It's starting to feel impossible to simply live a decent and healthy life in the modern age. We've trashed everything--water, air, food. No wonder everyone is refluxing, allergic, unwell, etc etc.
no...the real question is this... how in hell were not ALL participants showing plastic in the plaque? unless they were from the early 20th century, they would have been plastered in plastic like the rest of us! everything in the car is plastic. everything in the entire house is plastic...clothing is mostly plastic.... something is wrong here. please explain.
Maybe they had water filter, air purifier or worked outside. What the video it has some tips, although i dont think brush really matters that much but natural products. Also when i was kid all t-shirts were cotton now they are polyester or combination. @@doejohn8674
Exactly. The vacuum and its HEPA filters are made of plastic. Pretyy much everything in our environment is made with or of plastic. Unless you are living off the grid in a 200 year old cabin. But even then, the water and rain have it since that moves across the continents from rains deposited worldwide. 😮
they probably said no significantly detected microplastics, not "none at all". they probably even have some metric by which to determine if the levels of detected microplastics are 'significant'. detecting nanoplastics is quite difficult at this stage and to my understanding there's not any specialty equipment out there to even do it yet.
Color me skeptical, but I'm reminded of the alar food scare. This is one study which is very suggestive, but what is missing (as always) are any randomized control trials. It's scary because we eat lots of food packaged in plastics, and for the most part it is impossible to entirely eliminate exposure to plastics. And it's all invisible, of course, so clearly the best solution is to hike into the wilderness and live off the land for the rest of your life. The more interesting question to me is what factors were unaccounted for in differentiating the two populations. In other words, why does one population have NO NMPs at all? And it's not a tiny fraction, but a large fraction (though clearly not a majority). Further, all of these people had SURGERY to remove plaque from their arteries, so clearly while they might be regarded as largely similar, they are not largely similar to the population at large. Finally, in light of your proposed "solutions", I would remind you of Thomas Sowell's famous line, "There are no solutions; there are only trade-offs." I'm reminded also of the panic over aluminum, w/r to possibly causing Alzheimer's. Back then (early 90s), all the health-conscious people were trying to figure out how to avoid aluminum. Also I'm reminded that recent event a few years ago, where everyone thought that masks, 6-ft social distancing, and frequent hand-washing would have any effect on a highly contagious respiratory disease. This whole video stinks of paranoia. Not to say that NMPs are "good", but the thing in common with all of my historical examples is a complete lack of risk analysis, because the topic hasn't even begun to be studied enough to measure risks, never mind assess what the various trade-offs are. The difference in outcomes might just be due to NMPs being a proxy for junk food - and that it's just junk food causing the higher risk, not the plastics consumed with the junk food.
Where I'm working (warehouse) they transport plastic boxes on plastic belt conveyors. These conveyors are situated at about 7 meters and underneath are people picking and restocking products. On the floor coming from the conveyors there is always plastic "dust" and I bet the finest plastic grindings are floating in the air and are getting into our lungs. I am trying to make people aware but it doesn't seem that anyone cares about this. It's not related to your comment but it's still very concerning.
Good points. While being cautious is always advisable, i do think we also should search for further confounding factors that explain the differences in populations. I also wondered why such a large fraction had no MNPs in their plaques at all, given the circumstances we all live in? So did they have vastly different living conditions and or nutritional habits like one might think or does something else can explain the difference?
There is research showing PFAS/analogues acting as estrogen mimics. Look at the amount of soft human males around today. That's enough for me. I'm antivax and anti-plastic as much as I can be. Of course the government is going to give you the shaft, that's why they want to give you experimental drugs and they aren't doing anything about plastic or pesticides. It's all bad, don't think for one second that plastic is not harmful. Plastic is cheap, durable and pretty resistant to corrosion and if the government cared they'd only use glass for products that come into contact with food and water, but they don't care about us.
The reason there is no mps in one population is, not lack of exposure or or better excretion, but lack of absorption. ie no leaky gut or levels the gut or its microbiome can handle.
Nick, I recently found a Toxicologist on TH-cam named Yvonne Burkart, PhD you should check her channel out. She has many great, educational videos. I'm in the 3D printing industry and it is also my hobby. I see so many people run these 3D printers out in the open, no ventilation, air filtration and the machines, melting polymer plastic, spew a tremendous amount of VOCs and nanoparticles into the air. We know these things cause inflammation in the body and then some. Some materials are worse than others (PLA vs ABS, PETG, the additives used, etc). So, to those using 3D printers, enclosures, ventilate fumes outside or use air filtration devices like BOFA and other vendors.
Just finished reading the NEJM article after seeing your short about it a couple of days ago. I need to re-read it a couple of more times and see if I can find a reason NOT to run screaming into the night. So far, no luck. I don't drink bottled water but there's 30 meters of polyethylene tubing between my tap and my "country pure spring" well. :lol: It's everywhere. Couple this paper with the estrogenic effects of certain common plasticizers and we're in for an interesting ride.
There can always be a confounding variable - like why do these people have no microplastics!! That seems crazy given we all exist in similar environments
At this point, I am highly skeptical of this trial result. Two major reasons come to mind. First, when people mention microplastics there doesn't seem to be any attempt to describe the plastics other than by particle size. My guess is that some plastic types are worse than others (say, polypropylene vs polystyrene vs a chlorinated polymer). Do all plastics cause problems or only some? Second, and related to the first, what were the dietary habits of those who had events? Do people with lots of microplastics eat poorer diets (lots of fast food meals and processed foods) that might contribute to their poor health? BTW, is there an identified mechanism by which microplastics move from our gut into our circulation?
Right, the main question is how plastics ends up in our blood. I do not think that anything indigestible should be in the blood. Is fiber we consume in our blood? Maybe if we have leaky gut it is possible. But what do I know?
observational study: an observational study draws inferences from a sample to a population where the independent variable is not under the control of the researcher because of ethical concerns or logistical constraints. I think we are done here.
