5 comments

  • abeppu 14 minutes ago

    I think this is silly. This is a product designed to deliver nicotine, and that's going to continue to be the important part for health considerations. Had the FDA become concerned about the pouch material, and a different pouch material had been swapped in, it would still be a product designed to deliver nicotine.

    If it's used in a way that gets people away from smoking, maybe it can have an impact of decreased cancer risk. If used by people who weren't going to smoke, then maybe the impacts to blood pressure, heart rate, and heart disease risk are going to dominate.

    The "maybe you accumulate more microplastics" impact is a rounding error.

  • KingMachiavelli 2 hours ago

    Don’t many medications and medical devices contain microplastics either on purpose (fillers) or un-avoidable (plasticizers in IV tubing). Unless the FDA has an existing microplastics policy, it would be weird to inconsistently apply it.

    Lots of dental stuff like Invisalign or even regular braces involve keeping plastic and adhesives in the mouth for long periods of time. I think even some gum (non-nicotine or otherwise) contain plastics technically.

    • vablings 2 hours ago

      This whole issue around microplastics has just become another grift for the health and wellness industry. The supplements industry is worth over $150B dollars.

      The main contributor to microplastic ingestion is in the water you drink, this water is contaminated with either parts of your car tire or the synthetic clothes you wear

      • amanaplanacanal a minute ago

        Under sink reverse osmosis filter for the win.

      • estearum an hour ago

        What does the second line have to do with the first?

        Anyone I know who is concerned about microplastics is worried about food packaging, water contamination, and clothing.