Plastic rain

Summary

Today, Explained: "Plastic Rain" Episode Summary

Released on July 11, 2025 | Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network

Hosts: Sean Rameswaram and Noel King

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Introduction to Plastic Rain

In the episode titled "Plastic Rain," environmental correspondent Benji Jones delves into the alarming phenomenon of microplastics contaminating rainfall globally. Sean Rameswaram introduces the topic by drawing attention to the common misconception that plastic pollution is limited to visible litter, only to reveal that microplastics are pervasive—even in the rain.

Notable Quote:

"And it turns out there's plastic in that rain, not like big chunks of plastic. Our old arch nemesis, Micro Plastics are in the rain."
— Sean Rameswaram [00:01]

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Understanding Microplastics

Benji Jones provides a foundational understanding of microplastics, emphasizing their ubiquity and varied sources.

• Definition and Scale:

  • Microplastics are defined as plastic fragments less than 5 millimeters in length.
  • An even smaller subset, nanoplastics, measures less than one micrometer, making them virtually invisible.

• Sources of Microplastics:

  • Textile Fibers: Breakdown of nylon and polyester garments.
  • Environmental Debris: Crushed water bottles and nurdles (pre-production plastic pellets).
  • Tire Wear: Microplastics generated from tire degradation on roads.

• Global Presence:

  • Detected in diverse environments—from the depths of the Mariana Trench to the pristine snow of Antarctica.
  • Even apex marine predators like dolphins show microplastics in their breath, highlighting the extensive reach of plastic pollution.

Notable Quote:

"These are really, really small particles of plastic. ... they have to be transported by the air. They have to be in the air."
— Benji Jones [04:16]

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Plastic in Rain: The Scope of the Problem

Benji Jones presents compelling data illustrating the extent of microplastic contamination in rainfall, particularly in remote and pristine areas.

• Quantitative Impact:

  • Studies indicate that annual rainfall in national parks like the Grand Canyon and Joshua Tree contains microplastics equivalent to 120 to 300 million plastic water bottles.

• Global Distribution:

  • Microplastics in rain are not confined to specific regions; they are a global issue affecting locations such as:
    • Detroit, Timbuktu, Fiji: Demonstrates no geographical boundaries are spared.
    • Mountains and Wilderness Areas: Including the French Pyrenees and the Alps' snowfall.

Notable Quote:

"The amount of plastic that was falling on these national parks and wilderness areas every year is equivalent to like 120 to 300 million plastic water bottles every year."
— Benji Jones [04:52]

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Microplastics in the Human Body

The conversation shifts to the infiltration of microplastics within human physiology, raising significant health concerns.

• Presence in the Body:

  • Detected in various organs, including blood, kidneys, semen, and even the placenta.
  • Microplastics have been found crossing the blood-brain barrier, with recent studies revealing a plastic spoon's worth of microplastics in the average human brain.

• Health Implications:

  • Cardiovascular Diseases: Increased risk of stroke and heart attacks.
  • Neurological Issues: Associations with dementia and other mental health disorders.
  • Reproductive Health: Potential disruptions in fertility and hormone balance.
  • Inflammatory Responses: The body's effort to expel foreign plastic particles leads to chronic inflammation.

Notable Quote:

"According to researchers, the amount of microplastics in analyzed brains rose by about 50% from 2016 to 2024. This study found that, like, 99.5% of our brain is brain and the rest is plastic."
— Benji Jones [07:55]

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Sources of Microplastics in the Environment

Benji Jones identifies the primary contributors to airborne microplastics, explaining how they integrate into precipitation.

• Roadside Debris:

  • Accumulated trash on highways is perpetually shredded by passing vehicles, turning into airborne microplastics that eventually rain down.

• Oceanic Contributions:

  • Sea Spray and Wave Action: Oceans act as vast "plastic confetti machines," releasing significant amounts of microplastics into the atmosphere.
  • Saltwater Pumps: Popping bubbles and crashing waves propel microplastics into the air.