The biggest source we're exposed to - and that ends up in the water - is tire dust. There's not much point in adopting all the other super intrusive tips if the low-hanging fruit isn't addressed. I doubt any of the ~150 people without plastic were obsessively avoiding take-out containers, polyester and water bottles.
Good to have some much needed exposure to this issue. Add a few that people know but do not take seriously: - Teflon frying pans (or anything coated with fluoroplasitcs); these things are worse than 'simple plastics' because they do not degrade, while simple polymers like polyethylene are slowly degrading through exposure to some micro organisms. People do not get past the marketing speak of Teflon being something invincible. It is chemically close enough, but mechanically it is weak. Scraping the pan even with a wooden spoon you will scoop nice layer of them chains for your food. - processed foods - but not because of packaging (although relevant) - arguably the machinery used to produce them, often in high temp and pressure (extrusion, pasteurizing) with plastic surfaces add more plastic content to the food You left out the worst polymer contaminate in traffic, the freaking tyre degradation products - then again in context of contaminates in heavy traffic the things coming out of exhaust pipes eclipse this one. Polymers are not created equal. That means some are dangerous to eat, but could be fine in contact with skin. The more inert and the longer the polymer chain, the worse it would be to ingest, but it would be less volatile and less likely to breath in. Synthetic fibers theoretically could be fine to wear, as polyamides (Nailon etc), PVC and polyurethane are quite strong and big chains. Personally I loathe the synthetic clothes because of feel. They stick to the skin.
I am an endurance athlete who wears moisture wicking technical fabrics. Sadly, most if not all of these materials are plastic-based. Bamboo materials are an emerging technology, but right now are cost-prohibitive and not readily available.
What about memory foam? Lots of pillows and mattresses have this which is where we spend 8 hours per day. Not to mention the flame retardants often used.
Plastic is overused in agriculture, plastic mulch is allowed on USDA Organic vegetable crops and is a quick and direct route of nano particulate plastics directly into farm soils and plants we then eat🐸❤️thank you❤️🐸
My hidden talent is I’m a super taster. I construct flavors for a living. I’ve never enjoyed a plastic bottle of water. The overwhelming smell and taste leaves me puzzled that anyone would turn toward this for refreshment.
It is in everything. Name anything and I would bet it has plastic in it. All food does unless you farmed it and or hunted and processed it yourself. (Meats and veg all come packed in plastic.) Cars, houses, airplanes, trains, furniture, boxes, pipes, clothing (even wool and cotton clothes are packaged in plastic when they arrive). Even living off grid, hunting and farming your own food will have some plastics from the rainwater or ice and snow melted into waterways. On some level, plastics will sadly be ever present. We can reduce it but we will go crazy thinking we can get rid of it. 😢
@catcan221 True. All we can do is try our best. We started with a non toxic mattress since that is where we spend much of our life. Flooring is another big one that could make a difference.
BPA free is just a marketing term, now they use a slightly tweaked version called BPS or BPx that does the same but the FDA doesn't have enough evidence to recommend against its use.
Get an air filter and run it in whatever room you’re in. These particles are floating in the air from the roads, from in your house, from the dump. Absolutely everywhere.
Avoid paper coffee cups... they are lined with plastic! This is a huge source for most people. The heat from the coffee leaches the plastic even more. Fat (cream in your coffee) increases the leaching too. Use your own reusable metal coffee mug that most coffee places will fill for you.
One thing I haven’t seen mentioned here is that there is a huge selection bias in the people subject to this study, as they were all having blockages removed from their carotid arteries. I would be very curious to see what the risks are to the general population.
How about plastic cutting boards? I think they should be avoided since they tend to be used for a long time and damaged by knives & heated in dishwasher.
I get my meat from butcher box. It comes frozen in plastic containers. Is that an issue? Also, what about sous vide? Are those containers also a problem?
You know... I had the same thought about sous vide... I bet it's not great. If you do, make sure to get vacuum bags that are free of BPA, phthalates, and other plasticizers.
I had same thot when i get side of beef, the butcher asks if want paper or plastic and I have always done plastic thinking less air and less freezer burn, but after this I will be getting butcher paper wrap instead. maybe if enough concerns from customers these butcher box companies can offer options also
So, what are you do about all the plastic that you already consumed? Sure, you can stop drinking bottled water now. But how many of us were drinking bottled water or soda for the last 40 years?
GOOD TIPS ! Plasticizers which line hot/cold beverage cups add to the nano-plastic Apocalypse. And, potentially endocrine disruptors too. Wishing all plastics in food industry were hormonally neutral. Is there an easy estrogen test available? Thanks. Cheers
I wonder what the vaccination history was for all the patients in this study? Polyethylene is the base petrochemical in most plastics but it is also the base ingredient (Polyethylene Glycol PEG) in modern vaccine delivery systems especially mRNA “vaccines”. One thing vaccines are 100% effective at is the ability to bypass the human body’s epithelial cell barrier (Skin cells) to the outside world and in many cases the endothelial cell barrier (Blood vessels) to the body’s blood supply. Could it be that these nanoplastics made their way into the arteries by way of a needle?
This is super interesting!! Lots of the same question - how do these particles get in the blood stream, is it from leaky gut?? No body so far as I have seen has answered that question. So your question is super super interesting!!!!!
Here is another one for you all: All new homes and apartment us plastic freshwater pipe pluming called "PEX". Actually, PEX has been used since the 1960's. Stands for Polyethylene Cross- Linked, the most commonly produced plastic. My old home uses copper piping for fresh water. What does yours have?
