८ मार्च, २०१९

"Each year, more than a half-million metric tons of microfibers — the equivalent of 50 billion plastic water bottles — enter the ocean from the washing of synthetic textiles..."

"... according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, a Switzerland-based group that counts governments, nonprofits and charities among its members. While all clothing sheds fibers when washed, synthetic particles — unlike wool and cotton — don't biodegrade. Most conventional washing-machine filters aren't designed to trap such tiny particles.... Microplastics have turned up in seafood, drinking water, beer, honey and sugar, according to studies, but the impact on human health is unclear...."

From "The Tiny Plastics in Your Clothes Are Becoming a Big Problem" (Wall Street Journal).

५७ टिप्पण्या:

Henry म्हणाले...

How does the headline follow from that quote?

Nonapod म्हणाले...

And I suspect most of it ends up in the Ocean as a result from runnoff from textile plants in places like Bangladesh.

Wince म्हणाले...

Stuff like this is probably more worthy of study than climate whatever by whomever.

Robert Cook म्हणाले...

"Stuff like this is probably more worthy of study than climate whatever by whomever."

It's all part of the same big ball of dirty wax: the impact of human activity on the environment and all living organisms existing within the environment.

elkh1 म्हणाले...

To save the oceans, CA will ban all clothes.

Sigivald म्हणाले...

"Unclear" because basically zero, and also all these damn microplastics seem to really end up in sediment.

"I call bullshit."

Wince म्हणाले...

Cook said...
It's all part of the same big ball of dirty wax: the impact of human activity on the environment and all living organisms existing within the environment.

Life on earth has endured and evolved for eons with temperature changes that were largely exogenous to those life forms. According to my understanding the worst being the near final extinction of all non-microbial life on earth because of -- correct me if I'm wrong -- a dangerous shortage of CO2 in the atmosphere during the last ice age.

Toxins and things like this can alter biochemistry and DNA and that I suspect is a more direct and manageable risk to be managed by humans.

Psota म्हणाले...

There's always a problem...

AP म्हणाले...

"It's all part of the same big ball of dirty wax: the impact of human activity on the environment and all living organisms existing within the environment."

I agree and disagree. While there are many potential environmental issues to be concerned about, and many/most are caused by humans, my personal view is that fresh water quality is a bigger potential health and environmental issue than global warming. But comparatively few resources, public and political attention is allocated to any environmental issue other than global warming. That's a double whammy of the hysteria. We spend a lot of time and effort on one problem (if it even is one) to the exclusion of all else.

Ambrose म्हणाले...

Well if it's metric tons everyone is worried about, they can't blame the USA.

tcrosse म्हणाले...

I knew all those 1970's doubleknits were a mistake.

Jaq म्हणाले...

Septic tank, like most deplorables. Obviously big cities are the problem.

mockturtle म्हणाले...

Well if it's metric tons everyone is worried about, they can't blame the USA.

Right!

gilbar म्हणाले...

when you have a group, that names themselves something like:
International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources

you KNOW that what they are saying is fair, impartial, unbiased and objective; Right?
RIGHT?

After all, it's a group that counts governments, nonprofits and charities among its members.
You CANNOT GET MORE SCIENTIFIC than that; can you?

mockturtle म्हणाले...

We need a filter that would selectively attract such particles.

gilbar म्हणाले...

from the (currently) top ranked comment for the article at the WSJ
I would like to see such numbers come from bonafide scientific research rather than these non-profit agenda organizations...

me too!

Dave Begley म्हणाले...

Everything we humans do is a BIG PROBLEM for the environment. We should just vacate the Earth and let it return to its natural state. Birds are more valuable than people.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent म्हणाले...

How serendipitous that AGW will remove the need to be heavily clothed. I could live happily in cotton shorts and t-shirt.

Achilles म्हणाले...

Dave Begley said...
Everything we humans do is a BIG PROBLEM for the environment. We should just vacate the Earth and let it return to its natural state. Birds are more valuable than people.

Government attracts a certain type of person who can’t do things.

All they can do is leach off the people that do do things.

The big problem they are trying to solve is how to get more power over other people.

PM म्हणाले...

Big contributor to microfiber issue: YOGA PANTS!

Quaestor म्हणाले...

Which is more racist —

1) Forcing black children to wear cotton by banning synthetic fibers?

2) Showing black children a stem from a cotton plant?

gahrie म्हणाले...

The Left won't be happy until we're all living in caves, nude, and spending our leisure time picking lice off of each other.

Achilles म्हणाले...

The United States has lifted billions out of poverty because we told the king to piss off and we let people do what they wanted to do rather than what they were told to do by the aristocracy.

All of these stupid bureaucrats are just trying to get their power over us back.

They had to kill science first. Now they wear the skinned corpse of science to further the effort to get their serfs back.

Quaestor म्हणाले...

Microplastics have turned up in seafood, drinking water, beer, honey, and sugar, according to studies, but the impact on human health is unclear.... (Oxford comma added)

What is also unclear is the source of the microfibers.

Quaestor म्हणाले...

The Left won't be happy until we're all living in caves, nude, and spending our leisure time picking lice off of each other.

Not all of us. Al Gore's beach house.

JohnAnnArbor म्हणाले...

Better sewage treatment, to rid it of stuff like this and other stuff that gets through (pharmaceutical compounds are a biggie) would be very beneficial to all.

Anthony म्हणाले...

It's utter BS. Synthetics do break down in the ocean. Wind, waves, and sun break it down into tiny particles which bacteria then consume.

Robert Cook म्हणाले...

"Everything we humans do is a BIG PROBLEM for the environment. We should just vacate the Earth and let it return to its natural state. Birds are more valuable than people."

