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Scientists Sound Alarm After Disturbing Discovery While Studying Human Brainswww.yahoo.com/news/scientists-sound-alarm-making-disturbing-104501398.html
300 sats \ 9 comments \ @Cje95 15 Apr science
Micro plastics are a known issue and we have no idea what the long term side effects of them can be.... that being said... FIVE BOTTLE CAPS WORTH IN YOUR BRAIN IS WILD!!!
In a groundbreaking study led by researchers at the University of New Mexico, scientists found that brain samples from 2024 contained nearly 50% more microplastics than those from just eight years ago. The average brain held roughly seven grams of plastic
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55 sats \ 1 reply \ @south_korea_ln 15 Apr
From the original NYT article:
But, as with any early science, there are caveats. For one, these tiny particles are extremely difficult to measure. And nobody has yet repeated the research to see if the results hold up. The big question is whether everything they’re measuring is actually plastic — or if some of it is lipids, which can look similar chemically but occur naturally in the body.
“The estimates they have for how much is in the brain seem high,” Dr. Woodruff said. But even if they are, she said, “that wouldn’t negate the findings that they’re seeing more plastics over time. And that actually is very consistent with what we know about the production of plastic.”
Still, whatever the actual amount, at best, it's neutral, but more likely to do some damage.
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96 sats \ 0 replies \ @Cje95 OP 15 Apr
I mean even if it’s lipids that’s an issue with such an increase in 8 years! For a while they didn’t think micro plastics could cross the blood brain barrier but that turned out to be wrong
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0 sats \ 3 replies \ @SimpleStacker 15 Apr
The article talks about single-use plastic bottles, but I'm skeptical that that's what's causing the increase from 8 years ago. I'm more inclined to think it's rubber being burned on the roads, or maybe something to do with increased temps
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5 sats \ 0 replies \ @anon 15 Apr
Rubber isn't plastic. I think the culprit is fluffy polyester materials. They are in everything, now.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford 15 Apr
A few degrees of temp? Seems unlikely. But who knows.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Cje95 OP 15 Apr
Heavier cars… ie EV’s do give off more tire pollution but when you think about it as well the plastic that goes in right now isn’t becoming micro plastics immediately it takes time so it’s all the plastic from right before/during COVID that is becoming the new micro plastics
At least that’s my understanding of it
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @StackerJack 17h
In a time long after the rusting of the last machine, when iron and circuitry has faded into myth, a new organism emerges — not a flesh-bound being of nature, nor as the cyborgs of sci-fi movies past, but as something far stranger.
We are the 'Plastekkins' now: synthetic hybrids, molded in polyethylene, reinforced with ABS dreams, and held together by zip ties, and the stubborn hope that maybe, just maybe...we aren't now more plastic than human.
Once human, now stackable. Weather-resistant. Dishwasher safe.
This folks… is the age of plastic.
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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @Signal312 22h
Here's my 2 cents - this is the latest scientific fad/hype to distract us from the really important stuff.
The really important stuff is:
  • we have been poisoned by vaccines, most specifically/recently the covid vaccine
  • the food we are told is healthy is making people sick, over the long term
The microplastics hype is a distraction.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Cje95 OP 22h
I would though say that wrapping our food in plastic, warming up our food in plastic, just all the plastic we use with our food is likely a reason why our food is an issue. I think there is a solid argument to be made for glass and clay storage and warming things.
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