• Skua@kbin.earth
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      5 days ago

      Rubber, including natural rubber, is a hydrocarbon polymer and should probably count as a plastic in any useful definition of the word for this context. Normally natural rubber is biodegradable, of course, but we vulcanise it for usage in tyres, and that makes it much less so. As such, tyres are a huge source of either microplastic pollution or, if you want to call it something else, functionally-identical microrubber pollution

    • Thoath@leminal.space
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      5 days ago

      Tires have suspended micro plastics in the rubber, and small particles of rubber are still under the ‘micro plastics’ umbrella as a synthetic plastic polymer, glad you have such an understanding

        • Thoath@leminal.space
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          5 days ago

          Even if you personally decide ‘auhh my micro rubbers’ a tire isn’t a solid block of rubber, it has structural enforcement that is plastic, and both of these polymers, when under 5mm, is micro plastic by definition

        • Thoath@leminal.space
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          5 days ago

          The main definition of rubber is only differentiated by it’s elastic makeup, I understand you’re working with a 5th grade reading level but, homie… they’re classified as micro plastics as much as you want to …do whatever this is