Slashdot Mirror
Plastic Fibers Found In 83 Percent of World's Tap Water, Study Reveals (theguardian.com)
Robotron23 writes: Research published by Orb Media, a nonprofit journalism group, has revealed that microplastics have contaminated high proportions of drinking water and bottled water. Samples from the United States tested positive in 94% of instances, while Europe's contamination averages around 72%. Tests were undertaken at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, with lead researcher Dr. Anne Marie Mahon noting the risk of plastics carrying bacteria, and commenting: "In terms of fibers, the diameter is 10 microns across and it would be very unusual to find that level of filtration in our drinking water systems." As for the culprit, the report mentions the atmosphere as one obvious source, "with fibers shed by the everyday wear and tear of clothes and carpets." Another potential source is tumble dryers, "with almost 80% of U.S. households having dryers that usually vent to the open air." Overall, the investigation by Orb Media found that 83% of the samples were contaminated with plastic fibers.
80% of households, not 80% of households with dryers.
No sir, I only drink Perrier.
First we had the story of fish eating plastic; and now there's this one about humans drinking plastic. Plus we've still got three more days for the climactic ending - I can't wait!
#DeleteChrome
Here's an article from 2011
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2011/10/laundry-lint-pollutes-worlds-oceans
Also from 2011
http://morgellonsdiseaseawareness.com/morgellons_photo_galleries/morgellons_fibers_in_water_supply
These fibers might actually explain Morgellon's Disease which is currently understood as a form of delusional parasitosis.
The second link says filtration and boiling don't work but reverse osmosis removes 95%.
If only bacteria could be engineered to eat this shit...
Directly looking at the website of the researchers indicates to me that this hasn't been published in a peer-reviewed journal yet. And the quality of the post is egregious: "83% of the samples were contaminated with plastic fibers" means practically nothing if we do not also get to know the size of the samples versus the amount and size of the fibers, and their composition.
The actual research, if and when published, could be very interesting. This grab for views --- not so much.
My home is fed by my own private well and the water gets filtered by a reverse osmosis filtration system. Certainly not foolproof, but plastic fibers are likely the least of your worries in the public water system. I'd be a lot more concerned about pharmaceuticals in the water supply....like anti-depressants.
Sounds like we (US especially) need to upgrade our water treatment facilities. Contact your representatives.
That's not how (most) plastics work. You may be thinking of additives such as phthalates and bisphenols. In fact most premium bottled waters are filtered by reverse osmosis, which would actually deal with the particles the article discusses.
Actually, the article kind of implies we might get most of our plastic exposure via inhalation...
Plastic of all shapes and sizes is literally everywhere people go. Take a walk around your neighborhood sometime and just start picking up any random garbage you see. You'll be surprised just how much you pick up in just a few hundred square feet. Plastic pieces of all colors, shapes, and sizes. Bags. Lids. Shards. Parts of toys. Unidentified stuff...
The stranger part to me is that so many educated people don't care at all about the issue, even though it is just as important as climate change and other forms of toxic pollution due to the enormous amounts of it we're putting into the environment every day. Even here, there will be many comments along the lines of, "Yeah, yeah, plastic in the water is bad - but I'm more worried about X in the water."
Means nothing without mentioning concentrations. By the same logic 99% of water is also contaminated with uranium and cyanide.
It does not matter if they found 4.9 microfiber of size below of 2.5 micrometer. The question is : does it have a significant impact on biological activity of human at those level, and is it below or above the legally set quantity ? That is the correct question. If the answer is no, then my own comment is "meh ?".
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
In fact most premium bottled waters are filtered by reverse osmosis, which would actually deal with the particles the article discusses.
That is complete crap. Most bottled water comes straight from tap with a small minority actually going through additional filtration. RO is a comparatively slow and expensive process and does not scale well enough for mass purposes. I ought to know, I use RO to produce water for my multi-thousand litre marine fish tanks.
Yeah, those fucking hippy liberal cultural marxist with their absurd desires to drink pure water! What a bunch of losers and whiners. Real men drink their water with as much contaminants as humanly possible, because real men are not pussies!
Unfortunately the tap water here in liberal leftist Finland is ruined by the same liberals, it's way too pure for my levels of masculinity, so I carry a bag of ground plastics with me that I can then mix into my drinking water. My co-workers were confused by this and asked what I was doing, I told them I'm making Finland great again!
Lucky you,with Trump and his awesome stance of 'fuck the environment' your tap water will likely become 'ugely better still. If you're really lucky you'll get a whole bunch of awesome and delicious additives á la Flint like lead. I'm so envious.
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" -Alfred North Whitehead
Plenty of people will read the article and will not drink tap water, but will buy even more bottled water.
I have tried to explain to my parents that the water they had from their tap was extremely good quality. Yet they still bought into marketing and fear and dragged bottled water from the store while they where in pain from arthritis and chemo.
When I saw the 'non profit' part, I start to wonder who funded the research.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
I meant "most premium" in terms of the most commonly purchased branded waters, as opposed to generic grocery store gallon jugs. Coke (Dasani), Pepsi (Aquafina), and even Walmart (Great Value Purified) all explicitly say they are reverse osmosis filtered waters. Nestle is another big player, but they're a little ambiguous saying they use reverse osmosis "and/or" other methods.
Here's a chart about branded water sales. "Private label" means "grocery store brand":
https://www.statista.com/stati...
I encourage you to examine it in great detail and write a rebuttal. Maybe google some bottled water facts. Really dig in and tear my logic to shreds, I'm sure there's flaws aplenty to nitpick. Take your time, I'll read what you have to say and/or watch television.
One of the worst sources of plastic pollution is cosmetics and shower gels. Some companies put tiny plastic beads into them for texture/exfoliating. Some of the more responsible manufacturers have agreed to stop using them.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
The contamination source was a combination of the people who collected the water samples (not researchers, just people all around the world), the containers in which the water was stored and transported, and the research lab which was not up to standard at all.
Fucking academics who have never left a schoolground and gone to a construction site.
Plastic fibers are coming from the air.... as opposed to leaching off from those miles and miles of PVC conduit water has to run through before getting to your tap.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
In March I installed one of these undersink filters which is rated at 0.3 micron. That's a particularly good one unless you go with reverse osmosis. 0.3 micron will filter out bacteria, but not viruses. Obviously it will filter out these 10 micron plastic fibers too. So far the filter has lasted this long with no change. Even a more basic undersink filter will typically filter down to 5 microns.
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." - Mark Twain
Your "topic" is nothing but a bit of the current thread topic filled with 90% of ethnic slurs. Start by calling people what they are instead of using slurs and insults.
#DeleteFacebook
Surely natural arsenic is healthy because it's natural. You could grind up apricot kernels and add it to the water to restore the natural arsenic balance.
I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
Some of the more responsible manufacturers have agreed to stop using them.
So no one then.
Fortunately they'll all start soon as legislation will slowly force the issue.
Modern ones use the latent heat of condensation to warm incoming air, saving on electricity. They are about twice as efficient in power terms as a 'normal' dryer, although they do take longer to dry clothes.
-----