Microplastics linked to heart attack, stroke and death | Hacker News Reader

Microplastics linked to heart attack, stroke and death

scientificamerican.com

65 pointslawrenceyan17 comments

> Those who did were 4.5 times more likely to experience a heart attack, a stroke or death in the approximately 34 months after the surgery than were those whose arteries were plastic-free.

Wow that is huge. I recall reading a thread on here just a few weeks ago where a number of users were tearing down some others for suggesting they were concerned about microplastics, and positing that if there was any negative health effect to microplastics, we’d have already found it.

I would not be surprised to learn more about these negative effects moving forward. But the real question is, will any governments do anything about it.

+1, I recall reading a thread on this not too long ago. For me, the main, quite unfortunate, take-away was that a lot of the microplastics could actually stem from the filters of reverse osmosis systems.

See discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38942293

Wow. In this same thread I recommended Zero Water, which isn’t reverse osmosis. Does that type of filter avoid the issue?

I don’t know about Zero Water. I recently purchased a water distiller to make distilled water for my humidifier.

I’d read that it wouldn’t taste that good. But I found it tastes fine to me. As a bonus, boiling hard water can eliminate microplastics.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2024/02/28/...

It is very possible there is a health concern. It is also very possible, as stated in the very beginning of the article, that this is a socio-economic/lifestyle correlation, and not causative or even involved in the health issues.

In other words, people who have no alternatives or through lack of education or other cause make poor health choices suffer the consequences broadly. There are things one can do to rule this out in a study, and these authors have not done them. Perhaps later studies will take that on.

If you’re like me you may have have read these and wondered what you can do to reduce the amount you ingest.

The simplest fix I can suggest is a zero water filter. They have a model with a glass body. The filter is rated to remove microplastics.

Filters last a long time. Easy to use. Any filter rates for microplastic removal should also work.

I don’t know how to reduce intake in food and am interested to know. Have found conflicting info.

https://www.amazon.com/ZeroWater-Ready-Pour-Dispenser-BPA-Fr...

I tried one of those years ago. Within a day or two the water in the filter developed a nasty fishy smell and taste. I took it back for a new one and tried that. Same problem.

That's a defect. I had 1-2 new filters do that but most haven't. The fishy smell is what you get when the filtering system starts to break down. Apparently not harmful but means it is time to switch.

From comments elsewhere it seems there are mixed reports about microplastics removal from Zero water (or other types) so now I'm unsure what to recommend.

Hmmm. Maybe the ones I had were sitting on the shelf at Walmart for a really long time!

Read your comment and went to Amazon (UK) to buy one, but the description makes no claim of removing microplastics but mercury, lead, and the filter itself is made of plastics so I’m confused

Hmm, looking into it further:

* Zero water does claim they remove microplastics larger than 10 microns

* Consumer Labs claims they actually increase microplastics

* From Amazon comments the discrepancy may be due to particle size. The manufacturer claims it relates to cleaning techniques

I now feel I need more info but am not sure how to evaluate further. The consumer lab report did say one brand fully removed them. The report is paid only however.

link to the report, please. I'll purchase it and share the info

Here you go!

https://www.consumerlab.com/reviews/water-filters-review/wat...

And the article describing what's in the report re: microplastics: https://www.consumerlab.com/news/consumerlab-tests-reveal-bi...

1) Britta Soho / longlast filter (96% of microplastics removed) 2) Aquagear pitcher (59% of microplastics removed after 2-3 flushes) 3) Aquasana and Pur pitchers (80% of microplastics removal after 3 flushes of filters)

Even though the Pur Filter cleaned up the water better overall, it took more flushes (3-4) to reach those numbers, and the filter supposedly emitted a bunch of carbon particles. I use the PUR filter, and it seems to work okay. It solved my problem of Water tasting funky. It would be nice if it also truly reduced microplastics and PFAS chemicals, but I don't have a lab capable of verifying such claims, so I need to trust folks like Consumer Lab.

The important thing to remember is that no matter what these tests say, they are a single sample in time. Manufacturers enshitify products for the benefit of shareholders whenever possible. None of us knows if the filters will continue to work as tested.

Wouldnt an RO system also remove the plastics at a cheaper rate?

https://archive.ph/53WBB

Plastic Found Inside More Than 50% of Plaques from Clogged Arteries

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39630498

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