Ask HN: How to Avoid Microplastics/PFAS | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How to Avoid Microplastics/PFAS

I am very paranoid about this stuff but everywhere I read says it's ubiquitous in the environment and there's nothing I can do. Are there actionable steps to realistically reduce my inhalation/consumption of these things by at least 80% that don't involve moving to a farm?

View on HN

There are many small things you can do right now — avoid buying food or drink that is in plastic, avoid storing leftovers in plastic, avoid plastic cutlery and plates. Never heat up food in the aforementioned plastic.

But the 80% number may be hard to reach, depending on what your current intake is. And since there’s no real way to measure what your intake is, and how low you get, it’ll be much harder.

Moving to a farm won’t necessarily help. You still need to buy things to run a farm, many of which are packaged in plastic. You still need clothes. There will always be some element of risk involved.

The problem is that avoiding microplastics in food is really hard. Lots of food that is not packaged in plastic is full of microplastics. These are leaking into food during processing or from the environment. Car tires are full of plastic and continuously shedding it. For example, lots of plant roots have been shown to uptake microplastics from soil.

IMHO, EPA and EU environmental agencies should mandate testing microplastic levels in food. Otherwise, we are blind. Alternatively, some independent organization should come up with a microplastic level test and award badges.

Moving to a farm doesn't necessarily help:

https://www.agriculturedive.com/news/these-farmers-didnt-kno...

https://www.npr.org/2024/03/28/1241473455/pfas-forever-chemi...

Ridding your home of plastic and avoiding buying stuff that comes wrapped in it, it’s probably a good first step and within your control. It may be hard to remove 100% these days, especially with electronics.

I’ve been watching Rajiv Surendra‘s YouTube channel for a while. While he has the occasional plastic item shown, it is pretty rare to see plastic in his apartment or wherever he is. Baskets are wicker, bowls are ceramic, silverware is actually silver, cutting boards are wood, textiles are cotton, wool, etc, paintbrushes are made from squirrel hair. It’s given me a lot of ideas and awareness for the different options out there and how people lived before the invention of plastic.

> paintbrushes are made from squirrel hair

I too love my $60 paint brushes. They’re so soft.

There are some good suggestions here. It's easy to feel powerless and paranoid about all the crap going on but a balanced approach that focuses on mindful living and ethical choices is a better way. By transforming anxiety into positive action we can contribute to systemic change while maintaining personal well-being.

Yeah, people aren't paranoid enough about this IMO. Legislation needs to catch up with research coming out about the serious health impacts.

Reducing personal exposure seems possible. I mean, realistically there are only so many ways microplastics can enter the body, so it's a matter of managing your "attack surface".

Of course there's no way to know what the impact really is, but what we've done in our household in the past few years:

- Eating/drinking: started using glass food containers, ceramic cookware, silicon kitchen utensils. Got a good reverse osmosis water filter, stopped buying bottled water.

- Skin: lots of fabrics are derived from plastics these days, so try to get 100% cotton. Do research on skin products you use every day.

- Air: get a good air purifier and run it throughout the day. Even if the windows are closed, furniture can off-gas microplastics into the air. HEPA air filters for your car, pretty easy to install yourself.

What would make a good replacement for a plastic cutting board for use with meat?

I use wooden cutting boards for that, works very well.

Silicone -- easy to throw in the dishwasher, too.

Does silicone not contain plasticizers?

this sounds like trying to put out a fire with a cup of water.

do you go outside? cars on pavement roadways are one of the biggest sources of microplastics.

do you buy prepackaged food/drinks/groceries?

do you eat out?

The question was how to reduce your exposure, not eliminate it. Of course you can't be 100% clean from microplastics, but why not do what you can given what we currently know?

Yes, freeways are major sources of microplastics and yes, I drive on a major freeway daily. That's why I suggested getting a HEPA filter for your car. Does it make a huge difference? Probably not, but the cost of doing so is also very low.

Some studies suggest that indoor air can contain more microplastics than outdoor air [1]. I doubt this is true in busy metropolitan areas, but the point is that indoor air matters. If you're spending half of your time at home, why not get an air purifier and run it when you sleep?

All of the things I listed are small steps you can take to manage your long-term exposure. Even if it's only by a few percent, the cost of getting an air or water purifier is relatively lower. Like I said, we'd need top-down legislation changes to really reduce the presence of microplastics everywhere.

It seems like you agree that this is a problem, so what are you proposing we do?

[1]: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00489...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8994130/

You can try donating plasma

A couple simple things:

* Minimize plastic use as much as possible in the home.

* Don't reheat food in plastic containers

* Use a carbon filter on your kitchen sink and fridge, carbon can remove pfas

I always order my coffee in a mug at coffee shops, and I try to avoid shops that serve in plastic lined paper cups.

When I can't, I bring my own mug.

The only things I did was to get a reverse osmosis filter installed for drinking water and stop using any non-stick cookware.

Another easy thing to do is to avoid drinking bottled water:

https://www.npr.org/2024/01/10/1223730333/bottled-water-plas...

"Drinking Boiled Tap Water Reduces Human Intake of Nanoplastics and Microplastics"

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.estlett.4c00081

"Boiling hard water (>120 mg L–1 of CaCO3) can remove at least 80% of polystyrene, polyethylene, and polypropylene NMPs size between 0.1 and 150 μm."

Avoid clothes made from synthetic fibers.

Good luck finding non-synthetic clothes for exercise or other forms of physical activity that performs as well as synthetics. Even if you do, it’s usually a blend of synthetics with natural fibers.

Well, ~50%[0] of microplastics is car tyres, so you know, good luck. Support public transport, support cycle lanes, campaign for pedestrianization, etc.

Maybe move to a low-car-density enviroment? Holland?

[0]: https://e360.yale.edu/features/tire-pollution-toxic-chemical...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com