<story><title>How to fight microplastic pollution with magnets</title><url>https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210825-how-to-fight-microplastic-pollution-with-magnets</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>nazgul17</author><text>I am astonished every time I read the average plastic intake of an average person. I never noticed even the tiniest amount of plastic in my water or food. Can someone explain how plastics enter my body undetected by me?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>hypertele-Xii</author><text>Think about how soft plastic is. How easily a plastic surface can be scratched. How easily it can be chafed. How quickly plastic goggles become opaque from use. How much synthetic lint forms in your belly button from clothes.&lt;p&gt;Every time a plastic surface is scratched or chafed, or rubs against a rough surface, near invisible plastic dust particles break off and disperse into the environment. You breathe them into your lungs, they settle onto your food and drink and enter your stomach.&lt;p&gt;Some of them get permanently wedged inside your body. Now imagine a big, unshapely sculpture the size of a chair appears inside your house and you can&amp;#x27;t get it out for some reason. Sure, your world doesn&amp;#x27;t end, but it &lt;i&gt;takes up space.&lt;/i&gt; How many would have to accumulate until they really started hindering your daily routines? That&amp;#x27;s what your cells feel like.&lt;p&gt;Most bubble gum is plastic for fuck&amp;#x27;s sake. People &lt;i&gt;chew on plastic&lt;/i&gt; on a daily basis. (Good news is plastic-free chewing gum have appeared on the market.)</text></comment>
<story><title>How to fight microplastic pollution with magnets</title><url>https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210825-how-to-fight-microplastic-pollution-with-magnets</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>nazgul17</author><text>I am astonished every time I read the average plastic intake of an average person. I never noticed even the tiniest amount of plastic in my water or food. Can someone explain how plastics enter my body undetected by me?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>foerbert</author><text>The answer here is even in the article title. Microplastics. Nobody is talking about chunks of plastic you can see, or feel, directly.</text></comment>