Scientists express concern over health impacts, with another study finding particles in arteries
Microplastics have been found in every human placenta tested in a study, leaving the researchers worried about the potential health impacts on developing foetuses.
The scientists analysed 62 placental tissue samples and found the most common plastic detected was polyethylene, which is used to make plastic bags and bottles. A second study revealed microplastics in all 17 human arteries tested and suggested the particles may be linked to clogging of the blood vessels.
Microplastics have also recently been discovered in human blood and breast milk, indicating widespread contamination of people’s bodies. The impact on health is as yet unknown but microplastics have been shown to cause damage to human cells in the laboratory. The particles could lodge in tissue and cause inflammation, as air pollution particles do, or chemicals in the plastics could cause harm.
Huge amounts of plastic waste are dumped in the environment and microplastics have polluted the entire planet, from the summit of Mount Everest to the deepest oceans. People are known to consume the tiny particles via food and water as well as breathing them in, and they have been found in the faeces of babies and adults.
Turning? Not sure if you’ve been paying attention, but kids these days can’t even read.
That would be due to underfunded public schools and making Teaching jobs pay part time wages.
And ipads in every kids hand, given by inattentive parents, actively robbing them of “developing literacy” time.
Kids are supposed to be able to read prior to coming to elementary school. It’s expected, with minimal classroom time, by 1st grade, they’re reading full blown books. That’s fallen by the wayside.
“Kids are dumb because iPads, they should be reading instead.”
Ah yes, sorry I forgot you cannot read anything on an iPad. Ever since Apple outlawed reading back in 1997, we’ve been on a downhill slide to unga bunga caveman times.
I see your point, an iPad is a tool like any other, but FWIW, I ain’t never seen a little kid read on an iPad for fun. Arguably a parenting problem, but also kids games are juiced to the max.
Can’t blame the technology itself for the lack of oversight from parents. Put a lock on the games, limit play time, or better yet give your kids a monthly allowance for an e-reader app. Make them excited to read.
Why can’t you blame the technology as well? It’s quite literally designed to be a trivial but addicting experience. Good parents can obviously circumvent the issue, but on a societal level it’s inevitable that millions of kids end up glued to electronic devices at a critical time when they should be developing other skills.
you ever seen a kid read a book when they have YouTube or TikTok as options
Sounds like the parental controls aren’t being used properly, more than it being the fault of technology.
At its root, this is a social problem. When people make barely enough money to subsist they don’t really rate “developing literacy time” very high on their hierarchy of needs.
It’s more than just telling parents “work less and read to your child,” especially if there’s nothing to fall back on to pay for child care that’s impossible to find for even those unburdened by poverty, or paying half of every check to rent, or the enormous rising cost of groceries.
When it comes down to the most brass of tacks, any parent would find it patronizing as fuck to be told they are failing their children because they have to work themselves to death instead of having the luxury of free time. And, of course, they understand that.
Strong social safety nets and support are what we need anyway, whether or not we’re parents.
It’s anecdotal, but plenty of kids are reading in my kid’s first grade class.
He reads at a 4th-grade level which I attribute partly to reading and vocabulary apps.
When I was a kid, I could read pretty well by that age but it definitely wasn’t the norm.
Either way, pretty sure you’re basing this on what you feel is true, and not actual data. Have any?