Microplastics are also in the rain. So I’m not sure we should be worried about hiking gear at this point.
Single use plastics for non-medical uses should be taxed out of existence.
It falls to the earth in rain and snow. That’s probably a more insurmountable threat than backpacks.
This study only proves that human activity sheds microplastics. How are they making the claim that the source of the plastics is from hiking gear? It could be food wrappers, microplastic in our excrement, really any other human activity.
Goretex is Teflon! Teflon never degrades, causes cancer!
Makes sense. Lots of rain gear and tents use teflon in their waterproof coatings. That shit sheds worse than a malamute in spring.
Plastic garbage was found in the Marianas Trench. Foot traffic brings more in, but it was gonna show up there, regardless.
Macro plastics are also brought into the wilderness on hiking shoes and gear.
Commenters here should really read the article before making their posts. Many of the critiques I read here are covered in the article.
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