Micro plastics
Tyler Culpepper - 13th April 2026
I appreciated the look at plastic detox ideas and highlighting other silly things, but felt like part of the main point of concern around micro plastics was missed.
Yes, there’s not a lot of research - and maybe some of it is poor. But that’s in large part because plastics are new, and concern about them is even newer.
We burned, and are still burning, lots of fossil fuels, with dramatic global effect. This was an effect that was happening even before the science proved it, and is even now still doubted by some, despite the proof. It’s not necessarily relevant, but plastics are of course derived from fossil fuels. The relevance is that they exist on the surface now in “unnaturally” high concentrations. It seems like caution would be highly advisable now in terms of the potential effects, even if we aren’t yet sure what they are or might be. The fact that removing plastic from your own kitchen doesn’t change much is irrelevant to the greater argument.
Plastics are now everywhere when they weren’t before, and potentially making their way into everything. Assuming that it’s no big deal seems naive.
The mention of chemicals attached to plastics also seemed very brief. If they are so well attached it surely is the same or a very related problem, not a different one.
In summary, I appreciate calling out the bogus solutions, but I’m not convinced the problem is bogus. Perhaps it wasn’t meant to come across that way, but it felt a little like it to me.