• Tire Degradation:

  • Continuous wear and tear of tires contribute microplastics to the environment.

• Chemical Contaminants:

  • Rain does not only carry microplastics but also "forever chemicals" like PFAS, compounding environmental and health hazards.

Notable Quote:

"Ocean waves are basically plastic confetti machines, and they can launch 100,000 metric tons of plastic into the air every year."
— Unknown Speaker [07:04]

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Lessons from Acid Rain: Possibilities for Mitigation

Drawing parallels to the successful mitigation of acid rain, Benji Jones explores potential strategies to combat plastic rain.

• Historical Success:

  • Clean Air Act Amendments (1990): Significantly reduced sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emissions, leading to a decline in acid rain.

• Current Challenges:

  • Longevity of Plastics: Unlike the transient nature of acid rain-causing pollutants, plastics persist in the environment for centuries.
  • Global Production: The vast and continuously growing production of plastics makes regulation more complex.

• Hopeful Signs:

  • Global Plastic Treaty: Over 100 countries are collaborating to establish agreements aimed at reducing plastic waste through:
    • Production caps
    • Bans on single-use plastics
    • Enhanced recycling practices

Notable Quote:

"When you have major industries that are benefiting from this incredible amount of plastic flowing into the environment, we need to often create regulations that are taming down on that supply of plastic."
— Benji Jones [20:12]

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Regulatory and Individual Actions

Benji Jones emphasizes the necessity of both systemic changes and personal responsibility in addressing microplastic pollution.

• Governmental Actions:

  • Implementing stricter regulations on plastic production and disposal.
  • Encouraging the development of alternative materials and recycling technologies.

• Individual Measures:

  • Reducing Plastic Use: Opting for glass containers over plastic, avoiding single-use plastics like cutlery and straws.
  • Filtering Water: Using water filters to remove microplastics from drinking sources.
  • Cleaning Practices: Regularly vacuuming to minimize household dust containing microplastics.
  • Clothing Choices: Preferring natural fibers like cotton over synthetic ones such as polyester and nylon.

Notable Quote:

"There are things you can do as individuals on like a day to day level that help us reduce our own exposure."
— Benji Jones [24:41]

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Public Perception and Prioritization

Addressing the public's often overwhelming environmental challenges, Benji Jones acknowledges the difficulty in prioritizing issues like microplastics amidst other crises.

• Public Fatigue:

  • Many individuals feel inundated by environmental issues, leading to apathy or desensitization.

• Balancing Awareness:

  • Highlighting actionable steps can empower individuals to feel part of the solution rather than overwhelmed by the problem.

Notable Quote:

"I feel like it's totally fair to not care about this. ... But there are also fairly simple things we can do as individuals on like a day to day level that help us reduce our own exposure."
— Benji Jones [24:41]

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Conclusion: Moving Forward

The episode concludes with a reflection on the ongoing efforts to address plastic pollution and the potential for future success mirroring past environmental victories. Benji Jones remains cautiously optimistic, stressing the importance of global cooperation and sustained commitment to regulatory reforms.

Notable Quote:

"When you have major industries that are benefiting from this incredible amount of plastic flowing into the environment, we need to often create regulations that are taming down on that supply of plastic."
— Benji Jones [20:12]

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Final Thoughts

"Plastic Rain" serves as a sobering reminder of the insidious nature of plastic pollution and its far-reaching impacts on both the environment and human health. Through informative discussions and compelling data, Benji Jones and Sean Rameswaram underscore the urgency of addressing microplastics, urging listeners to advocate for systemic change while adopting personal practices to mitigate exposure.

For an in-depth exploration, listeners are encouraged to read Benji Jones's article on Vox: We Got Rid of Acid Rain. Now Something Scarier is Falling from the Sky.

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Produced by Abhishai Artsy, with editing by Jolie Meyers and Andrea Pritzsten. Additional mixing by Patrick Boyd and Brandon McFarland. Fact-checking by Myles Bryan.

