Plastic straws - unintended consequences

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Back in 2018, Milo Cress made an announcement based on some research he had done in 2011.
The research was a series of telephone interviews of straw manufacturers.
Americans were using 500,000,000 disposable plastic drinking straws each and every day and many of them were subsequently appearing in waterways and oceans.

Horrifying data.  We all knew that the numbers were probably high but this high?  Something MUST BE DONE.

Unfortunately, every action has consequences and we are seeing this today - from Chemical & Engineering News:

‘Biodegradable’ drinking straws contain PFAS
As consumers turn to alternatives to single-use plastic, drinking straws made of plant-based materials like paper are coming into wider use, and many are marketed as biodegradable or even compostable. But an analysis of drinking straws available in the US detected 21 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—called “forever chemicals” for their extreme resistance to environmental breakdown—in 36 out of 38 brands of plant-based straws tested.

University of Florida toxicologist John Bowden was fascinated by the durability of today’s paper straws compared with older ones that would break down quickly in a drink, and he wanted to know whether the new straws’ water resistance might come from PFAS (Chemosphere 2021, DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130238). So he and his colleagues tested them, as well as plant-based straws made of materials including poly(lactic acid), rice flour, and reeds. They extracted PFAS from the straws with methanol and measured PFAS levels in the extracts.

It is worth noting that at the time, Milo Cress was not a Doctor.  Not an Engineer.  Not a degreed scientist.  He may be pursuing a career in academia but when he did his research in 2011, Milo Cress was nine years old.  Sixteen when he "published" his results.

Lots to read and it really shows how progressives will latch on to something that fits their narrative.  The better it fits the narrative, the less critical they are in their fact-checking.  Some fun reading here, here, here, here and here.

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This page contains a single entry by DaveH published on April 3, 2022 3:18 PM.

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