Sigh. It almost sounds sarcastic, because we bad humans have really screwed up so much, especially with plastic, that there’s a 0% chance of avoiding microplastics unless we go way back to the Tora. And even then it might be too late. However, in our house, we’ve swapped glass for plastic storage and Yeti bottles for plastics.
Hey, Nick, love the way you get into nuances in ketogenic diet and apoB, LDL and so on - is it possible to invite you to my podcast channel and if so, how can I contact with you? 🙏
All of our water lines are plastic,…everything we touch is plastic. I believe worrying about this is like worrying about the the sun coming up, we can not stop it, live your life.
How about brushing your teeth with a plastic toothbrush with plastic bristles. Abrasion is a good way to make plastic particles. There are brushes that use boar hairs as bristles tho.
What is the name of the movie with Dustin Hoffman and Angie Dickinson? Mrs. _____. Plastics were coming on the scene. Great hopes for the future! No stopping it.
@yodo858 2 answer your question, if I'm not mistaken the movie starring a young Dustin Hoffman & Anne Bancroft: This w/b the 1967 Academy Award winner that year for Best Director... 4Sure, An awesome Mike Nichole's film: "The Graduate". ✴️CK it out, & catch the scene where character Murray Hamilton aka "Mr. Robinson" talks abt *Plastic, it's the next Big Thing, plastic... & how it s/b an important career-decision in character Dustin Hoffman's aka -->Benjamin's future career. **Caveat I'm 🚫 not quoting verbatim here, script-wise ✴️Still, go ck out this wonderful film-story THE GRADUATE 😃💯
Detoxing against them effective? Like sulforaphane etc to upregulate the body’s natural detox paths 3 p’s: pee/perspire-poop? Or maybe some plastic sizes the body thinks r hormones (endocrine disruptors) so they get used instead of expelled? Bc if such a high percentage of people don’t have microplastics maybe they’re detoxing well AND/OR avoiding them like these tips? Gives me hope anyway…
I like the new "Learn How to Read" subtitles! Tip #12: move into remote unpolluted mountain areas away from everything and everyone OR mayhaps microplastics will give _some_ of us ....superpowers! :)
The picture that was shown at the point of Nich's second 2nd suggestion to avoid micro plastics was of, what appeared to be, a glass pot being heated over gas flame?
Had a cat (RIP) that loved to eat pieces of ziplock-type bags and then puke. He’d search the house hi and lo for those things. And if one was to be found, he’d find it. I wonder if his throwing up negated the effect? Or if it’s the plastics that took him out?
Did you look into Plasma donation for pfas and microplastic removal? What do you think the no bpa cans use in place of bpa? Perhaps bpz, bps or some other potentially worse bisphenol? I guess we need to call the company and ask.
10 particles of micro plastic per liter of bottled water…wow, that’s what’s passively there. What about plastic tooth aligners that are in for about 22 hours a day and often are perforated due to wear?
Salt is often a religious subject, but I only use pure NaCL because Dr. Hal Huggins, DDS found out that his patients who were trying to recover from mercury poisoning who used pure NaCl had about a 67% better recovery than those who used their pet salt. Morton's Canning and Pickling Salt is dirt cheap and pure Na/Cl. Dr. Huggins speculated that the other natural salts lost their electron potential energy and were contaminated with too many toxins to allow for optimal healing.
Sorry but I'm choosing my battles and microplastics is not one of them. I have many things to worry about and losing my sleep over that is not going to help. I bet that the samples they analysed in that study may have come in contact with plastic gloves or other plastic items used for the experiment! I also believe that our body has probably adapted quite well to deal with plastic over the last 60 years. Well, I'll need more proofs before panicking about microplastics.
it's a 4.53 HR over 33.7mo follow... I converted but irrespective... not sure you completely understand what those terms mean. How would you have a 350% absolute increase in death? Each person dies 3.5 times?
@@nicknorwitzPhD hmm, i just learned that if risk goes over 100%, then it must be relative. As you said, i cant die more than exactly once. Thank you!!
@@nicknorwitzPhD Not to mention the quality of life til the headstone. Some things are easy to change, so I will be doing that, others maybe not so much, like they say moderation so remove what you can, thank you Nick for breaking down so many things for us. Question for pete, 100 years ago your dad was likely not exposed to plastic then like now a days. My grandmother was 100 also, her living then is very different than us right now.
Meh. There are lots of issues with this sort of stuff. I mean, do you want cotton or wool or wood or metal microparticles in your plaques? Did the researchers look for them? Are they better or worse for you than sterile, non-biogenic plastics? The issue of ingesting/inhaling micro/nano particulate matter and it appearing within you has probably been an issue since humans evolved, especially given that we eat animals which are often far less discriminating than we are. Not to mention nearly everything around us degrades, continually. How much silicon would you ingest after a day at the beach? Are microparticles of plastic worse for you? Maybe. But would you prefer 10 particles per litre of bottled distilled water, or, whatever unknown chemicals are in your tap water? Which is worse over the long term?
BPA free items aren’t usually free from bisphenol plastics, they just switch to something like BPC, or another similar compound that acts like a hormone disrupter in our bodies like BPA. There is a group out of Harvard that is compiling a list of BPA and similar compound free products.
Take some sensible precautions and stop worrying. We live in a society where too many people think we can eliminate all risks in life. Nobody gets out alive. Live!
Do you have recommendations on sources for figuring out what constitutes the majority of microplastic exposure? A lot of these tips make life a lot harder, it would be nice to understand what to prioritize and what I can relax with (like you I love my salmon) e.g. how exposure compares between ingested plastics vs worn plastics, and how dangerous specific kinds of plastics are etc.