Transcript

[Sean Ramsford]

It's summertime. Happy summertime. And maybe you're not totally happy because of that one war or that other war, or your concerns over our trade war, or maybe you're worried about some new war. But at least we've got summer and the sun. Or where I live in D.C. we've got rain and sun. Summer in D.C. means lots and lots of rain. Just like earth shattering thunderstorms that break when the humidity builds and builds and builds and the skies just can't take it anymore. And it turns out there's plastic in that rain, not like big chunks of plastic. Our old arch nemesis, Micro Plastics are in the rain. And earlier this year we explained and today we're going to revisit that explanation.

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[Sean Ramsford]

I just want to say one word to you. Just one word. Yes, sir. Are you listening? Yes, I am today, explained Sean Ramsford. I'm here with Benji Jones, environmental correspondent at Vox, and Benji's here to talk about a piece he wrote for Vox on Plastic Rain. But before we get there, Benji, you know regular listeners of the show will be familiar with microplastics. But for all the irregulars out there, could you just remind them what they are?

[Benji Jones]

Sean? It's in the name Micro. It's just right.

[Sean Ramsford]

It's that easy, no?

[Benji Jones]

Yeah. Basically it is really tiny bits of plastic. Technically speaking, we're talking about plastic pieces that are less than 5 millimeters long on like their longest side. So it's like half a centimeter, not necessarily invisible, but you can get much, much, much smaller and into like another category called nanoplastics, which are less than one micrometer, which is a millionth of a meter or a thousandth of a mill or so. They can get very, very, very small. Basically, everywhere scientists look on this planet, in our bodies, in animal bodies, we find microplastics. So they are truly absolutely everywhere. And these are like plastic fibers. So like the fibers that make up your nylon or polyester jackets or T shirts, they could be broken down pieces of water bottles that have been crushed on highways. They could be nurdles, which are like these little pellets that are used to make other things out of plastic. They're like the virgin use to make plastic. So they're like, they're just all over the place.

[Sean Ramsford]

And that includes in our rain.

[Benji Jones]

Yeah.

[Sean Ramsford]

Which I didn't know until I read your piece.

[Benji Jones]

Yeah. So, like, on the one hand, microplastics are absolutely everywhere. So, like, the fact that it's in the rain is maybe not as surprising. But to me, when I was learning about plastic rain, that there is plastic in our rain, it was really shocking to me because it suggests that, like, plastic is part of our ecosystems. It is like, as fundamental at this point as like, microbes and bacteria. It's just like part of the world that we live in, part of the fiber of the planet. And that, to me is quite scary and like, another level.

[Sean Ramsford]

And when you say that it's in our rain, can you just help us understand what exactly that looks like? I mean, can you literally see it?

[Benji Jones]

More often than not, you can't see it. So these are really, really small particles of plastic. And that's because in order for microplast to get into the rain, they have to be transported by the air. They have to be in the air. And so all these sort of invisible pieces of plastic are in the rain, falling down. And there are a handful of studies that have found plastic in rainfall all over the world and in some, like, kind of scary quantities too.

[Sean Ramsford]

Hmm. Like how much?

[Benji Jones]

Yeah. So the study that I was like, okay, I need to write about this was. It was a study of rain and dust falling on national parks and wilderness areas in the West. These are like Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Joshua Tree. And these researchers found that the amount of plastic that was falling on these national parks and wilderness areas every year is equivalent to like 120 to 300 million plastic water bottles every year. So, like, you see trash when you're hiking through the wilderness, but, like, there's actually trash, like falling from the Sky. And it is probably more than the physical pieces that you can actually see. It's just like, everywhere.

[Sean Ramsford]

Everywhere. Like, does that mean there's microplastics in the rain in Detroit, Timbuktu, Fiji? Like, is there no place on Earth where you won't encounter microplastics in the rain? Or is it, you know, closer to polluted spaces, closer to cities, whatever it might be?

