It's raining plastic — that's what a survey of rainfall in Boulder and Denver Colorado, discovered. recently.
The study, titled "It is raining plastic," was put together by scientists at the US Department of the Interior and US Geological Survey.
They couldn't see the plastic with naked eyes, but it was there alright. With a binocular microscope, particles were seen in up in 90% of samples, mostly in fibre form, and in (you'll be happy to know) a variety of colors.
Blue was dominant, followed by red, silver, purple, green, yellow. We don't know where the plastic is from, but contamination by plastic has been a growing problem throughout the world.
It's not new news. Scientists have detected microplastic particles in rain before. They saw it in the rain falling in the Pyrenees, in France. It's been detected on otherwise untouched islands in the middle of the Pacific. We are talking trillions of pieces of plastic litter in all of seas, killing fish and other animals.
An earlier study found we ingest an average of 5 grams of plastic every week, (about the weight of a credit card). No, we don't know how this process will affect our future health, although several studies are underway.
Now let me see. Plastics we breathe in lodge in the lungs. So in one year we have inhaled 5 x 52 grams. That's 260 grams or as near to half a pound for our American friends, and a quarter kilo for the rest of us.
Let's assume your kids are ten years old. When they hit 50, they will have breathed in around ten kilo. TEN KILO!!!
Some local councils have tried to stem the tide by vetoing plastic bags. But this isn't just a personal problem or a city problem. It's not even a national problem. It's an every-living-animal-or-human problem. So are we seeing any higher level awareness. No. The opposite in fact.
At a Pennsylvania plastic manufacturing plant recently, Mr Trump spoke in favour of the use of plastic. When asked by a reporter about how he felt about the world being "awash in plastic," the president blamed China for the problem.
"Well, we have tremendous plastics coming over from Asia, from China, and various others," Trump said. "It's not our plastic. It's plastic that's floating over in the ocean and the various oceans from other places. No, plastics are fine, but you have to know what to do with them. But other countries are not taking care of their plastic use and they haven't for a long time. And the plastic that we're getting is floating across the ocean from other places, including China."
Who, me? No, the other fella. Just a moment while I put my groceries in another plastic bag.
So what can we do beyond wearing a breathing mask daily?
This seems the only way we can prevent plastics getting into our lungs. It really comes down now to whether our egos or our lives are more important. Can we take the stares and jibes from friends and strangers? Can we keep our kool long enough for it to matter?
It's not unlike the water filter decision. Plenty of people simply turn their back on the need for clean water even though the EPA has identified 600 contaminants that haven't even been through their test program to ascertain remedial procedures.
So yes, there will be people who take no notice of the plastics they ingest every day, just as they take no notice of water pollution.
And no, we can't prove the correlation between toxins like plastics and the 600 water contaminants with the wave of cancer that scythes though our population. We can only suggest that like us, you install a reliable, properly tested wide spectrum water filter.
As to breathing plastic daily? It's really up to you. You choose your future.. like it or not!