Well, no. It's not a big problem for the environment, it just has a big influence on the environment. It's a big problem for the life forms adapted to live in the current environment and will be harmed by the significant changes to the current environment.

Robert Cook म्हणाले...

"What is also unclear is the source of the microfibers."

If they're plastics, the source is human beings.

Christy म्हणाले...

I just think it's funny how deplorable polyester was re-branded into cool microfiber.

Wince म्हणाले...

Here are more parents who outta be beaten with heavy clubs and left bleeding in the moonlight. These are the ones who carry their babies around in their backpacks or front packs or slings or whatever these devices are called that are apparently designed to leave the parents hands free to sort through high end merchandise and reach for their platinum credit cards cause it's always these upscale, yuppie looking, Greenpeace, environmentally conscious assholes who have them on.

I say hey Mr. and Mrs. Natural Fibers, it's not camping equipment. It's a baby. Touch the little prick now and then he'll thank you for someday.

Jersey Fled म्हणाले...

So what.

Maillard Reactionary म्हणाले...

My five-cent forecast is that within 5 years some zoologist will find a species of bacteria that finds polyester and other synthetics a ready source of energy. All you need are the right enzymes to crack them. Bacteria are really good at discovering enzymes and finding ways to exploit compounds in the environment for their own purposes. And incredibly, they are able to do this with no help from us at all!

Jersey Fled म्हणाले...

Environmentalists have already promised me I will die of about a hundred other things, so why worry about one more.

In fact, according to AL Gore I'm on borrowed time anyway.

Dust Bunny Queen म्हणाले...

Cotton....the fabric of your life. Well....except now cotton seems to be a racist thing or something. Cotton is racist. Who knew?

Wear cotton, wool (hope the sheep don't fart), linen, leather (we know the cows fart) and other natural fibers.

gilbar म्हणाले...

since the World will be OVER in TWELVE YEARS
WHY should we give a rat's ass?
It Just Doesn't Matter!
It Just Doesn't Matter!

Jersey Fled म्हणाले...

Trying to think of one thing in my life that isn't about to kill me.

Maillard Reactionary म्हणाले...

Even under the most benign labor regime, cotton is problematic because its cultivation requires a great deal of water, much more than food crops. In the areas of the world where cotton is grown, this leads to increased salinity in the soil, eventually rendering it unproductive for agriculture.

Polyester? Poison the ocean. Cotton? Poison the soil. Wool? Poison the atmosphere (sheep farts, plus they are smelly). What's a responsible human to do?

Screw it, I'm going out and getting a face tattoo.

mockturtle म्हणाले...

Phidippus, one can't win, can one? Paper or plastic?

rehajm म्हणाले...

"Unclear" because basically zero, and also all these damn microplastics seem to really end up in sediment.

If the rise in microplastics in mud began around 1920 it explains the live-ball era.

mockturtle म्हणाले...

New fibers that are lightweight and quick drying have revolutionized camping gear. Just try to get a wet pair of cotton jeans dried in the Pacific NW.

Maillard Reactionary म्हणाले...

mockturtle said: "Phidippus, one can't win, can one?"

Of course not. That's the whole point of the game.

Don't let them know you're on to it, though. They have ways of making you pay.

Maillard Reactionary म्हणाले...

rejahm @3:49 PM: That's one impressive piece of scientific inference there, fella.

Seeing Red म्हणाले...

We only have 12 years. What difference, at this point, does it make?

Anchovy1214 म्हणाले...

The only thing to do, if you are a true believer, is to pick out a nice tree, sit beside it and turn yourself into fertilizer. Those are not your carbon atoms, you didn't build them.

readering म्हणाले...

La la la la la I can't hear you . . . .

Quaestor म्हणाले...

If they're plastics, the source is human beings.

Robert Cook, a person who has never failed to expose his own ignorance, does not surprise when he revels in his ignorance of the scientific method.

Quaestor म्हणाले...

I'll give the impoverished Mr. Cook a hint in the form of a hypothetical.

A researcher reports having found human DNA in samples of seafood. A conscientious reviewer will regarding this finding as

1) Evidence of human/fish interbreeding

2) Evidence of mishandled seafood

3) Evidence of sloppy lab work

chuck म्हणाले...

Next up: contraceptives.

Apart from the layer of rubber white fish deposited in NY Harbor by the Hudson, hormonal contraceptive contamination is a big problem for wildlife. There should be a UN working group aimed at getting them banned.

iowan2 म्हणाले...

It's a big problem for the life forms adapted to live in the current environment and will be harmed by the significant changes to the current environment.

So the life forms adapted to live in the current environment, but are not going to continue to adapt to a constantly changing environment.

Unknown म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Unknown म्हणाले...

Green New Deal will fix this too.

Everything will be hand sewn from locally grown and locally harvested fibers.

Shirts will be $600, but the universal basic income will be $150K/year.

We can all have jobs as seamstresses.

Its Year Zero from the Boriqua, the Somali, and the Palestinian

The Last Dragon Slayer म्हणाले...

There must always be dragons. Polyester dragons will do.

Fritz म्हणाले...

Just another environmental fad. I give it ten years; enough time to generate a generation of grad students, who will turn out to be sadly disappointed when nobody wants to hire a specialist is oceanic microfibers.

buwaya म्हणाले...

"These are the ones who carry their babies around in their backpacks"

I did that. Until I taught them to ride on my shoulders.

buwaya म्हणाले...

Its best to carry your kids on your shoulders.
My wife said I was advertising - "see, I do good work"

Dad29 म्हणाले...

but the impact on human health is unclear

Wait a few months. This will be a catastrophic health event, like farting cows and airplanes, not to mention heating and air conditioning.