Laundry A Top Source of Microplastic Pollution, Microfibers; Tips Washing Clothes More Sustainably👖

[progree]

1. hearts, brains, testicles, and microplastics

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/the-world-is-producing-57-million-tons-of-plastic-pollution-per-year-new-study-finds

. . . Several studies this year have looked at how prevalent microplastics are in our drinking water and in people’s tissue, such as hearts, brains (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11100893/ ) and testicles ( https://academic.oup.com/toxsci/article-abstract/200/2/235/7673133 ), with doctors and scientists still not quite sure what it means in terms of human health threats.

. . . The United Nations projects that plastics production is likely to rise from about 440 million tons (400 million metric tons) a year to more than 1,200 million tons (1,100 million metric tons ((by 2050, according to the link -progree)), saying “our planet is choking in plastic.”

In the latest (Sept 6) issue of The Week, there is a blurb about the situation in U.S. as far as plastics in the brain. In part:

The 2024 samples had 50% greater microplastics weight than the samples from 2016. . . . 24 of 91 brains sampled had so much plastic that it constituted about 0.5% of the brain by weight