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Sorry, Your Paper Coffee Cup Is a Toxic Nightmare
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We have no reason to laugh at ancient Rome's unfortunate use of lead pots for cooking beverages and lead pipes for drinkable water. Down with plastics.
Lead pipes are fine for water unless some cheapo decides to change the water composition in a way that removes the thin layer that forms on the lead and keeps it from leeching into the water. We still have a ton of lead pipes not giving lead poisoning today.
Plastics are like the ruined pipes.
Human error is inevitable and we should design systems to be invulnerable to this. Just dont use lead. Period.
PVC, steel, and all of the other options also have the possibility of poisoning is in certain situations when not maintained properly.
Don't build anything, got it.
Seems like there's a fine line between lead and micro plastic poisoning and just proper engineering with health in mind. Plenty of these options exist and have long term safety when done correctly.
Its speculated that lead-soldered copper pipes are the lead factor to lead poisoning in the U.S. so... It's really not that far fetched. Just do it right.
Also given the state of the U.S., lead poisoning is looking pretty on point.
Somehow it seems reasonable to see something that could potentially cause an issue, point it out, and try to avoid using it unless absolutely necessary.
We've known PVC is sensitive to UV for a long time and now studies are showing that even underground PVC can leech chemicals (whether they're additive or not is by manufacturer). Solution: stainless steel with preventing corrosion over time in mind. Do. It. Right.
It sucks that money making the world go round means doing it cheap and quick is more important.