ishitar
ishitar t1_iv9pcay wrote
Seems low. About the same as number of individual krill they might eat when each krill itself must have multiple thousand of micro and nano plastic in it. Must be some lower bound cutoff point, just like that hilarious estimate a few years back the ocean contains billions of micro plastic, when estimates of the Baltic sea are in the hundreds of quadrillions and sediment at the bottom of the Mediterranean contains 2 million plastic pieces per square meter.
Why this matters: recent studies of the beached members of another whale species around Japan show unusually high levels of systemic amyloidosis, particularly in the gastrointestinal tract. Amyloidosis is the deposition of misfolded protein (most notably produced by bone marrow in mammals) and other studies have shown nanoplastic can increase amyloid deposition (makes sense as the nano particles can act as seeds in protein fibrillation, or formation of misfolded protein fibers). It matters to all species on earth as the 10 billion tons of plastic (+.5 billion annually) continue to break down and the plastic disseminates and increases in concentration through the trophic web.
ishitar t1_isxblun wrote
Reply to comment by Anokant in Next pandemic may come from melting glaciers, new data shows. Analysis of Arctic lake suggests viruses and bacteria locked in ice could reawaken and infect wildlife. by chemistrynerd1994
We have nanoplastic passing the blood brain barrier and depositing amyloid proteins in our brain at current miniscule concentrations and 10 billion tons of it left in the wings to break down and bio accumulate. One of the things i've realized these past few weeks is we don't need fucking prions to do us in, we are already done as those concentrations get higher and higher.
ishitar t1_ja2ssfw wrote
Reply to comment by Randomwhitelady2 in Ohio Train Derailment Contamination Fears Spread Beyond East Palestine by ROYCEKrispy
The company does deep well injection for toxic water disposal. They claim thousands of feet down, below any water table. Would take a thousand years to come back up blah blah. The whole business model is like that episode of Futurama where earth launches its trash into space and it comes back hundreds of years later.
Edit: You know what, this libertarian, corporatist hellscape is what Texans voted for. I support all manner of toxic and radioactive waste, PFAS, heavy metals and such being disposed of by deep well injection under Texas.