[austinkhale]

Feels like this is going to become one of those things we look back on in retrospect and regret. We should be full steam ahead on identifying what effects microplastics & phthalates more broadly are having on our health & adjust accordingly. Early indications seem... not great.

[afh1]

Which indications are those? Honest question. I don't know much about this. Since plastic is one of the most biologically neutral/non-interacting materials I've never been too concerned, though I suppose in certain forms and over certain amounts it could be harmful?

[riskable]

Someone already commented about pthalates themselves but I'd also like to point out that a big problem with microplastics isn't the microplastics themselves but the fact that they absorb other chemicals which can then be released/absorbed when they get inside your body or even just on your skin:

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/toxic-microplastic...

More:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220216112233.h...

Microplastics are like little buckets for all sorts of toxic compounds and pharmaceuticals (that you probably don't have a prescription for like cancer treatment drugs).

[kragen]

phthalates, like flax seeds and soybeans, are probably endocrine disruptors in humans. they're oils, not solid plastics; you add them to pvc to transform it from a rigid, brittle substance like those white sewer pipes into a flexible, resilient substance like shower curtains, fake leather upholstery from the 01970s, or nasogastric tubes. they evaporate from the plastic over time, so you inhale them and the plastic gets brittle. they also diffuse out of the plastic into whatever it's in contact with, especially oily things

in general any statement that refers to 'plastic' as a single material is wrong. the only thing the diverse materials called 'plastic' have in common is that you can mold them and that at least one of their major ingredients is a synthetic organic material, not even necessarily the majority

i think probably the concern over harm from human phthalate exposure will turn out to be baseless, but it's not implausible

[kjkjadksj]

Well, they figured as such about bpa and here we are. They figured as such for a lot of things in the past that turned out to be not what they seemed after sufficient data were collected.

[dyauspitr]

Phthalates are estrogen mimics.

[shepherdjerred]

> Feels like this is going to become one of those things we look back on in retrospect and regret.

The entire world would be paralyzed with fear if it were afraid to do anything that it might regret in the future.

[mint2]

While people are aware of the chemical element lead, are people aware there’s also a hundred or so other chemical elements?

[c22]

Why worry about man-made nuclear weapons when we've always had the sun?

[John23832]

Because plastics are not natural and are a relatively recent invention in human history. A bonus is that there has been a exponential increase in usage in the last 30 years.

We do not have a long history of its effects, and what we do have doesn't look good. So showering plastic particles everywhere seems like an ill-advised idea.

As a society we have very few options to collectively decide to do something "better". Our government and oversight agencies are supposed to be one of those options. This is a disappointing development.

[triyambakam]

A teaspoon of dihydrogen monoxide can kill you and it covers the entire earth. It is probably in your bathroom and kitchen right now.