are grappling with this and it is driving up health care costs. Using China as the Eastern example they are rapidly aging while the US goes through so many water bottles alone that its an ego thing.
There are already several filters that can do this and are sold and as the population becomes more and more health conscious this will become a bigger and bigger deal.
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