this post was submitted on 28 Mar 2024
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[–] [email protected] 107 points 4 months ago (2 children)

That's assuming you could somehow stop new microplastic from entering the body

[–] [email protected] 78 points 4 months ago (8 children)

I mean, there is the argument that if they bioaccumulate in the blood, it's worth removing periodically even if it doesn't stop new intake

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 months ago

Microplastic leeches.

[–] [email protected] 77 points 4 months ago (3 children)

Just donate blood. Skip the infection risk.

[–] [email protected] 37 points 4 months ago (3 children)

I'm not donating my blood plastic for free!

[–] [email protected] 14 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Oh great, now I have to worry about DuPont and Dow coming to repo my blood.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

I’ve got an idea for an opera…

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 16 points 4 months ago

Welp, better make an appt with the leech doctor then

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

It also works on forever chemicals. They studied levels of PFAS in the blood of firefighters (who are commonly exposed to high levels in the foam they use), and found a clear difference between those that regularly donated blood and those who didn’t

[–] [email protected] 73 points 4 months ago (1 children)

i mean, as part of my job, i routinely take area hospitals medical grade leeches. it's not like they ever stopped being used by doctors.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 4 months ago (6 children)

Why would you use a leech instead of a needle or something? What are they for

[–] starman2112 51 points 4 months ago

Not OP, but apparently they're useful for when you want a continuous, slow drain of blood. The ones they breed for hospitals don't carry disease, so you can just kinda plonk it onto the spot that you want blood out of, and replace it when it gets full

[–] [email protected] 47 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Wait until you find out what they still use maggots for...

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

what the fuck? why do they use that?

[–] can 21 points 4 months ago (7 children)

They're really good at eating dead rotting flesh?

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 4 months ago

It's less about the blood they suck out and more about their saliva. It's a natural anticoagulant.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Amputation sites I think? The suction attracts blood flow to the area and supports healing/retention of blood vessels... I think. Neither one of us clearly can be bothered googling but that's what I recall...

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 4 months ago (1 children)

For skin grafts after burns; the leeches' saliva has anticoagulants that helps blood flow through the microvasculature (tiny blood vessels) of the area. This helps promote growth of new blood vessels, as well as improve the health of the current blood vessels in the area.

TLDR: Helps tiny blood vessels in skin grafts (and other procedures), reduces failure of said skin grafts

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[–] [email protected] 55 points 4 months ago (4 children)

Makes me genuinely wonder.. I've donated blood for like 15 times now -- does that make my current blood less saturated with microplastics than if I hadn't?

[–] [email protected] 64 points 4 months ago (3 children)

No, because you eat and drink more microplastics to replenish yourself.

[–] [email protected] 53 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Donate 100% of blood, then fast. You'll be microplastic free for the rest of your life!

[–] [email protected] 16 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Live a little will ya.

Keep your blood, eat plastics raw, turn yourself into a 3D printer.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I'm already a 3D printer. I'm not very accurate, and my extrusion width is limited, but my flow rate is pretty good.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I was thinking that a kidney dialysis machine might be able to filter out that stuff from your blood. I think the way those work is your blood goes out a tube into the machine and it filters it before sending it back to you. So you'd need filters in there that are fine enough to catch the microplastics.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I don't think any filtering happens in dialysis, unwanted stuff just diffuses to another solution

[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 months ago

Correct. If there are actually micro plastics in your blood, the plastic is likely relatively small compared to a blood cell. Otherwise we would be witnessing a lot more issues with stroke/heart attacks. Any kind of filter small enough to filter out something that small would also filter out blood cells.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

Probably not. Unless they build up in the body somewhere, the amount of microplastics in your blood is determined by how many you consume via inhaled dust, food, and drink compared with how many you flush put via urine and/or fecal material.

If they do build up in the body somewhere, it probably isn't the blood, because blood is already filtered regularly.

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[–] [email protected] 45 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Microplastics are the only guaranteed source of your daily dose of Vitamin P, as recommended by nobody and discouraged by the FDA.

[–] Patches 12 points 4 months ago

Fake News: The FDA would never protect you from petrochem.

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 4 months ago (2 children)

This is why we donate blood.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 4 months ago (3 children)

This would be a powerful Red Cross ad.

Lower your microplastics count. Donate blood so you can make more.

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 4 months ago (4 children)

Can anybody tell me why this is a bad idea

[–] [email protected] 56 points 4 months ago (2 children)

The food you consume to produce the blood also has micro plastic. Nothing changes.

[–] [email protected] 61 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Yeah buts it's fresh micro plastic and not this stall stuff I've had in me for years.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 months ago

Therefore it's got new fresh chemicals to "leech" out into your blood again.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 months ago

That should depend on how the chemicals accumulate though. If all the plastic ends up in your blood and never gets naturally filtered out, it could make sense. Maybe it builds up in your fat/muscles instead though, or gets filtered over time and the amount in your system is the same as the amount in what you have recently eaten, idk

[–] [email protected] 19 points 4 months ago (1 children)

That’s animal cruelty. (Feeding plastic-laden blood to leaches)

[–] [email protected] 18 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Somehow I don't think they'd mind too much, provided you give them a nice leech habitat.

Until Socraleech comes along and they force him to suck hemlock.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago (1 children)

It's random internet advice?

[–] sugar_in_your_tea 6 points 4 months ago

And 4Chan, which is the worst form of internet advice.

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[–] VirtualOdour 5 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Microplastic might be good for us for all we know, in still going to avoid them but it's something to think about we don't have any real idea of what the effect of them is.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago (1 children)
[–] VirtualOdour 5 points 4 months ago

We have some very limited ideas from correlation and limited lab testing that allows us to say easy things like putting junk in vital veins is bad (the nature article) but that's only a fraction of the types of microplastic and possible interactions - we know almost nothing about most of what's happening.

And to be clear I said they might be good for us as hyperbole, it's of course possible but what's far more likely is a myriad of long lasting health effects causing serious damage in obscure and complex ways.

In a century they might be saying 'those plastic brain gen alpha caused so many problems' just as how it's common to hear people talk about lead brain boomers... or maybe 'wow crazy micro plastic gave us superpowers, that was lucky'

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago

Can it help my credit score?

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