Microscopic plastic debris from washing clothes is accumulating in the marine environment and could be entering the food chain, a study has warned.
Researchers traced the “microplastic” back to synthetic clothes, which released up to 1,900 tiny fibres per garment every time they were washed.
Earlier research showed plastic smaller than 1mm were being eaten by animals and getting into the food chain.
The findings appeared in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.
“Research we had done before… showed that when we looked at all the bits of plastic in the environment, about 80% was made up from smaller bits of plastic,” said co-author Mark Browne, an ecologist now based at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
“This really led us to the idea of what sorts of plastic are there and where did they come from.”
Dr Browne, a member of the US-based research network National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, said the tiny plastic was a concern because evidence showed that it was making its way into the food chain.
Please. I want more of this kind of good news. Looking at the photograph made me think of how my lungs felt a couple of weeks ago-maybe I’ve been ingesting bits of plastic and haven’t known it.
I’ve been getting e-mail’s lately asking me to join Emily’s list. Is it a worthwhile site to join?
If you’ve been contacted by EMILY’S LIST, you probably know that E-M-I-L-Y is an acronym for Early Money Is Like Yeast: it makes the dough rise.
You probably know, also, that they’re committed to helping electpro-choice female candidates. Emily’s list is one of the largest PACs in the country. I used to be a member, but dropped out several years ago.
IMO, they do a less than stellar job in vetting their candidates beyond reproductive choice. One of their chosen candidates, for example, turned out to be a huge NRA gun nut — but she passed muster because she was pro-choice.
Their mission of electing pro-choice women, though an important issue, is too narrow for my taste.
Here’s a (partial?) list of female candidates, Emily’s list is fundraising for/supporting in California:
• Lois Capps, U.S. House (CA-24)
• Denise Moreno Ducheny, U.S. House (CA-51)
• Dianne Feinstein, U.S. Senate
• Gloria Negrete McLeod, U.S. House (CA-35)
Dianne Feinstein? Oy.
No, didn’t know anything about this organization. Thanks for the info. and will not give them my e-mail address.
Beautiful day here in the foothills of CA. Slight breeze with the prediction of being in the 60′s next week. Looks like we had one winter storm this season and now we’re headed toward Spring. I’m surely not a weather person but this has be very strange weather. Could it be due to our climate changing?
Looks like everyone has decided to sleep in this morning, I can’t believe I’m the first one to post some comments. Usually I’m doing it at the end of the day. Check back later.
Carol and Dr. B., I know it is remarkable my parents are still traveling-Dad is still driving and drives very well and safely-I think it’s from driving the farm tractor in the late 1920′s!
Not me. I never sleep in. Waste of time.
Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Just one word.
Benjamin: Yes, sir.
Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?
Benjamin: Yes, I am.
Mr. McGuire: Plastics.
Benjamin: Exactly how do you mean?
Mr. McGuire: There’s a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?
The Graduate, Dustin Hoffman
You win a bucket of popcorn! (with a side of beer)
What a brain for remembering. I knew it sounded familiar but that’s all.
Den probably remembers because of Benjamin and Mrs. Robinson.
Pam, this place just ebbs along in the backwater of the internets. The day is punctuated with comments but not like the old CornBlog days, yup, things were really hopping back then with many characters too numerous to mention posting seconds apart, yup, those were the days alright.
But this is OK too
6 years ago
Holy Time Machine! 6 years ago??!!
Seems like a moment ago…
Almost 2000 posts since Oct 2006
Plastic food? Yummy.
Think you’ll sprinkle it with salt and pepper? How about some hot sauce?
Only the plastic stuff.
My stepdad is 87 and still drives. He’s still sharp as a tac. He’s another one of the lucky ones.
Mouth watering plastic food
Those displays were most helpful in Tokyo. I had no Japanese beyond arigato so I would select from the plasticf display in the window and beckon the proprietor out to the sidewalk so I could point.
The food, however, was real and most tasty.
We relied on the window-front displays, too. In fact, the most appealing “fake” displays beckoned to us more than the lesser models. Usually, the quality of the fake stuff was indicative of the quality of the food.
I also enjoyed choosing sushi at those eating establishments that featured conveyor-belts, one plate after another, round and round, like a kid’s model railroad.
Plastic food makes plastic poo, don’t eat that stuff!
Ouch!
I hope this works…
NY-ER CARTOON