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Liesthroughisteeth t1_j6l113b wrote

These chemicals have been found in measurable quantities in the far north of Canada and in the systems of people living there. This shit is pretty much everywhere...as are micro-plastics.

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Ok_Cranberry_1936 t1_j6m3c40 wrote

Hijacking this comment to beg people to please stop using microfiber!! There are so many other fabrics that work just as well, if not better. Without releasing millions of microplastics every time they are wetted, rinsed, wiped washed and ofcourse dried using a dryer. Please use literally any other fabric.

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Liesthroughisteeth t1_j6m3kit wrote

Fuzzy synthetic blankets are probably heavy shedders as well. All goes into our watersheds.

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abclop99 t1_j6nhdp8 wrote

What other fibers work just as well?

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Ok_Cranberry_1936 t1_j6obg3a wrote

Cotton for cleaning household items. And newspaper for windows and mirrors

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abclop99 t1_j6og8d0 wrote

What about glasses, phone screens and, cars?

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Ok_Cranberry_1936 t1_j6olsgx wrote

Glass is what windows are made of. Phone screens would be same as mirrors. Cars would be same as hard fabrics, cotton

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RoboNyaa t1_j6nv4f7 wrote

It's called polyester, not microfiber. There's a hell of a lot more of polyester clothing on this planet than microfiber towels.

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Ok_Cranberry_1936 t1_j6p1vwx wrote

Microfiber is a type of polyester.

Polyester has lots of legitimate uses in the world.

Cleaning is not one of them. Nor is drying your hair (most, if not all hair drying towels are made of Microfiber). Which is why I comment when I can. Most people have no idea Microfiber sheds millions of microplastics every time it is used.

But say, for outdoor gear, which could literally save your life, is a fair use of plastic fabrics.

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RoboNyaa t1_j6ph55e wrote

> Polyester has lots of legitimate uses in the world.

More than a 3rd of microplastic pollution in the ocean originates from polyester and acrylic clothing.

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Ok_Cranberry_1936 t1_j6pia54 wrote

I never said anything otherwise?

Idk what your deal is. Sounds like you're saying if something isn't eliminated 100% there is no use.

Cleaning or dusting with polyester isn't a need. Using polyester while living in an arctic climate is.

I'm not going to keep going back and fourth with you over nothing. Hope you educate yourself in the future.

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Zeduca t1_j6l06g7 wrote

Orcas are on the peak of the food chain. Even humans won’t eat them. Orcas accumulate all contaminants from all underneath them.

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Spicy_Cum_Lord t1_j6l3c7g wrote

Humans would, if we could. Whale hunting is hard and illegal in most places.

Orcas and humans are both apex predators. It's safe to assume what's affecting them is also affecting us.

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Zeduca t1_j6l4cly wrote

Orcas are extremely toxic. Their carcasses are treated as toxic sites and need hazmat treatment. Bon appetite.

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wpon001 t1_j6nbuut wrote

He’s not wrong, recently, within the last five years, the Inuit community got railed after a sighting of an orca pod of 3, then they proceeded to kill them all, lose one, and then sell them.

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jshif t1_j6l5d7o wrote

News flash: That stuff is everywhere.

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SmackEh t1_j6kwqu7 wrote

There's your problem. Orcas should be in the ocean, not in Canada.

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Historical_Covering t1_j6kx9mi wrote

Humans collectively don't give a shit... pass them ice cream, Tinder and an iPhone and they will happily choose human extinction. The rest is just sponsorship and advertising.

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infinis t1_j6ml3th wrote

Worked in customer service for over 10 years. I don't believe we will manage to control climate change, people will murder their neighbors if it will allow them to forgo an inconvenience.

I had to argue with a lady who wanted to send her kid to pickup an item that was in a closed section because of heavy rains comming through the ceiling and bringing all the lights down in the puddles.

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ca11Batman t1_j6m35eb wrote

You could have a million wake up calls and the greedy will still sleep.

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autotldr t1_j6kxj59 wrote

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 72%. (I'm a bot)

> Canadian researchers have discovered high levels of a "Forever chemical", used in making toilet paper, in the bodies of endangered killer whales, sparking fears the toxic substance could further harm them.

> Because killer whales, or orcas, sit atop the food chain, they often ingest smaller organisms tainted with the chemical - a phenomenon known as biomagnification, making orcas among the most contaminated cetaceans in the world.

> Experts nonetheless worry high concentrations of 4NP, similar to those found in the studied whales, can interact with the nervous system and influence cognitive function as well as affect hormone levels and make the whales more susceptible to illness.

Extended Summary | FAQ | Feedback | Top keywords: whale^#1 chemical^#2 killer^#3 research^#4 4NP^#5

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PublishDateBot t1_j6l0b4m wrote

This article was last modified 15 days ago and may contain out of date information.

The original publication date was January 14th, 2023 and it was last updated on January 16th, 2023. As per /r/worldnews/wiki submissions should be to articles published within the last week.  
 

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SunsetKittens t1_j6kuta6 wrote

Since when the hell are orcas endangered? Outside humans they're one of the most dominant species on the planet.

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RandomActOfMindless t1_j6kvmvd wrote

Endangered due to prey depletion. Not necessarily their own numbers.

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Malkor t1_j6kzqnh wrote

Ah yes, the food chain. Folks forget about that.

Save the whales, but the stuff they eat is on their own...

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Aisriyth t1_j6l2din wrote

theres some interesting correlation between orcas and sharks in some areas where there appears to be a growing predation on sharks by orcas because the reduction in their normal prey.

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Em_Adespoton t1_j6l0xft wrote

I’d like to know which animal below them is eating all the toilet paper….

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Biologyboii t1_j6m370i wrote

There are different eco types. So they are cultural and eat different things all over the world. The only ones that feed on herring are in Norway, the ones in New Zealand have learnt to eat sting rays, the ones off Patagonia in Argentina have learnt to come on the beach for seals. All these technics are passed on to the offspring and they are culturally different.

Here in Canada we have a few ecotypes. On the west coast of BC there’s technically 3 kinds. Transient (also known as Bigg’s), resident and offshore. We never really see the offshore killer whales. They are the ones that eat sharks, mainly thresher sharks, and it wears their teeth down to the nub so their family members have to feed the old ones.

Of the residents, there are three populations. They even sound different, think of them like Scotland, Ireland and England. They sound similar but are different. These resident killer whales specialize in eating fish, particularly chinook salmon. Not all salmon species, predominantly just chinook. The southern resident population, made of three pods (J-pod, K-pod, and L-pod) have a naturally low population but naturally low population in the most trafficked waters on the west coast are the ones hurting.

All this being said, all killer whales are clearly dominant species, so the bio accumulation is severe. They rate high on many toxins from micro plastics to mercury. And the marine ecosystem there’s particular build up, even more so than land.

So yeah, killer whales are abundant as a whole, but not all ecotypes are. They even have different physical attributes and cultures. You, as a rookie, could tell them apart once told what to look for. And ideally, we’d like to see all ecotypes persist :)

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OTRWithPeanut t1_j6lcd8h wrote

That's either a misleading headline that's deserving of criticism, or something is wrong with me.

I thought it was going to be about a chemical that makes us live forever, like a Lord of the Rings ring or something. Turns out, the "forever chemical" is just a toxic chemical that could harm killer whales.

As soon as I found out, I closed the article because I have no interest in reading about what's killing the killer whales. Boring.

So, misleading right? I'm not a terrible human, right?

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david_wreckem t1_j6m9ww3 wrote

Once you found out you can’t live forever and instead whales are filled with toxic forever chemicals, and you’re bored by that, yea, you are a pretty garbage person.

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