[Benji Jones]

Yeah, it's really everywhere. I mean, Sean, it's in the French Pyrenees. Like, it's in snowfall in the Alps. It is. Just because there is microplastic in the air, it's able to get all over the world. And so I saw studies in China, India, Europe. There are microplastics in the ocean, like tens, if not hundreds of trillions of plastic particles. Beach sand, all around the world, seafood, which is like, again, it's in the ocean, so it's in our fish, it's in our homes, it's in the carpets, plastic fibers, et cetera. It's in snow in Antarctica, it's in sea ice, it's at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. One of my favorite studies, but also kind of sad. Scientists looked at dolphin breaths, like the size of dolphins, and found microplastics in the breath of these dolphins. So, like, dolphins are breathing out microplastics.

[Unknown Speaker]

This is a microplastic fiber found in dolphin breath, and it's 14 times smaller than a human hair. We found it by holding a petri dish over dolphins bullet holes so we can analyze what they breathe out.

[Salesforce Ad]

Dolphins are top predators in marine ecosystems, so scientists use them as a way of monitoring the effects of plastic pollution on marine ecosystems and coastal communities.

[Unknown Speaker]

Ocean waves are basically plastic confetti machines, and they can launch 100,000 metric tons of plastic into the air every year.

[Benji Jones]

And then it's also everywhere that we've looked in the human body. So it's in our blood, it's in our kidneys, it's in our semen, the placenta. And in the human body, we're finding microplastics that are so small, these nanoplastics, that they're actually able to cross the blood brain barrier. I mean, one of the big news stories of this year was that scientists found a plastic spoon's worth of microplastics in the human brain, like in an average brain by weight, which is perfect. Terrifying to think about.

[Unknown Speaker]

New research out of the University of New Mexico finds alarmingly high levels of that plastic in human brains. At most, much higher concentrations compared to the liver and kidney.

[Benji Jones]

They looked at some Individuals with dementia.

[Unknown Speaker]

They had higher levels of microplastics in the brain.

[Benji Jones]

According to researchers, the amount of microplastics in analyzed brains rose by about 50% from 2016 to 2024. This study found that, like, 99.5% of our brain is brain and the rest is plastic. So, like, 0.5% of our brain is plastic, which is another way to think about the spoon and scary. And it's also, like, more plastic currently than it was in the past. So, like, that indicates that with the rise of plastic in the environment, we're seeing a rise of plastic in our heads. So that's great.

[Sean Ramsford]

Sorry, I didn't hear anything you said. I think I had a seizure from all the plastic in my brain. And where exactly is it coming from?

[Benji Jones]

So there's a lot of trash on the side of roads that gets run over by car after car, and then it gets ground up into little pieces. They become airborne, and then they get transported everywhere and rained out. You can also have plastic, plastic in the ocean, getting all the way inland and being rained out on land. We know there is a lot of plastic in the ocean, including a lot of microplastics. And even when bubbles on the surface are popping, they're flinging microplastics into the air. And also when waves are crashing on the shore, they're causing the microplastics to become airborne. So the oceans are a big source. The highways are a big source. Also. Tires are a big producer of microplastics as they wear down. So just the tires degrading over time can put microplastics into the air. And it's not just plastic that's in our rain. It's actually other chemicals like pfas. So a bunch of studies have also found these forever chemicals in the rain, too. So our rain is, like, quite dirty.

[Sean Ramsford]

And just for the people out there who are maybe like, yeah, there's plastic in the rain. Whatever. There's plastic in my bed, there's plastic in my brain. Why do we not want plastic in the rain, Benji?

[Benji Jones]

Yeah, this is, like, the most important question in my mind is, like, is there an actual risk to being exposed to all this plastic? That has many benefits, right? We benefit from plastic. We're talking on devices made of plastic right now. It's light, it makes cars less polluting, et cetera. Scientists are learning that microplastics in our bodies, which could get there because of what we're drinking and what we're eating, are linked to a number of health concerns, like cardiovascular disease. Mental issues like dementia. So like there is actually quite a long list of health problems that are linked to exposure to microplastics.

