I think you can frame this and related issues as a kind of arms race between the population and segments of the government that want to limit exposure to toxic pollutants, and the corporate entities and their hired government representatives that want to make as much money as possible. Viewed this way the first side was dominating the most in the decades post WWII, but since then the corporate side has strengthened their position considerably. I almost wonder if all the media noise about microplastics is a deliberate smokescreen to take attention from the long list of provably toxic compounds that permeate our modern lives. To be fair who wants to focus directly on issues like BPA for their entire lifetime with zero progress.
If we wanted to identify which microplastic is responsible for bad effects, I see why it’d be really expensive. But if we just want to know “is the mix of microplastics in our bodies right now harmful?”, it seems like we could run studies on a combination and get results much more cheaply and quickly. Plus, you could binary search through the groups of plastics to identify the harmful ones; it seems unlikely that we’d need to run trials on all possible combinations individually to get more confidence in which ones are bad.
I think you can frame this and related issues as a kind of arms race between the population and segments of the government that want to limit exposure to toxic pollutants, and the corporate entities and their hired government representatives that want to make as much money as possible. Viewed this way the first side was dominating the most in the decades post WWII, but since then the corporate side has strengthened their position considerably. I almost wonder if all the media noise about microplastics is a deliberate smokescreen to take attention from the long list of provably toxic compounds that permeate our modern lives. To be fair who wants to focus directly on issues like BPA for their entire lifetime with zero progress.
If we wanted to identify which microplastic is responsible for bad effects, I see why it’d be really expensive. But if we just want to know “is the mix of microplastics in our bodies right now harmful?”, it seems like we could run studies on a combination and get results much more cheaply and quickly. Plus, you could binary search through the groups of plastics to identify the harmful ones; it seems unlikely that we’d need to run trials on all possible combinations individually to get more confidence in which ones are bad.
The mix of plastics in our bodies right now is not a single thing, though. Depends a lot from person to person.
Not sure how you'd use a binary search here...
(Semi joking, but I think it makes sense)
I have long theorized that microplastics contain lead, which protects against radiation. Perhaps this is G-d's way of preparing us for the apocalypse.