I think it's super hard to quantify. In terms of practicality, I'd say don't eat out of plastic, don't use plastic water bottles, and if you have a polyethylene carpet... vacuum at least once per week
I appreciate what your doing and your message..a bit of honest feedback; Not into the AI text, very distracting and I feel like I'm 5 watching the bouncing ball in sesame street. Dont feel the need to overproduce your videos, just keep the information and discourse strong.💪
This is futile. Plastic is on and in everything. Your car's interior is made of plastics. Furniture, toothbrushes, hairbrushes, etc. Even all the so called non-plastic containers lome paper and cardboard products used to contain food and beverages have a plastic film on them now! I found it on parchment paper! Just about everything made is made with plastics. BPA free is still made with plastic, just another formulation of it. I am wearing Invisalign orthodontic aligners! Plastics!! 😮I guess in retrospect I should have gone with metal. 😢 What we really need to know is how can we detox our bodies from it since it is SO pervasive in our environment. Reducing it is wise but there is just no way to eliminate it completely.
Thanks for the info, doc. I think that using an RO water filter is also advisable as tap water can also have high levels of microplastics. I notice a few folks in the comments are poking some holes in the study you discussed, which is fair enough to do, but I think it’s helpful to emphasize that microplastics have known risks, such as hormone disruption, beyond just the correlation with cardiac events found in this study. Microplastics are harmful, folks!
I've been, slowly, limiting the amount of plastic I use over the past two years now. It'll never be perfect though. Is there a way to help your body eliminate the plastics? If you were somehow actually able to eliminate all plastics in your environment, by moving to the middle of the Amazon or something, would your body eliminate them over time? I know data on this is relatively new and these probably can't be answered.
@wocket42 --> 💯 Yup. Come to find out after my own deep-dive that you're absolutely rt abt that❗ Plastic, & micro-what-evah particles are EVERYWHERE on the planet: In the air, soil, water-bodies, plant-life, etc 😩YOU NAME IT. It's there. Question is: What 2do to totally detox from this thing.
People say that Suana and exercise (basically sweating) can help detoxify the existing microplastic. Most discussions are focused on future prevention. Want to know what can be done for the stuff already in the body. Just like heavy metals, are there any tests available?
Would be interesting if the differences of the plastic vs. non-plastic group is the consumption of microplastic or for example a Leaky Gut, so that the plastic gets more in the blood stream.
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Well, the bottled water is fun - the tap one supposedly contains more deuterium. Pick your poison.
It's starting to feel impossible to simply live a decent and healthy life in the modern age. We've trashed everything--water, air, food. No wonder everyone is refluxing, allergic, unwell, etc etc.
no...the real question is this... how in hell were not ALL participants showing plastic in the plaque?
unless they were from the early 20th century, they would have been plastered in plastic like the rest of us!
everything in the car is plastic. everything in the entire house is plastic...clothing is mostly plastic....
something is wrong here.
please explain.
That is a very important question!
Maybe they had water filter, air purifier or worked outside. What the video it has some tips, although i dont think brush really matters that much but natural products. Also when i was kid all t-shirts were cotton now they are polyester or combination. @@doejohn8674
Exactly. The vacuum and its HEPA filters are made of plastic. Pretyy much everything in our environment is made with or of plastic. Unless you are living off the grid in a 200 year old cabin. But even then, the water and rain have it since that moves across the continents from rains deposited worldwide. 😮
@@catcan221 HEPA filters are made of fiberglass
they probably said no significantly detected microplastics, not "none at all". they probably even have some metric by which to determine if the levels of detected microplastics are 'significant'. detecting nanoplastics is quite difficult at this stage and to my understanding there's not any specialty equipment out there to even do it yet.
Color me skeptical, but I'm reminded of the alar food scare. This is one study which is very suggestive, but what is missing (as always) are any randomized control trials. It's scary because we eat lots of food packaged in plastics, and for the most part it is impossible to entirely eliminate exposure to plastics. And it's all invisible, of course, so clearly the best solution is to hike into the wilderness and live off the land for the rest of your life.
The more interesting question to me is what factors were unaccounted for in differentiating the two populations. In other words, why does one population have NO NMPs at all? And it's not a tiny fraction, but a large fraction (though clearly not a majority). Further, all of these people had SURGERY to remove plaque from their arteries, so clearly while they might be regarded as largely similar, they are not largely similar to the population at large.
Finally, in light of your proposed "solutions", I would remind you of Thomas Sowell's famous line, "There are no solutions; there are only trade-offs." I'm reminded also of the panic over aluminum, w/r to possibly causing Alzheimer's. Back then (early 90s), all the health-conscious people were trying to figure out how to avoid aluminum. Also I'm reminded that recent event a few years ago, where everyone thought that masks, 6-ft social distancing, and frequent hand-washing would have any effect on a highly contagious respiratory disease.
This whole video stinks of paranoia. Not to say that NMPs are "good", but the thing in common with all of my historical examples is a complete lack of risk analysis, because the topic hasn't even begun to be studied enough to measure risks, never mind assess what the various trade-offs are. The difference in outcomes might just be due to NMPs being a proxy for junk food - and that it's just junk food causing the higher risk, not the plastics consumed with the junk food.
Where I'm working (warehouse) they transport plastic boxes on plastic belt conveyors. These conveyors are situated at about 7 meters and underneath are people picking and restocking products. On the floor coming from the conveyors there is always plastic "dust" and I bet the finest plastic grindings are floating in the air and are getting into our lungs. I am trying to make people aware but it doesn't seem that anyone cares about this. It's not related to your comment but it's still very concerning.
Good points. While being cautious is always advisable, i do think we also should search for further confounding factors that explain the differences in populations.
I also wondered why such a large fraction had no MNPs in their plaques at all, given the circumstances we all live in?
So did they have vastly different living conditions and or nutritional habits like one might think or does something else can explain the difference?
@@PfillepIt's a shame those questions were not included in the study.
