“The concentrations we saw in the brain tissue of normal individuals, who had an average age of around 45 or 50 years old, were 4,800 micrograms per gram, or 0.48% by weight,” Campen said.
That’s the equivalent of an entire standard plastic spoon, Campen said.
“Compared to autopsy brain samples from 2016, that’s about 50% higher”
An entire spoon’s worth of plastic in ol’ wrinkly. That doesn’t seem good.
50% increase in 8 years is fascinating. I doubt we increased plastics production that much in that timeframe, so what caused the increase?
We totally increased plastic production that much
Speculating: the breakdown of existing environmental plastics into smaller, more absorbable pollutants? existing plastics more thoroughly polluting the food/water supplies?
I think that’s true because the amount of plastic waste is being significantly lower. Of the plastic still being emitted into the environment, the majority is from tires. Tire dust.
Don’t forget the garbage islands and fishing nets being cooked by sunlight in the ocean, like a perpetual stew.
Yeah, the comment elsewhere about 50% of plastic having been produced since '02 has me convinced it’s the former.
I think it’s plastic erosion that matters more in this instance
Takes time to build up at every layer of water -> Agriculture -> body -> brain, probably.
It happened slowly, then all at once.