Microplastics

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Initially I thought you were going to go in a different direction with that. I was assuming that the researchers (maybe not human by that point) would find that layer and think people died off due to a large plastic comet hitting the Earth. It covered the surface and blocked our light supply for an extended period of time, much like volcanic ash does.

Seeing plastics are inert, I'm not overly worried about microplastics but I do wonder if the harm caused by microplastics have been offset by the use of plastics in the medical field for example.

Don't plastics melt though? Wouldn't that cause bad effects? Or if they build up, say in the heart/brain/artery, could they block it?

Doubtful.. plastics in the medical field benefit humans, microplastics all over the world harm countless animals and plants.

But there's also not really a strong correlation between the two, anyways. Most plastics used in the medical field are solid vs. woven textile fabrics being laundered, so they're not really contributing much to the microplastic problem. Packaging, medical devices.. not really shedding little fine bits. It's synthetic clothing being washed in machines that has little tiny bits of plastics breaking free from them and ending up in the rinse water and out into the world that's causing Most of the microplastics problem - hence one proposed solution of abandoning synthetic clothing textiles entirely.

I suppose another possible one would be some pretty fine filters to strain all washing machine water thoroughly and capture microplastics to dispose of differently instead of letting it all just enter the water system on this water planet. It would be expensive and time consuming, so people couldn't do quick loads of laundry back to back as they'd be waiting for the rinse water to filter and drain, But it Could help stop making the problem worse.

"Researchers horrified after discovering mysterious plastic rocks on a remote island — here’s what they mean"

"Microplastics are in our bodies. Here’s why we don’t know the health risks"

What about breathing the water? I usually end up inhaling a little liquid every time I drink. Maybe the coughing is from microplastics

Plastics are probably safe to have inside the body and microplastics can never built up enough to cause blockages. They're well known for being extremely unreactive, hence why plastics never seem to biodegrade and the reason microplastics are such a problem.

Looking back throughout time, there has always been something that has entered the body that shouldn't be there but the harm varies. I imagine before fire it was parasites, then carbon black, then lead from pipes, silica from grinding stones. It's all been in the human body but it's just what happens as technology progresses.

But aren't parasites, carbon, lead and silica natural things? Plastic is totally man made so surely that's worse because human bodies can't deal with it?

I don't mean to just argue, I'm just concerned about plastics.

I would say that plastic is natural but processed similar to carbon black, lead and silica dust with the exception of the parasite's of course.

I can't think that plastic is natural, sorry.

Micro plastics
They're in you whether you like it or not, but what is the damage?. they have not figured out the damage to humans yet but wait a few years and maybe they will.

Apperently there are wax worms that can ingest and break down plastic, using the worms may be ineffective, but if scientists could synthesize whatever is in their saliva to break down the plastic back a way, so it is weird througout history how much people s**t on scientists who turned out to be right no matter how much s**t people threw at them. Like it was scientists who made it harder for us to poison ourselves with lead and tons of people fought agaisnt regulations against lead even though scientists had proof it was harming people.

And the early scientist who discovered that actually the earth revolves around the sun, was executed for saying that, like why? why the hell do scientists always get treated like s**t when they are doing the work to figure out how to keep humanity going. Scientists should have way more respect than they get, they are the true heroes of humanity and they barely even get any notice or appreciation.

I think scientists get respect when they're telling people what they want to hear. Which is obviously very dangerous.

But of course they usually aren't telling people what they want to hear, they are talking about facts. And these days money is the great god of everything and those with lots of money think they can overrule scientific facts. e.g. those people who went in that submarine that exploded.

And the other thing is the backlash against Experts. At least in Britain, we are told that we don't need experts anymore, we just need to use our common sense. What dangerous nonsense. A bit of research on Google isn't a substitute for years of training.

The good news is that plastic is inert. The bad news is that plastic is inert, and stays in the environment a long time and doesnt decay. Kinda cancels out I suppose.

Its made from oil (which is found in nature)...but it isnt oil. Its so alterted at the molecular level that it cant be thought of as a natural substance.

But ...having said that...there is something in nature that is a lot like man made plastic. And that thing is amber. The sap that comes out of conifer trees and hardens into a lovely solid hard translucent stuff ...stuff that is chemically a lot like plastic. Folks make carvings out of it. Some one made a whole room out of amber. In fact an article in Smithsonian Magazine described it as "a kind of natural plastic even though that sounds like an oxymoron". And thats where I got the idea for my WP nickname. Sounds like a good name for a...seductive 90s boy band. "Hey girl...we are..natural plastic".

But I digress.

We have all seen pics of those hapless bugs that got trapped in sap and got preserved in amber for fifty million years. So like the man made polymers it lasts a LONG time. An indicator of how long the manmade stuff might last in the environment.

That's so interesting, NaturalPlastic! Thanks!

"Your Evil Car Is Filling the Ocean With Microplastics, Scientists Say"

https://youtu.be/eaCHH5D74Fs