There is research showing PFAS/analogues acting as estrogen mimics. Look at the amount of soft human males around today. That's enough for me. I'm antivax and anti-plastic as much as I can be. Of course the government is going to give you the shaft, that's why they want to give you experimental drugs and they aren't doing anything about plastic or pesticides. It's all bad, don't think for one second that plastic is not harmful. Plastic is cheap, durable and pretty resistant to corrosion and if the government cared they'd only use glass for products that come into contact with food and water, but they don't care about us.
The reason there is no mps in one population is, not lack of exposure or or better excretion, but lack of absorption. ie no leaky gut or levels the gut or its microbiome can handle.
Nick, I recently found a Toxicologist on TH-cam named Yvonne Burkart, PhD you should check her channel out. She has many great, educational videos. I'm in the 3D printing industry and it is also my hobby. I see so many people run these 3D printers out in the open, no ventilation, air filtration and the machines, melting polymer plastic, spew a tremendous amount of VOCs and nanoparticles into the air. We know these things cause inflammation in the body and then some. Some materials are worse than others (PLA vs ABS, PETG, the additives used, etc). So, to those using 3D printers, enclosures, ventilate fumes outside or use air filtration devices like BOFA and other vendors.
Just finished reading the NEJM article after seeing your short about it a couple of days ago. I need to re-read it a couple of more times and see if I can find a reason NOT to run screaming into the night. So far, no luck.
I don't drink bottled water but there's 30 meters of polyethylene tubing between my tap and my "country pure spring" well. :lol: It's everywhere.
Couple this paper with the estrogenic effects of certain common plasticizers and we're in for an interesting ride.
"I need to re-read it a couple of more times and see if I can find a reason NOT to run screaming into the night. So far, no luck." - HA!
There can always be a confounding variable - like why do these people have no microplastics!! That seems crazy given we all exist in similar environments
PSA: a lot of tea bags are part plastic! The nicer ones in particular, that form little triangles, are usually plastic.
loose leaf tea FTW!
Everything is plastic. In somr time Nicholas will go crazy when he goes this toxic chemicals path lol. Its an infinite list.
If you did a TH-cam video on specifically what tea bags were healthiest, I'd watch it.
I agree with you. I’ve been wondering what to do about the green tea I drink every morning. Maybe I have to switch to plain leaves.
@@greglaroche1753 Yea loose leaves, the laziest, cheapest, most flexible and just overall best way to enjoy tea imho.
The study on Donating Blood reducing plastic in blood is interesting too. And it is a fairly significant reduction!
At this point, I am highly skeptical of this trial result. Two major reasons come to mind. First, when people mention microplastics there doesn't seem to be any attempt to describe the plastics other than by particle size. My guess is that some plastic types are worse than others (say, polypropylene vs polystyrene vs a chlorinated polymer). Do all plastics cause problems or only some? Second, and related to the first, what were the dietary habits of those who had events? Do people with lots of microplastics eat poorer diets (lots of fast food meals and processed foods) that might contribute to their poor health?
BTW, is there an identified mechanism by which microplastics move from our gut into our circulation?
Right, the main question is how plastics ends up in our blood. I do not think that anything indigestible should be in the blood. Is fiber we consume in our blood? Maybe if we have leaky gut it is possible. But what do I know?
observational study: an observational study draws inferences from a sample to a population where the independent variable is not under the control of the researcher because of ethical concerns or logistical constraints. I think we are done here.
So basically live off grid on a farm growing your own food.
Tea bags?? Does eating fiber help pass microplastics in your stool?
The 11 solutions:
1. Avoid Plastic packaging
2. Microwave food in ceramic or glass
3. Avoid plastic baggies, too
4. Avoid canned food with BPA lining
5. Use natural fiber clothes (avoid polyester)
6. Regularly vacuum your house to suck up the micro plastics
7. Avoid plastic sponges and brushes, use natural fiber sponge/brushes instead
8. Avoid highly trafficked roads (brake dust, tire dust)
9. Avoid seafood (plastic in the ocean)
10. Some Self-care products (toothpaste, shampoo, skin care) contain plastic micro beads
11. Bottled water contains micro plastics
The biggest source we're exposed to - and that ends up in the water - is tire dust. There's not much point in adopting all the other super intrusive tips if the low-hanging fruit isn't addressed. I doubt any of the ~150 people without plastic were obsessively avoiding take-out containers, polyester and water bottles.
Good to have some much needed exposure to this issue.
Add a few that people know but do not take seriously:
- Teflon frying pans (or anything coated with fluoroplasitcs); these things are worse than 'simple plastics' because they do not degrade, while simple polymers like polyethylene are slowly degrading through exposure to some micro organisms. People do not get past the marketing speak of Teflon being something invincible. It is chemically close enough, but mechanically it is weak. Scraping the pan even with a wooden spoon you will scoop nice layer of them chains for your food.
- processed foods - but not because of packaging (although relevant) - arguably the machinery used to produce them, often in high temp and pressure (extrusion, pasteurizing) with plastic surfaces add more plastic content to the food
You left out the worst polymer contaminate in traffic, the freaking tyre degradation products - then again in context of contaminates in heavy traffic the things coming out of exhaust pipes eclipse this one.
Polymers are not created equal. That means some are dangerous to eat, but could be fine in contact with skin. The more inert and the longer the polymer chain, the worse it would be to ingest, but it would be less volatile and less likely to breath in. Synthetic fibers theoretically could be fine to wear, as polyamides (Nailon etc), PVC and polyurethane are quite strong and big chains.
Personally I loathe the synthetic clothes because of feel. They stick to the skin.
I am an endurance athlete who wears moisture wicking technical fabrics. Sadly, most if not all of these materials are plastic-based. Bamboo materials are an emerging technology, but right now are cost-prohibitive and not readily available.
What about memory foam? Lots of pillows and mattresses have this which is where we spend 8 hours per day. Not to mention the flame retardants often used.
