this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2026
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I guess People will look at plastic in the future like we look at lead and asbestos now....
I think it will be much less pronounced. The negative effects of plastic in the body are relatively unknown, but IMO I think it will mostly pose as neurodevelopmental-like symptoms which won't be able to compare with either lead or asbestos.
And the environmental consequences? The majority just doesn't worry about that.
It definitely won't be as bad as asbestos where inhaling just a single fiber can cause cancer. Lead, maybe, but lead is still widely used. Just not in normal fuel. We still use it in some aviation fuel though.
I imagine it's gonna give people hormone problems more than neurodevelopmental problems.
We're probably going to see more giant babies and kids that are going into puberty younger and younger, and more instances of acromegaly in organs that are hormone responsive, like breasts and genitalia, and an increased predisposition to obesity since body fat is also a hormone soak.
There's probably gonna be more issues on top of that, probably with stress on the liver, kidneys, and heart to process the increased and more variable hormones that human beings are exposed to.
And I imagine there's going to be a mean regression in human lifespan due to all of these factors combined.
There are also many types of plastic with very different chemicals.
I wonder if the next asbestos is carbon fibre, as it's a popular infill for 3d printing, yet it is also made of nano needles that can destroy people's lungs (at least large scale, it's why it's usually cut underwater).
If the needles were the issue then people would have to stop using fiberglass insulation and gypsum board drywall too.
The abrasiveness is a completely separate concern from the toxicity.
This is what I'm talking about: https://www.novintrades.com/articles/241
When cutting either CF or fiberglass, one should be wearing PPE to protect the skin and lungs, yet we have people printing CF infill and sanding it down without as much as a warning on the filament box.
I'm not an expert on this topic, but as a hobbyist, I find it interesting how little is known or warned about the safety of materials we're using for printing.
Yeah, I mean wear the PPE. You should honestly do that if you're cutting anything that creates dust.
Carbon fiber filament is really hust carbon fiber reinforced though. For example PLA-CF or PETG-CF is still a plastic filament, but it has tiny slivers of carbonfiber in it to give it more structure and rigidity. I assume that makes it less dangerous because the fibers are trapped in the plastic.
I agree that there could be more awareness of safety. For instance I wonder how many people don't realize that polycarbonate prints with toxic fumes and needs to be done in an enclosed printer with an air filter. Or ABS, for that matter.
I like PETG cause there are no fumes. It doesn't even have a smell. PLA printing smells like waffles with syrup to me, but PLA fumes aren't toxic. Its physical properties are weaker than PETG though
It's impossible because there is no control group for microplastic
Some plastics are worse than others. ABS, BPA, BPS, PFAS, etc. are really bad. Polycarbonate releases toxic fumes during manufacturing but it's considered non-toxic afterwards.
PLA is plant-based and decomposable. Polyethylene is inert/non-reactive and non-toxic. Cellophane is literally made from cellulose.
I don't really know about polypropylene, polyurethane, polystyrene, or polyester.
Then there's vinyl and nylon. Fairly certain those are inert and non-toxic, but I'm not 100% certain.
Then you've got latex and natural rubber which some people have allergies to but they aren't intrinsically toxic as far as I'm aware. Synthetic rubbers vary in toxicity. I don't know about neoprene for instance, but silicon is inert and non-toxic.
The problem is "plastic" is such a broad term, and to a lot of people, all of the above are just "plastic." The fact is there are a variety of plastics and choosing your material intelligently can make all the difference.
Of course, microplastics are a whole nother issue even aside from toxicity...
And PTFE (teflon)