THE SET-UP: It’s been a helluva week for news about microplastics.
It started with fresh concerns about the impact of microplastics in our arteries and it ended with concerns about the impact of microplastics in our brains.
Sandwiched in-between the two increasingly unsurprising studies was a barrage of reminders that our collective addiction to hydrocarbons has polluted almost every square inch of this life-sustaining oasis we call Earth.
It is in our brains and our bones and the air that we breathe. It is in the water and the soil and it is even in the vegetables we eat.
In a very real sense, we are all guinea pigs in a massive, multigenerational experiment fueled by greed and convenience. The greed was recently on display during the latest failed attempt at a global treaty on plastics. There have been six attempts since 2022 and each time it was scuttled by people who profit from petrochemicals. Big Oil and Saudi-led petrostates (including the United States) simply refuse to adopt limits on the production of plastic. Instead, they regurgitate industry claptrap about “innovation” and “advances in recycling” that we (and they) know will do little or nothing to stanch the flow of plastic into everything.
One of the petrochemical industry’s quintessential “solutions” to the problem is pyrolysis. Pitched as a breakthrough in “advanced recycling,” pyrolysis converts plastic back into an a malleable product that can recast into plastic or turned into fuel.
Of course, it’s a big hit with the usual suspects like ExxonMobil. They call it the “circularity of plastics.” Skeptics might call it a “doom loop” that ensures the ubiquity of microplastics. As a ProPublica investigation noted in 2024, they’ve found willing collaborators in the US and the EU:
American and European regulators have spent tens of millions subsidizing pyrolysis facilities. Half of all U.S. states have eased air pollution rules for the process, which has been found to release carcinogens like benzene and dioxins and give off more greenhouse gases than making plastic from crude oil.
And that was BEFORE Trump turned the EPA over to Big Oil and their cohorts in the chemical industry. Trump is nothing if not a wholly-owned subsidiary of Persian Gulf petrostates. From Qatar’s jumbo-jet gift to the Saudis buying LIV Golf, Trump and his family have been lavished with profitable deals from Emiratis and Saudis. And now that he’s suddenly acquired a multibillion dollar cryptocurrency empire, benefactors like the Emiratis can, as a recent New York Times investigation found, use these electronic instruments to directly deposit their payola. Make no mistake, Trump’s purge of climate change from the national consciousness is not just a quirk of his personality.
The same is true of his crusade against non-plastic straws. It seemed silly and gratuitous at the time, but it was an effective message to millions of supporters. He was giving them permission to not care about plastic waste. Just like he’s giving millions of Americans a pass on the changing climate. To care about plastic straws or carbon pollution is to be weak and “Woke,” and his relentless demonization of renewables is music to the ears of the petroleum producers who he represents.
In fact, the International Energy Agency is reportedly set to radically revise it’s forecast for oil consumption. Per Bloomberg’s Javier Blas:
The consensus was that consumption of oil, natural gas and coal would peak before the end of this decade. There was debate about the speed of the subsequent decline, but the conclusion was the same: The end of the fossil-fuel era was within reach. But that tenet, key to achieving the ambition of net zero by 2050, wasn’t as cast in stone as its backers thought.
The annual report being prepared by International Energy Agency, which represents the views of the world’s richest nations, shows the alternative — decades more of robust fossil-fuel use, with oil and gas demand growing over the next 25 years — isn’t just possible but probable. That means more carbon-dioxide emissions that exacerbate the climate crisis.
And here’s the kicker…
Under current policies, “oil and natural gas use rise out to 2050,” according to the IEA draft. Coal consumption does peak in the 2030s, but demand in 2050 would be more than 50% higher than previously expected, according to my calculations based on the draft.
“Under current policies” … could that be “drill, baby, drill” and “windmills are evil” and “I love beautiful clean coal”? How about the sudden surge in hyperscaled data centers for energy-hoarding artificial intelligence? Not coincidentally, those energy-burning data centers support the cryptocurrency industry he and his family can use to launder bribes from interested parties like the UAE. And all of this guarantees the continuation of the microplastic experiment into the foreseeable future.
The only silver lining in today’s DAILY THREAD is the possibility that oil-based plastics might impair our brains to the point where we can’t remember what it was to harbor the hope that we would do what it takes to avoid a superheated world of ubiquitous, cell- and ecosystem-disrupting microplastics. - jp
Microplastics May Trigger Alzheimer’s-Like Brain Damage
https://scitechdaily.com/microplastics-may-trigger-alzheimers-like-brain-damage/
Microplastics linked to impaired bone health
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-09-microplastics-linked-impaired-bone-health.html
Tiny plastics in arteries might heighten heart attack risk, experts warn
https://www.business-standard.com/health/study-links-plastics-to-heart-attack-risk-microplastics-125091600448_1.html
The disturbing side effects of eating takeout, according to researchers
https://www.leravi.org/the-disturbing-side-effects-of-eating-takeout-according-to-researchers-14644/
Confirmed—the study reveals that hot tea in disposable cups contains up to 81 microplastics per liter, the highest of all beverages analyzed
https://pedirayudas.com/en/study-microplastics-disposable-cups-familiar-habit/
Experts warn microplastics could be in your salad
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/microplastics-salad-pollution-particles-study-b2829790.html
Want to Avoid Microplastics in Food? We Found the 8 Most Common Foods That Contain Microplastics
https://www.cnet.com/health/nutrition/foods-eating-likely-contain-microplastics/
Is it time to get plastic out of chewing gum?
https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2025/09/17/plastic-free-chewing-gum-the-push-to-remove-microplastics-from-confectionery/
Global study reveals alarming levels of microplastic pollution in the air
https://www.innovationnewsnetwork.com/global-study-reveals-alarming-levels-of-microplastic-pollution-in-the-air/61800/
Up To 1,300 Microplastic Particles Per Square Metre Per Day – Global Study On Microplastic Air Pollution
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO2509/S00213/up-to-1300-microplastic-particles-per-square-metre-per-day-global-study-on-microplastic-air-pollution.htm
Airborne Microplastics Flood Forest Soils in Groundbreaking Study
https://woodcentral.com.au/airborne-microplastics-flood-forest-soils-in-groundbreaking-study/
Microplastic and Trace Element Pollution in Farm Soils: A Risk Comparison
https://naturalsciencenews.com/article/14033
Scientists make concerning find after study of altered river biofilm: 'Particles alter the composition'
https://www.thecooldown.com/outdoors/microplastic-pollution-rhine-river-biofilm-germany/
Tidal marshes trap microplastics, raising risks for ecosystems and people
https://phys.org/news/2025-09-tidal-marshes-microplastics-ecosystems-people.html