[Unknown Speaker]

Could it be increasing the risk of stroke or heart attack? Could it be increasing the risk of cancer, Inflammatory bowel disease, infertility? So there are any number of things. Preterm birth, it is thought that it can disrupt your hormones, so it can.

[Benji Jones]

Cause some fertility issues, it can mess.

[Unknown Speaker]

With your metabolism and it can cause neurological issues.

[Benji Jones]

Part of that is just the physical bit of plastic being in your body. It's like this foreign substance that your body is trying to get rid of. And so it's going to have an inflammatory response which can be bad over time. But also there are a lot of chemicals, there are like hundreds if not thousands of chemicals used in plastics. And those chemicals like phthalates which make plastic bendy are also associated with other issues like hormone disruption and fertility issues. So yeah, I would say it is pretty fair to say that there are health problems linked to all this exposure. That personally makes me worried personally.

[Sean Ramsford]

But you're also worried for your fellow human.

[Benji Jones]

Oh, I don't care about anybody else. Yeah, I am worried. And like we do have chronic illness problems in the us, in countries all over the world. Like we know that chronic disease is getting worse over time in terms of like how many people have it. And I think that we should be looking at things like the spread of microplastics.

[Sean Ramsford]

Well Benji, is there anything we can do about it?

[Benji Jones]

Yeah, so I mean it's really easy to just feel kind of hopeless. And I, I do at times personally, but I like to look back at history and other environmental problems that we actually solved. So there are examples of problems. So like the ozone layer, that big giant hole in the ozone that was letting all this harmful solar radiation in. We like are on track to close that through regulations. And then more relevant to this conversation is acid rain. So like in the sun 60s, 70s and 80s, acid rain was a huge environmental problem talked about by like congressmen, the public, etc. And we pretty much fixed that. I mean it's not fixed everywhere but like you don't really hear about acid rain anymore. And that's because it doesn't really exist, especially in the developed world.

[Sean Ramsford]

Let's drop some acid when we return on Today Explained.

[Benji Jones]

Fun.

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[Benji Jones]

Here comes the plastic rain. Have you seen the plastic rain? Plastic rain, Plastic rain.

[Sean Ramsford]

Today Explain back with Benji Jones who's going to tell us how we fixed acid rain. Is that what we did, Benji?

[Benji Jones]

Yeah. I'm going to go and say we have mostly fixed acid rain.

[Unknown Speaker]

Huh?

[Sean Ramsford]

And remind us what the problem was.

[Benji Jones]

Okay, so acid rain, rain that is slightly acidic, like several times more acidic than regular rain, probably not like pure lemon juice, but maybe like lemonade or something, slightly diluted. And the rain was largely acidic because of a handful of gases. So sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, which is nitrogen oxide and nitrogen dioxide. And these were gases largely emitted by coal, power plants and the tailpipes of cars.

[Unknown Speaker]

In our time, acid rain has become a subject of international concern and scientific research.

Acid rain looks, feels and smells like any other rain. But the water in acid rain carries poisons like sulfuric acid. That acid and its effects have been blamed for killing fish and plant life in hundreds of lakes in the northeastern United States and Canada.

Our Canadian neighbors to the north are becoming impatient to a point where U.S. canada relations are more strained than ever. However, at the center of this irritant is the acid rain problem, one that has no respect for international boundaries.

[Benji Jones]

And as all this acidic rain was falling, we started to see impacts from that. So, like, I don't know, maybe you've seen the photos of statues that look like they're kind of melted. But we also saw, like, forests starting to collapse, fish die in lakes in the Adirondack. So it was like a human problem and an environmental problem.

[Sean Ramsford]

And then we did something about it.

