The 50-Year-Old Microplastics Warning That Has Come Back to Haunt the Industry
and Iran Signal Room for Diplomacy Kurt Cobb is a freelance writer and communications consultant who writes frequently about energy and environment.
His work has also appeared in The Christian Science… In June 1973, during a hearing on theWatergate scandalerupting around President Richard Nixon, Sen.
Howard Baker, a Republican from Tennessee, utteredthe most famous words of his entire career: "What did the president know and when did he know it?" It turned out that Nixon knew a lot early on, and that led to his resignation from the presidency a little more than a year later.
Since then, a form of that question has become central in investigations of many high-profile scandals, including public health calamities such as those related to leaded gasoline, chlorofluorocarbons, asbestos and tobacco.
Regarding the emerging public health calamity surrounding microplastics, we now have an answer to that compound question courtesy of theLos Angeles Times,which gives usthe precise date and location: the New York Academy of Sciences Meeting in New York City held on May 10 and 11 in 1974.
At that conference, the plastics industry learned about the dangers of microplastics to human and animal health from Gerhard Volkheimer, a German scientist presenting at the conference, who "showed that tiny bits of swallowed plastic PVC [polyvinyl chloride] could slip through the intestinal lining of animals and travel through the blood and lymph to the brain, liver and other internal body parts," according to theTimes.
We know that many of the attendees at the conference were from industry because afterwards they wrote memos to their colleagues—now public thanks to theTimes—memos bearing a distinct tone of alarm.
1974—Keep that year in your mind as we examine a similar question for other public health calamities.
Two public health disasters I mentioned above, leaded gasoline and chlorofluorocarbons, are linked by the scientist who invented the substances behind them, chemist Thomas Midgley Jr.
It's worth mentioning that Midgleyreceived prestigious awardsfrom both academic and industry groups for these inventions and ultimately was elected president of the American Chemical Association.
Midgley worked for General Motors starting in 1916, which was looking for a way to end engine knocking that reduced performance and damaged engines.
Midgley came up with the idea of adding a form of lead called tetraethyllead to gasoline.
| Product | Price | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Crude | $102.14/bbl | +0.34% |
| WTI Crude | $96.90/bbl | +0.21% |
| EN590 Diesel | $846/MT | +0.18% |
| Jet Fuel A-1 | $1090/MT | +0.55% |
| Mazut M100 | $450/MT | -0.15% |
| Bitumen 60/70 | $470/MT | +0.08% |
| Sulphur Gran 99.5% | $470/MT | -0.44% |
| Urea 46% Gran | $650/MT | +1.12% |
| NPK 16-16-16 | $460/MT | -0.28% |
| Nat Gas TTF | $15.42/MMBtu | +0.92% |
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