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"A scientific review of 52 studies recently concluded that humans on average consume a credit card’s worth of microplastic each week."

Wow

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As shocking as that is, I'd like to see some confirmation of that number.

I don't doubt the analogy, but I think we need to study if this is actually harmful. Does the body expel it entirely as waste, or is some left behind, etc.

It must expel it to a high degree. I can't imagine any significant amount of 52 credit cards worth of plastic a year being retained by the body. That would mean that I have approximately 1500 credit cards worth of plastic in my body just layin' around after my 29 years of livin'.

I can tell ya - I'd notice 1500 credit cards worth of plastic hanging out in my body. That's 5g * 1500 = 7.5kg (16.5lbs) of plastic.

We used to think that trace amounts of pesticides in our food supply was perfectly safe.

Can someone tell me why microplastics are actually bad? I feel like scientists have recently been discovering they're everywhere, but is there any negative effect? They really are everywhere, and theres nothing we can do now.

I bought a Patagonia fleece the other day, and realized the thing is practically made out of microplastics, or 'recycled polyester'. And Patagonia claims to be an eco-friendly company, even though they acknowledge the microplastics problem.

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