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Re:Microplastics Are Blowing in the Wind by EGreg on Tuesday April 16, 2019 @09:10AM (#19673268)
Insects
Re:Microplastics Are Blowing in the Wind by bencollier49 on Tuesday April 16, 2019 @11:19AM (#19674385)
Good shout. Rather frightening thought.
Re:Microplastics Are Blowing in the Wind by titzer on Tuesday April 16, 2019 @11:33AM (#19674527)
Microplastics have been shown to concentrate environmental toxins, so maybe the microplastics absorb pesticides and deliver high-dosage kill pills to insects? It's a terrifying thought. I'm not an expert, so I couldn't say that is really happening, but it scares me.
Re:Microplastics Are Blowing in the Wind by jtuente on Tuesday April 16, 2019 @12:01PM (#19674804)
> microplastics can leach hazardous chemicals, both those added to polymers during production and environmental pollutants like pesticides that are attracted to the surface of plastic

It's not that they absorb pesticides, but that pesticides are attracted to the surface. Smaller microplastics have greater surface area to volume ratio than the equivalent volume of larger pieces.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/from-fish-to-huma...