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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.
No sir, I only drink Perrier.
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.
It will probably be "Child eats hot dog, poops fidget spinner!"
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.
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."
Plastics don't have to get dissolved to have effects; they can absorb or discharge other substances. The discharge may well be affected by acidity. So it is a serious concern. See http://www.motherjones.com/pol...
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
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.
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SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
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.
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.
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