Mastodawn

I'd seen some of these rebuttal studies, and now The Guardian is reporting on how supposed reports of high microplastics levels in human tissues are being critiqued for their methodology.

In basic terms, scientists try to measure polyethylene (and other plastics) by vaporising the tissue with heat and detecting what polyethylene turns into when burned. However, normal human fats can produce the same compounds when burned. Inadequate controls and hype chasing have led to unsupported claims.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jan/13/microplastics-human-body-doubt

#Microplastics #MicroplasticsInBody #MicroplasticsInBrain #ResearchIntegrity #ScientificErrors #Rebuttals #TheGuardian #PlasticPollution #ScientificControversy

‘A bombshell’: doubt cast on discovery of microplastics throughout human body

Exclusive: Some scientists say many detections are most likely error, with one high-profile study called a ‘joke’

The Guardian

Matt Hodgkinson May 27, 2025

“There’s been a selection, a choosing of which remains to publish, and which not. No one has the right to do that!”

The dark side of paleoanthropology.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/may/27/the-curse-of-toumai-ancient-skull-disputed-femur-feud-humanity-origins

#PaleoAnthropology #HumanOrigins #EvolutionaryBiology #Hominins #Toumai #Sahelanthropus #Fossils #MichelBrunet #ScientificControversy #ResearchIntegrity #PublicationEthics #RobertoMacchiarelli #Chad #AudeBergeret #UniversityofPoitiers #UniversiteDePoitiers

The curse of Toumaï: an ancient skull, a disputed femur and a bitter feud over humanity’s origins

The long read: When fossilised remains were discovered in the Djurab desert in 2001, they were hailed as radically rewriting the history of our species. But not everyone was convinced – and the bitter argument that followed has consumed the lives of scholars ever since

The Guardian