this post was submitted on 29 Apr 2024
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Showerthoughts
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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The best ones are thoughts that many people can relate to and they find something funny or interesting in regular stuff.
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Hold up- when I read micro infiltrated blood, Intuit breast milk, glaciers etc, I pictured microscopic. You're telling me plastic materials large enough to see and feel are what they're referring to?
As I understand it, there's a range of sizes that are problematic, from small to micro to nano and beyond.
The problem is the more plastic we make, and the smaller it starts, the easier it is for it to get worn down into smaller and smaller bits that become more problematic for us.
One of the problems with all the macro plastics in the ocean is that that as they get churned up and baked in the UV from the sun, smaller and smaller bits break off and become part of the... Everything.
Micro plastics are so prevalent that they can't even do proper studies on how harmful it might be to us, because there are no control groups that have no plastics inside their bodies to compare against. Even babies in the womb have plastic in them. You have plastic in you right now, almost a 100% guarantee.
There's probably more to it than that even, but that's my understanding of it.
Ahhh.. that whole, plastic seeps into your possessions thing... That might be the ocean, not the hot soup in your nalgene. Man.. there is a lot of macro in the ocean to break down. I've been following environmental news and science for almost 35 years and I keep learning new and exciting shitty things for the first time. It only gets worse!