[Benji Jones]

Yes, we did. The US in 1990 passed amendments to the Clean Air act, which is like the seminal regulation in the US to clean up the air that started to limit the amount of sulfur dioxide that coal power plants were able to produce.

[Unknown Speaker]

This bill will cut emissions that cause.

[Benji Jones]

Acid rain in half and permanently cap them at these new levels. And also around the same time, catalytic converters were becoming a big thing Those reduce emissions in tailpipes. And so you started to see these regulations limiting the amount of pollution coming from these important sources like coal and cars. And as a result, we saw acid rain start to decline.

[Sean Ramsford]

Huh. Did anyone, like, celebrate it? Was there, like, a day where we said, we did it, guys. We beat acid rain.

[Benji Jones]

I didn't come across anyone being like, congratulations, we fixed this. I think, like, when regulations work, they don't maybe get the attention they deserve.

[Sean Ramsford]

Let's take a moment now on the show to just celebrate that we, at least for now, managed to beat acid rain.

[Benji Jones]

But I should also just say, so, like, some places, like China. Oh, no.

[Sean Ramsford]

Are you gonna caveat it?

[Benji Jones]

Oh, always. Come on.

[Sean Ramsford]

Okay, great.

[Benji Jones]

There are some places around the world that still have a lot of coal energy, like China and India, and you will still see acid rain there. I actually saw, like, a headline about the Taj Mahal being, like, affected by acid rain, like, eroding the surface of the Taj Mahal. So, like, some parts of the world still deal with, like, slightly acidic rain because they have emissions from these fossil fuels. But in general, especially in wealthier parts of the world, we are not getting rained on by acid, which is great.

[Sean Ramsford]

I mean, no biggie. There was, like, another Taj Mahal in New Jersey at some point, Right? They'll just make another one.

[Benji Jones]

Amidst great hoopla this week, Donald Trump is opening his $1 billion Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City. Some economists call it a reckless gamble.

[Sean Ramsford]

Can we apply any of the learnings from how we, at least in some places in the world, defeated acid rain to this plastic rain, plastic rain situation we've got currently all over the world?

[Benji Jones]

Yeah. Okay, great question. So I think in some ways, the plastic problem is worse because plastic stays around forever, like, decades, centuries, really hard to get rid of once it's in the environment. Pfas, same story.

[Sean Ramsford]

But, but, but.

[Benji Jones]

And this is my rare bout of hope, which is that we learned from acid rain, from the ozone hole, that when we as a. As a species, humans, governments, want to solve a problem, want to solve an environmental problem, we do it. There was public outcry around acid rain. We fixed it largely. And so I think that is a lesson in, like, this is a question about will. Do we have the will to get rid of plastic, and do we have the regulations in place to do so? And that is the other kind of important takeaway, which is that when you have major industries that are benefiting from this incredible amount of plastic flowing into the environment, we need to often create regulations that are Tamping down on that supply of plastic.

[Sean Ramsford]

Mm. Do we have any of those?

[Benji Jones]

Well, I don't think folks who follow the plastic conversation closely are very hopeful about that. The current administration, as you may have seen, Trump, is trying to bring back plastic straws.

[Unknown Speaker]

Oh, yeah, we're going back to plastic straws. These things don't work.

[Benji Jones]

He seems to be passionately against paper straws, which, like, okay, there's some merit to that.

[Unknown Speaker]

I've had them many times and on occasion they break, they explode. If something's hot. They don't last very long, like a matter of minutes, sometimes a matter of seconds. It's a ridiculous situation though.

[Sean Ramsford]

That one seems to have unified left and right.

[Unknown Speaker]

He is right on this one. Those straws are terrible.

[Benji Jones]

Yeah, it is true. I mean, no one wants that dissolving paper straw.

[Sean Ramsford]

I think it's overblown. Personally, I've had like compostable straws that work just fine, I want to say.

[Benji Jones]

But you're also famously antiplastic. Famously.