Good point
@dilettanter There are so many toxins we are exposed to in everyday things. It is mind boggling!
Plastic is overused in agriculture, plastic mulch is allowed on USDA Organic vegetable crops and is a quick and direct route of nano particulate plastics directly into farm soils and plants we then eat🐸❤️thank you❤️🐸
My hidden talent is I’m a super taster. I construct flavors for a living. I’ve never enjoyed a plastic bottle of water. The overwhelming smell and taste leaves me puzzled that anyone would turn toward this for refreshment.
Oh. Cool skill!
Don't use plastic cutting boards, easy and not to restrictive, filter your drinking water, tap water might also contain microplastics
The study on NIH on plastic particles in bottled water is eye opening. #Loosetheplastic
How about babies crawling around on luxury vinyl flooring? Or sofas loaded with flame retardants?
It is in everything. Name anything and I would bet it has plastic in it.
All food does unless you farmed it and or hunted and processed it yourself. (Meats and veg all come packed in plastic.)
Cars, houses, airplanes, trains, furniture, boxes, pipes, clothing (even wool and cotton clothes are packaged in plastic when they arrive).
Even living off grid, hunting and farming your own food will have some plastics from the rainwater or ice and snow melted into waterways. On some level, plastics will sadly be ever present.
We can reduce it but we will go crazy thinking we can get rid of it. 😢
@catcan221 True. All we can do is try our best. We started with a non toxic mattress since that is where we spend much of our life. Flooring is another big one that could make a difference.
When bottled water is transported in trucks in the summer the bottles get hot and leach plastic into the water. So drink tap.
BPA free is just a marketing term, now they use a slightly tweaked version called BPS or BPx that does the same but the FDA doesn't have enough evidence to recommend against its use.
Get an air filter and run it in whatever room you’re in. These particles are floating in the air from the roads, from in your house, from the dump. Absolutely everywhere.
But don't most relatively newly constructed buildings have plastic pipes for the water supply ?
I believe mine aren't but I'm from Europe.
Avoid paper coffee cups... they are lined with plastic! This is a huge source for most people. The heat from the coffee leaches the plastic even more. Fat (cream in your coffee) increases the leaching too. Use your own reusable metal coffee mug that most coffee places will fill for you.
One thing I haven’t seen mentioned here is that there is a huge selection bias in the people subject to this study, as they were all having blockages removed from their carotid arteries. I would be very curious to see what the risks are to the general population.
How about plastic cutting boards? I think they should be avoided since they tend to be used for a long time and damaged by knives & heated in dishwasher.
Probably :(... I use wood
@nicknorwitzPhD --> Or, Tempered Glass cutting boards are ok, perhaps ⁉️
I get my meat from butcher box. It comes frozen in plastic containers. Is that an issue?
Also, what about sous vide? Are those containers also a problem?
I think you want silicon bags for any heated sousvide cooking, that’s what I’ve heard, no experience with it tho
You know... I had the same thought about sous vide... I bet it's not great. If you do, make sure to get vacuum bags that are free of BPA, phthalates, and other plasticizers.
I had same thot when i get side of beef, the butcher asks if want paper or plastic and I have always done plastic thinking less air and less freezer burn, but after this I will be getting butcher paper wrap instead. maybe if enough concerns from customers these butcher box companies can offer options also
So, what are you do about all the plastic that you already consumed? Sure, you can stop drinking bottled water now. But how many of us were drinking bottled water or soda for the last 40 years?
How do micro plastics get from the respiratory or digestive tract into a person's arteries?
GOOD TIPS ! Plasticizers which line hot/cold beverage cups add to the nano-plastic Apocalypse. And, potentially endocrine disruptors too.
Wishing all plastics in food industry were hormonally neutral. Is there an easy estrogen test available? Thanks. Cheers
I wonder what the vaccination history was for all the patients in this study? Polyethylene is the base petrochemical in most plastics but it is also the base ingredient (Polyethylene Glycol PEG) in modern vaccine delivery systems especially mRNA “vaccines”. One thing vaccines are 100% effective at is the ability to bypass the human body’s epithelial cell barrier (Skin cells) to the outside world and in many cases the endothelial cell barrier (Blood vessels) to the body’s blood supply. Could it be that these nanoplastics made their way into the arteries by way of a needle?
This is super interesting!! Lots of the same question - how do these particles get in the blood stream, is it from leaky gut?? No body so far as I have seen has answered that question. So your question is super super interesting!!!!!
Excellent advice, Nick. Thank you. New to your channel here. I just subscribed!
Thank you very much!
Here is another one for you all:
All new homes and apartment us plastic freshwater pipe pluming called "PEX". Actually, PEX has been used since the 1960's. Stands for Polyethylene Cross- Linked, the most commonly produced plastic.
My old home uses copper piping for fresh water. What does yours have?
Thanks for the info Nic -- well presented as usual. I will take your tips to heart and implement as many as possible.
Better my tips than polyethylene!
My take on this video is that it's virtually impossible to avoid microplastics. Unless you lock yourself in a box and never come out.
well make sure that box isn't lined with bpa
Tap water has fluoride which lowers nitric oxide and does the same thing. It's hard to find a good water source
I live in a region where I can't drink tap water. Is there any way I can avoid bottled water?
Sigh. It almost sounds sarcastic, because we bad humans have really screwed up so much, especially with plastic, that there’s a 0% chance of avoiding microplastics unless we go way back to the Tora. And even then it might be too late. However, in our house, we’ve swapped glass for plastic storage and Yeti bottles for plastics.
Hey, Nick, love the way you get into nuances in ketogenic diet and apoB, LDL and so on - is it possible to invite you to my podcast channel and if so, how can I contact with you? 🙏
Good luck reducing your exposure to a level that would be meaningful.
