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submitted 3 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

“The concentrations we saw in the brain tissue of normal individuals, who had an average age of around 45 or 50 years old, were 4,800 micrograms per gram, or 0.48% by weight,” Campen said.

That’s the equivalent of an entire standard plastic spoon, Campen said.

“Compared to autopsy brain samples from 2016, that’s about 50% higher”

An entire spoon's worth of plastic in ol' wrinkly. That doesn't seem good.

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[-] [email protected] 38 points 3 months ago

50% increase in 8 years is fascinating. I doubt we increased plastics production that much in that timeframe, so what caused the increase?

[-] [email protected] 33 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Speculating: the breakdown of existing environmental plastics into smaller, more absorbable pollutants? existing plastics more thoroughly polluting the food/water supplies?

[-] [email protected] 14 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Yeah, the comment elsewhere about 50% of plastic having been produced since '02 has me convinced it's the former.

[-] [email protected] 14 points 3 months ago

I think that's true because the amount of plastic waste is being significantly lower. Of the plastic still being emitted into the environment, the majority is from tires. Tire dust.

[-] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago

Don't forget the garbage islands and fishing nets being cooked by sunlight in the ocean, like a perpetual stew.

[-] [email protected] 13 points 3 months ago

Takes time to build up at every layer of water -> Agriculture -> body -> brain, probably.

[-] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago

It happened slowly, then all at once.

[-] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago

I think it’s plastic erosion that matters more in this instance

[-] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

We totally increased plastic production that much

this post was submitted on 03 Feb 2025
133 points (99.3% liked)

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