Microplastic.

[bullet08]

I'm someone who believes that everything will kill me sooner or later. Having said that, all these obsession regarding microplastic is becoming very annoying. What idiot thinks putting foreign objects in ones body won't do any harm. At the same time what idiot thinks everything that comes contact with us will kill us? Born in late 60's, my whole life has been filled with contact with plastic. If I was gonna die from the microplastic, I would be worm food by now!

 

[ashdigger]

Facts!! I’m 62. The things I’ve touched, ingested or been exposed to is incalculable.

I go in burned out buildings and have for 20 years.

I’ve been shot, stabbed, been in a few accidents (not my fault lol) been on life support twice, broken 18 bones, had hundreds of stitches (some I’ve put in myself).

I’ve been in fights where I got my ass kicked and where I’ve kicked ass.

I’ve spent two nights in jail, for all the right reasons.

Yeah, plastics don’t mean anything to me.

 

[yelan221]

Exactly. I think moderation matters. Avoiding unnecessary plastic contact is fine, but the hysteria around it gets ridiculous. People forget we're surrounded by worse things daily.

 

[Brad H]

So you know how many radio waves are running through your body at any given moment? Am/FM/Police channels/radation/5g/etc….. so many things people can’t even think about that is in their bodies already.

 

[JOHN72]

You live what you resist, you resist what you endure. The order of factors does not alter your final destination, which is death. I have often thought about the astronomical amount of waste that humans produce, which is not recycled but burned, buried, or thrown into the sea.

 

[woodsroad]

Facts!! I’m 62. The things I’ve touched, ingested or been exposed to is incalculable.

I go in burned out buildings and have for 20 years.

I’ve been shot, stabbed, been in a few accidents (not my fault lol) been on life support twice, broken 18 bones, had hundreds of stitches (some I’ve put in myself).

I’ve been in fights where I got my ass kicked and where I’ve kicked ass.

I’ve spent two nights in jail, for all the right reasons.

Yeah, plastics don’t mean anything to me.

​

 

[chilllucky]

I'm glad to hear that you guys are healthy, but your individual stories are not population studies of the long-term effects of a substance in a dynamic environment.

That said, I am just as annoyed at lazy journalism that tries to weave this into every possible story to get worry clicks as you seem to be.

 

[anotherbob]

I'm someone who believes that everything will kill me sooner or later. Having said that, all these obsession regarding microplastic is becoming very annoying. What idiot thinks putting foreign objects in ones body won't do any harm. At the same time what idiot thinks everything that comes contact with us will kill us? Born in late 60's, my whole life has been filled with contact with plastic. If I was gonna die from the microplastic, I would be worm food by now!

not really. On the last bit. For several reasons. But microplastics are I guess scary or kind of scary or worrying because they're not quite like anything else. And one of the biggest ways they're not like anything else is that they have this amazing ability to move through the whole food chain and stick around for an incomprehensible amount of time. And the really fun part is a like everything else in the whole world the dose makes the poison. So basically it's a nifty experiment on how the whole world will react. Maybe it's bad maybe it's no big deal....

 

[BingBong]

Oh happy days, aged 15 or so, cutting up big sheets of blue asbestos with a circular saw, illicit cigarette hanging from my jaw and clouds of asbestos dust swirling all about.

 

[LotusEater]

Considering some of the choices I’ve made, my genetics and many of my life experiences it will be a real MFer of a shock and disappointment if microplastics are what kill me.

That said - my wife and kid need to figure out they can get water from the faucet. They seem to be under the impression it only comes in plastic bottles which should be drunk until half full and then left laying around for me to recycle.

 

[Auxsender]

I think one of the major sources of anxiety for people is that microplastics have been around for a relatively short period of time considering how long humans have existed and no one actually knows for certain what effects microscopic plastic particles in our brains and semen and lungs and bones and muscles and eyeballs will have.
Maybe no effect. Maybe calamitous effect.
No knowing causes anxiety.

Of course, if you were born in the middle of the 20th century, it probably won’t be an issue for you as plastics were only widely used for like 2/3 of your life.
If you were born in the 90’s or after, you’ll have a lifetime of microplastic exposure.

Cancer rates have increased as the density and variety of environmental pollutants have increased but I’m sure there’s nothing to see there.

 

[sardonicus87]

I think a lot misunderstand microplastics too. Some people fear Teflon. Teflon isn't a problem and is truly harmless... it's the byproducts and components of manufacturing Teflon that are a problem. Not that anyone's talking about that in this thread, but it is something I've seen related to microplastics that comes up.

I make it no secret that I am a philosophical pessimist. But there's enough suffering in life just at base-level, and while microplastics are a problem and something should be done about it, the number of people cowering over every minutia of everything and being afraid of living life is getting annoying as all hell.

They're so afraid everything is going to kill them, but what good is having a long and healthy life if you don't actually live it because you're too busy crying online about things you can't change or avoid and trying to proselytize others into crippling fear, rather than writing letters or donating to the people that could actually could make things you're afraid of be better?

Too many people are worried about too many things but refuse to take any action on those things... even the action of just being informed. So often they latch on to a fear without even understanding the thing they're afraid of or why they should be afraid of it or the appropriate fear level and are more concerned with being concerned than with the thing itself.

More on microplastics:

 

[LotusEater]

For those who are interested here is an article that gives an overview re microplastics and the concerns surrounding them.

https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2025/01/what-s-the-deal-with-microplastics-the-material-that-never-goes-away

 

[ashdigger]

View attachment 425050​

Not even close. I’m just a dude that’s lived a life. I’m as boring as they come.

 

[bullet08]

I don't know. Caffeine, nicotine, alcohol or microplastic. I enjoy all three. Oh! Artificial sweetener!

 

[anotherbob]

Not even close. I’m just a dude that’s lived a life. I’m as boring as they come.

It's always the boring ones that think they're interesting, and the interesting people always say some variation of the I'am just a guy.

 

[BingBong]

I think a lot misunderstand microplastics too. Some people fear Teflon. Teflon isn't a problem and is truly harmless... it's the byproducts and components of manufacturing Teflon that are a problem. Not that anyone's talking about that in this thread, but it is something I've seen related to microplastics that comes up.

I make it no secret that I am a philosophical pessimist. But there's enough suffering in life just at base-level, and while microplastics are a problem and something should be done about it, the number of people cowering over every minutia of everything and being afraid of living life is getting annoying as all hell.

They're so afraid everything is going to kill them, but what good is having a long and healthy life if you don't actually live it because you're too busy crying online about things you can't change or avoid and trying to proselytize others into crippling fear, rather than writing letters or donating to the people that could actually could make things you're afraid of be better?

Too many people are worried about too many things but refuse to take any action on those things... even the action of just being informed. So often they latch on to a fear without even understanding the thing they're afraid of or why they should be afraid of it or the appropriate fear level and are more concerned with being concerned than with the thing itself.

More on microplastics:

Some of my relatives moved into new build next to a chemical factory producing precursors to Teflon, near Rotterdam. When pets started dying, the local authorities grudgingly investigated after years of protests. The groundwater contamination was immense, everyone had to move out and the area sealed off... until the housing became emergency accommodation.

 

[ashdigger]

It's always the boring ones that think they're interesting, and the interesting people always say some variation of the I'am just a guy.

I’m very interesting. Just not in the normal way.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

Some of the shit the media goes on about is bad for us...

But you can't get the truth from a known liar.

I refuse to worry about anything just because news media/social media told me to.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

After the past 5 or 6 years of total bullshit going on... if I woke up and the news said an asteroid was going to hit at noon, that wouldn't change my plans for the day. Haha