[Sean Ramsford]

Everyone knows about that. Wah, wah, wah. I hate plastic. Wah.

[Benji Jones]

Anyway, so like, right, are we gonna see regulations in this administration to start limiting plastic when the president is so pro oil and gas, which is the same industry as the plastic industry?

[Unknown Speaker]

We will drill, baby. Drill.

[Benji Jones]

I think probably not. I will say though, and this is something fairly hopeful, there is a global effort right now to create a plastic treaty involving over 100 countries. So countries around the world are trying to create a global agree to reduce plastic waste. That could include things like a cap on the production of plastic, bans on certain types of single use plastics, and also best practices for companies that are producing plastic for end of life. So like better recycling and so forth. So there are efforts at the global scale to fix the plastic problem. They're ongoing. There's like some roadblocks, but it's happening. And so I think that is something that is worth celebrating should it come to pass.

[Sean Ramsford]

Okay, so you're saying fixing the plastic rain problem is really just fixing the plastic problem. But then you were also saying that, like, it's in our tires and the tires are on the road and it's just constantly getting in the air. That just feels like unwieldy.

[Benji Jones]

Yeah, I mean, I think this is a situation where, like, we need to focus on getting rid of the plastics that are not as essential. Like, we can acknowledge the fact that tires are useful. I mean, we can probably make tires that are not like wearing away and filling the air with microplastics. But like, in general, tire is good. I Think like getting plastic cutlery with takeout every time probably pretty easy to get rid of. Like we don't really need plastic straws. Like use seaweed or whatever the. To make straws not disintegrate. It's fine. Like we are innovative, we don't need to be. This is not a problem. So I think being clear about what the like priority plastics are that we should get rid of is a way to like make this problem not seem so overwhelming.

[Sean Ramsford]

You know Benji, a former colleague of ours, Jerusalem Dempsis, I saw recently on our cursed shared social media platform, she wrote something like, I need everyone to stop talking to me about microplastics. I don't care. Do you think at all it's hard to care about the microplastics that are evaporating into the air. Do you think this is too low on the priority list that, that it's raining plastics?

[Benji Jones]

Yeah, I mean I feel like it's totally fair to not care about this. Like I am writing about the climate crisis, extinction crisis like every week. And so I get it. Like I don't want another problem in my life. But there are also fairly simple things we can do as individuals on like a day to day level that help us reduce our own exposure. Like I don't want to get sick, I don't want to have chronic illness. So like I'm going to filter my water, for example. That is what I like about this topic, which is that there are things you can do. And so like the headline is limit plastic that you're exposed to. Obviously plastic Tupperware. Don't use it. Use glass, especially if you microwave in it. Dust is full of microplastics. So clean up after yourself. Use vacuums, etc. Avoid polyester and nylon clothing if you can afford like cotton. It's more comfortable. I think some people avoid sea salt because it comes from the sea and there's like plastic in the sea. Avoid sea salt.

[Sean Ramsford]

That one breaks my heart.

[Benji Jones]

I didn't know about that one.

[Sean Ramsford]

Dang it. But then it's like don't eat fish either because they're also from the sea.

[Benji Jones]

Yeah, like that is like performative if you're not eating sea salt. Like, yeah. I mean this is like the whole question about using plastic cutting boards too. Like, oh yeah, you're not ingesting like a credit card's worth of plastic by using a plastic cutting board.

[Sean Ramsford]

News you can use. Benji Jones Vox. Thank you, thank you so much.

[Benji Jones]

Thank you, SEAN.

[Sean Ramsford]

Benji Jones, Vox.com, you can read his piece there. It's called We Got Rid of Acid Rain. Now something scarier is falling from the sky. Abhishai Artsy produced today's show. Jolie Meyers edited Andrea Pritzsten's daughter, Patrick Boyd and Brandon McFarland mixed. Myles Bryan checked the facts this is the rain explained.

[Benji Jones]

I only wanna see you dancing in the.