Collecting Oceanic Plastic Pellets: How You Can Help Analytical Toxicology Scientists.

[NNadir]

The toxic pollution associated with plastic refuse accumulating in our oceans at a rate of 100 million kg per year represents a huge toxicology risk. I have just collected two papers on the subject of these risks and how waste plastic transfers toxicology materials to sea life.

I may speak on that later when I have more time.

For now, here's how you can help, by collecting plastic pellets and mailing them to Japan for analysis:

http://www.tuat.ac.jp/~gaia/ipw/index.html

This is a chance to do some good, in the new spirit of citizenship that I hope the President-elect will help us sustain.

[phantom power]

1. Toxicology. I'm reminded of something.

One of the benefits of a biosphere where life processes its food by digestion, filtered through cell walls, etc, is that it keeps the space of molecules "loose" in the biosphere down to cardinality that is below the threshold of chaos. For example, when we eat something, we don't directly ingest all of the enzymes, proteins, etc, directly into our cells. These things are broken down into amino acids, and then reassembled into the proteins, enzymes, etc, that *our* cells use.

At any rate, your post reminds me that we're probably fucking up that equilibrium, too. Increasing the set of molecules that are "out there", and in ways that subvert the gating process of digestion that has evolved over time.

Another uncontrolled experiment in complex system behavior!
:woohoo:

[NNadir]

2. According to the papers - which I've just scanned with no detail -

it seems that plastics act as active transport agents.

I've been thinking a lot about oceanic plastic lately and may write a diary on the subject on the other website where I write.

[YankeyMCC]

3. k & r to give this more visability and maybe more people will contribute nt

[NNadir]

4. And all you need to contribute is trash...

...shipping and handling, of course, is not free however.