Macro shot of microplastics

[LesPalenik]

Close-up photograph of tiny plastic items found now in human bodies.

Researchers have already found microplastics in the most surprising places, such as on remote islands or in the Antarctic. And even in the larvae of mosquitoes. In any case, the tiny plastic particles can be detected in almost any body of water. So it was only a matter of time before researchers would find microplastics in stool samples of humans. This was accomplished by scientists from Austria. According to the reports, this is the first time that such evidence has been discovered. The plastic particles were found in the samples of eight study participants, as reported by the Medical University of Vienna and the Austrian Federal Environment Agency.

http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/natur/mikroplastik-in-menschlichen-stuhlproben-nachgewiesen-a-1234558.html

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Close-up photograph of tiny plastic items found now in human bodies.

Hi Les,

Macro / Micro !

Nice angle to this disaster in the making.

Cheers,
Bart

[Rob C]

Does anyone have the definitive reason for the calling of a poop a stool?

I have sat and pondered this for many years...

:-)

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Does anyone have the definitive reason for the calling of a poop a stool?

I have sat and pondered this for many years...

:-)

https://www.quora.com/Why-are-feces-called-stools

In Dutch we sometimes call it "stoelgang" (after going to 'the stool').
Might start calling it the "dumping of plastics".

Cheers,
Bart

[LesPalenik]

Does anyone have the definitive reason for the calling of a poop a stool?

I have sat and pondered this for many years...
:-)

From the dictionary:
Originally used of thrones (cf. cynestol "royal seat, throne"); change of meaning began with adoption of chair from French, which relegated stool to small seats without arms or backs, then "privy" (early 15c.) and thence to "bowel movement" (1530s).

or possibly from here:
Long wisps fall across her forehead as she sits very straight on her stool, her narrow shoulder blades drawnback elegantly.

The Stacks: The Searing Story of How Murder Stalked a Tiny New York Town. E. Jean Carroll, April 19, 2014

[LesPalenik]

Hi Les,

Macro / Micro !

Nice angle to this disaster in the making.

Cheers,
Bart

Hi Bart,

I don't get too upset about microplastics in the stool and thus flushed out, but I am more concerned about the tiny particles getting into the blood stream and liver.
As to the above picture, it reminds me of sea glass fragments collected by beach combers on sandy ocean beaches.

While the highest plastic concentrations in animal studies have been found in the gut, the smallest microplastic particles are capable of entering the blood stream, lymphatic system and may even reach the liver.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/health/human-bodies-are-becoming-polluted-by-plastic-swallowed-in-food-scientists-discover-a3968721.html

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Hi Bart,

I don't get too upset about microplastics in the stool and thus flushed out, but I am more concerned about the tiny particles getting into the blood stream and liver.

I agree, but I also figure that less is coming out than what got in (the difference being resorbed by the gastrointestinal tract). It's the part that didn't come out that's troubling. In addition, there's a lot that already was too small to see to begin with.

Cheers,
Bart

[LesPalenik]

High intake of fiber should help. Or marijuana.

[gchappel]

Wash your hands.
Gary

[LesPalenik]

Washing hands is always a good idea. Before eating or other gregarious activities.
However, most microplastics entering human bodies come from consuming fish, shelfish, sea salt, indoor dust, and even bottled water and beer.

It may only take drinking a liter of bottled water a day to consume more microplastics than you would from being an avid shellfish eater.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/food-microplastics-eating-plastic-pollution-environment-a8395556.html