askchapo

We lost the fight on microplastics, it's in the rain, its in the Marianas trench. It will last for thousands of years even if we stopped right now using plastic.

As much as this can be some kind of upside... it seems like they aren't very bioreactive. This would be something to be studied over decades but there's no control population (everyone including uncontacted tribes is exposed to microplastics) - as far as we know the health effects are relatively limited. Which makes kind of sense, that's one of the reasons we use plastics in medicine and stuff.

They've been associated with increasing rates of cancer, fertility issues, possibly a handful of other things but there are so many confounding variables it's hard to say if it's actually down to microplastics or not. Certainly not great.

I'd say don't throw out everything plastic. If it's getting to you maybe change up high impact stuff. Toothbrush. Clothes possibly. Tupperware storage, water bottles, etc. Maybe consider switching shampoo/conditioner to something more natural.

But there isn't really any escaping it, it's in our food, it's in our air, it's in our water. I wish I could leave you with something positive... but the struggle against microplastics is gonna be a very long term struggle at this point.