All of our water lines are plastic,…everything we touch is plastic.
I believe worrying about this is like worrying about the the sun coming up, we can not stop it, live your life.
I believe we have a bit more agency. It's not about being paralyzed by fear, but enjoying doing what you can, even if not perfect
@@nicknorwitzPhD I do everything I can to stay healthy, but something’s we absolutely have no control over, and this is one of them.
We have some control or the two groups wouldn't have had such different plastic levels. Do the best you can. @@johndsmithkoipondgarden.878
And you're going to live how much longer???
Oh, that's right, you won't 😅
Any association with plaques with MNP and leaky gut/GI issues?
How about brushing your teeth with a plastic toothbrush with plastic bristles. Abrasion is a good way to make plastic particles. There are brushes that use boar hairs as bristles tho.
Heated soft plastics are the worst, how bad are hard plastics when heated?
Not my area of expertise. But I'd say getting charged by a rhino is worse than getting charged by a moose... but both kinda suck
Not joking: I regular donate blood to eliminate as much extra crap from my blood.
BOOM: jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2790905
Love your content
appreciate it!
I guess it goes without saying you should avoid plastic covers to heat anything in the microwave too ?
I would personally
What is the name of the movie with Dustin Hoffman and Angie Dickinson? Mrs. _____. Plastics were coming on the scene. Great hopes for the future! No stopping it.
@yodo858
2 answer your question, if I'm not mistaken the movie starring a young Dustin Hoffman & Anne Bancroft:
This w/b the 1967 Academy Award winner that year for Best Director...
4Sure, An awesome Mike Nichole's film: "The Graduate".
✴️CK it out, & catch the scene where character Murray Hamilton aka "Mr. Robinson" talks abt
*Plastic, it's the next Big Thing, plastic...
& how it s/b an important career-decision in character Dustin Hoffman's aka -->Benjamin's future career.
**Caveat
I'm 🚫 not quoting verbatim here, script-wise
✴️Still, go ck out this wonderful film-story THE GRADUATE 😃💯
Detoxing against them effective? Like sulforaphane etc to upregulate the body’s natural detox paths 3 p’s: pee/perspire-poop? Or maybe some plastic sizes the body thinks r hormones (endocrine disruptors) so they get used instead of expelled? Bc if such a high percentage of people don’t have microplastics maybe they’re detoxing well AND/OR avoiding them like these tips? Gives me hope anyway…
I like the new "Learn How to Read" subtitles!
Tip #12: move into remote unpolluted mountain areas away from everything and everyone
OR mayhaps microplastics will give _some_ of us ....superpowers! :)
Sorry to destroy your dreams. But there aren't any non-poluted areas any more. MNPs have been detected in alpine snow! And even in the Antarctis!
@@sabiner8796It's not all or nothing
Hi Nich. Can one use steal pops to heat food? I noticed you didnt mention steel?
Metal is not recommended for the microwave, maybe that's why he left it out?
The picture that was shown at the point of Nich's second 2nd suggestion to avoid micro plastics was of, what appeared to be, a glass pot being heated over gas flame?
Thanks though
Had a cat (RIP) that loved to eat pieces of ziplock-type bags and then puke. He’d search the house hi and lo for those things. And if one was to be found, he’d find it. I wonder if his throwing up negated the effect? Or if it’s the plastics that took him out?
Did you look into Plasma donation for pfas and microplastic removal? What do you think the no bpa cans use in place of bpa? Perhaps bpz, bps or some other potentially worse bisphenol? I guess we need to call the company and ask.
here's an RCT: jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2790905
Thank you!
10 particles of micro plastic per liter of bottled water…wow, that’s what’s passively there. What about plastic tooth aligners that are in for about 22 hours a day and often are perforated due to wear?
I wonder if this would show up as an elevated D Dimer?
How about my electric toothbrush!? Plastic bristles straight to the gums! No more for me.
But the water that's low in deuterium is also important that that's Evian water
What about cooking things sous vide? :(
If you use the "safe" sous vide bags, that is, BPA free bags, do you think that is safe of safer.
Plastic is the new lead....
Ask the Roman's.
Sea salt.
Eventually, we will have dialysis that filters microplastics that people will do with hydration, nutrition and other wellness infusions.
I’m surprised anyone is still alive
Well, life expectancy is decreasing pretty rapidly in lots of places
You forgot the sea salt, which is generally contaminated with MNP, use ancient salt instead.
Salt is often a religious subject, but I only use pure NaCL because Dr. Hal Huggins, DDS found out that his patients who were trying to recover from mercury poisoning who used pure NaCl had about a 67% better recovery than those who used their pet salt. Morton's Canning and Pickling Salt is dirt cheap and pure Na/Cl. Dr. Huggins speculated that the other natural salts lost their electron potential energy and were contaminated with too many toxins to allow for optimal healing.
Yes, but my Redmond salt comes in a plastic container!
Unless you plan to live in a cave, not much you can do about it. Bigger fish to fry.
and those fish probably have plastics... sad.
@nicknorwitzPhD lmao. I probably laughed at that harder than I should have, but I do appreciate the laugh.
My eyes are only drawn to the subtitles - aaaaargh.
Sorry but I'm choosing my battles and microplastics is not one of them. I have many things to worry about and losing my sleep over that is not going to help.
I bet that the samples they analysed in that study may have come in contact with plastic gloves or other plastic items used for the experiment!
I also believe that our body has probably adapted quite well to deal with plastic over the last 60 years.
Well, I'll need more proofs before panicking about microplastics.
is 350% increase relative or absolute?
it's a 4.53 HR over 33.7mo follow... I converted but irrespective... not sure you completely understand what those terms mean. How would you have a 350% absolute increase in death? Each person dies 3.5 times?
