Microplastics: Didn’t get the memo

Vincent J. Curtis

18 Aug 24

RE: Microplastics in our water continue to be a huge issue. Op-ed by Susan Koswan. The Hamilton Spectator 17 Aug 24.

I would have thought that the microplastics fear-mongering would have died out on account of its patent ridiculousness. Apparently, Susan Koswan didn’t get the memo.

She writes that microplastics have been found in human breast milk, placentas, testicles, hearts, livers, and kidneys.  Ask yourself, why would anyone even look for microscopic sized pieces of plastic in testicles?  Why would a pathologist look for them in testicles as a cause of death?  And the other places, like placentas. Why look for microscopic sized plastic particles there?

Then she claims the way to get microscopic sized pieces of plastic out of water is to boil the water, and they will precipitate out with the water hardness.  Ridiculous.  Plastic is not soluble in water.  If microscopic sized particles were present to any degree, the water would look hazy, not clear. Does Hamilton’s drinking water look hazy?

Never mind the problem of how chemically inert plastic particles, if ingested, get absorbed into the bloodstream instead of passing out of the digestive tract with the rest of the waste; then, if absorbed, do not cause strokes by the blockage of capillaries?

The microplastic scare ought to have died out by now.  The claims of the fear-mongers are simply ridiculous.

-30-