@@nicknorwitzPhD hmm, i just learned that if risk goes over 100%, then it must be relative. As you said, i cant die more than exactly once. Thank you!!
But I believe tap water is also coming through plastic pipes 😅
Everything but the giant elephant in the room!
Ceramic water filter
TL;DW Avoid plastics
Don't you mean the government that regulates our food ! 😂 also the government who's in charge of what's written on labels
👏👏
Avoid having plaques
And you're going to live how much longer???
Oh, that's right, you won't 😅
I'll come to your headstone in 100 years and let you know how I'm doing ;)
My dad lived to be 101 !
No regrets....
Hope you make it to 100, but it's not up to you 😁
@@nicknorwitzPhD Not to mention the quality of life til the headstone. Some things are easy to change, so I will be doing that, others maybe not so much, like they say moderation so remove what you can, thank you Nick for breaking down so many things for us. Question for pete, 100 years ago your dad was likely not exposed to plastic then like now a days. My grandmother was 100 also, her living then is very different than us right now.
🐈💨
Meh. There are lots of issues with this sort of stuff.
I mean, do you want cotton or wool or wood or metal microparticles in your plaques? Did the researchers look for them? Are they better or worse for you than sterile, non-biogenic plastics?
The issue of ingesting/inhaling micro/nano particulate matter and it appearing within you has probably been an issue since humans evolved, especially given that we eat animals which are often far less discriminating than we are. Not to mention nearly everything around us degrades, continually. How much silicon would you ingest after a day at the beach?
Are microparticles of plastic worse for you? Maybe. But would you prefer 10 particles per litre of bottled distilled water, or, whatever unknown chemicals are in your tap water? Which is worse over the long term?
There are a lot of issues with your comment.
BPA free items aren’t usually free from bisphenol plastics, they just switch to something like BPC, or another similar compound that acts like a hormone disrupter in our bodies like BPA. There is a group out of Harvard that is compiling a list of BPA and similar compound free products.
I just was informed of this, but not really surprised 🤷🏼♀️
So half of them didnt have microplastics at all? How is it in everything? How did they avoid it?
Take some sensible precautions and stop worrying. We live in a society where too many people think we can eliminate all risks in life. Nobody gets out alive. Live!
Do you have recommendations on sources for figuring out what constitutes the majority of microplastic exposure?
A lot of these tips make life a lot harder, it would be nice to understand what to prioritize and what I can relax with (like you I love my salmon) e.g. how exposure compares between ingested plastics vs worn plastics, and how dangerous specific kinds of plastics are etc.
I think it's super hard to quantify. In terms of practicality, I'd say don't eat out of plastic, don't use plastic water bottles, and if you have a polyethylene carpet... vacuum at least once per week
@@nicknorwitzPhDIf your vacuum cleaner doesn't have a functioning HEPA filter, vacuuming might actually make everything worse...
I appreciate what your doing and your message..a bit of honest feedback; Not into the AI text, very distracting and I feel like I'm 5 watching the bouncing ball in sesame street. Dont feel the need to overproduce your videos, just keep the information and discourse strong.💪
This is futile. Plastic is on and in everything. Your car's interior is made of plastics. Furniture, toothbrushes, hairbrushes, etc. Even all the so called non-plastic containers lome paper and cardboard products used to contain food and beverages have a plastic film on them now! I found it on parchment paper!
Just about everything made is made with plastics. BPA free is still made with plastic, just another formulation of it.
I am wearing Invisalign orthodontic aligners! Plastics!! 😮I guess in retrospect I should have gone with metal. 😢
What we really need to know is how can we detox our bodies from it since it is SO pervasive in our environment. Reducing it is wise but there is just no way to eliminate it completely.
Nick, how do ingested micro plastics make it from the gut into the bloodstream, is it leaky gut?
This reminds me a little bit of the antiperspirants containing aluminum and breast cancer saga (which turned out to be "mostly harmless").
Can microplastics in the blood be a marker of leaky gut?
Can it be healthy people (or some people) can decompose or excrete microplastics in their body and hence less residual plastic and less death?
Thanks for the info, doc.
I think that using an RO water filter is also advisable as tap water can also have high levels of microplastics.
I notice a few folks in the comments are poking some holes in the study you discussed, which is fair enough to do, but I think it’s helpful to emphasize that microplastics have known risks, such as hormone disruption, beyond just the correlation with cardiac events found in this study. Microplastics are harmful, folks!
Does anyone know if filter marine animals like oysters also has high levels of microplastics?
That is depressimg. I did all those 11 don'ts. But good to know! Thanks.
I love to cook sous vide, but now it doesn’t look healthy
I've been, slowly, limiting the amount of plastic I use over the past two years now. It'll never be perfect though. Is there a way to help your body eliminate the plastics? If you were somehow actually able to eliminate all plastics in your environment, by moving to the middle of the Amazon or something, would your body eliminate them over time? I know data on this is relatively new and these probably can't be answered.
Even antarctic snow has microplastics
@wocket42 --> 💯 Yup.
Come to find out after my own deep-dive that you're absolutely rt abt that❗ Plastic, & micro-what-evah particles are EVERYWHERE on the planet: In the air, soil, water-bodies, plant-life, etc
😩YOU NAME IT. It's there.
Question is: What 2do to totally detox from this thing.
How about reducing plaque? Then risk due to MNP is less of an issue, right?
People say that Suana and exercise (basically sweating) can help detoxify the existing microplastic. Most discussions are focused on future prevention. Want to know what can be done for the stuff already in the body. Just like heavy metals, are there any tests available?
Would be interesting if the differences of the plastic vs. non-plastic group is the consumption of microplastic or for example a Leaky Gut, so that the plastic gets more in the blood stream.
Well, the bottled water is fun - the tap one supposedly contains more deuterium. Pick your poison.