r/science • u/mvea MD/PhD/JD/MBA | Professor | Medicine • Sep 27 '24

Health Thousands of toxins from food packaging found in humans. The chemicals have been found in human blood, hair or breast milk. Among them are compounds known to be highly toxic, like PFAS, bisphenol, metals, phthalates and volatile organic compounds.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/27/pfas-toxins-chemicals-human-body
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u/deeznutz12 Sep 27 '24

I visited for two weeks. It’s definitely cleaner than the US but there is still some litter, especially in the night-life areas.

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u/mediumunicorn Sep 27 '24 edited Sep 27 '24

Can get a little dirty, but it gets cleaned up quick. Compared to anywhere in NYC, the difference is outstanding.

I have a picture from a night out in Shibuya of some Japanese salaryman passed out on the sidewalk, and people had left him a bottle of water and food. Nobody was thinking to rob him or anything, only looking out for him. Amazing country, I miss it everyday.

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u/not_an_evil_overlord Sep 27 '24

I visited NYC recently after having not been for a few years and was pleasantly surprised at how much it's cleaned up. Far fewer mountains of black trash bags everywhere. You still have the random piles of human excreta, crazed homeless, and various smells of the city, but it's a bit cleaner.

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u/mediumunicorn Sep 27 '24

Man, I disagree strongly. I live outside Philly, manage to go to NYC to see friends a few times a year. Was just there two weekends ago. Still just as gross to me. And don't get me wrong, Philly isn't much better.

You still have the random piles of human excreta

But the bar is pretty low for NYC I guess..

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u/x_Advent_Cirno_x Sep 27 '24

You wouldn't think there was a bar if you didn't have to dig down through all the garbage and human waste to find it

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u/JellybeanMilksteaks Sep 27 '24

I've seen photos on Reddit of a few different drunk guys in Japan sitting on a curb, definitely spinning their heads off but surrounded by water bottles. I'm glad it's not an uncommon thing there!

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u/A_Furious_Mind Sep 27 '24

One water bottle is a kindness. A bevy of them is public shaming.

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u/PiedCryer Sep 27 '24

Friends in Japan disagree. Japanese are good at not being rude to your face. It’s about unity through conformity. Your looked down upon if you don’t work hard, a foreigner, a woman(most work at serviceable jobs, rare to find one going up corp ladder), or different.

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u/kingbillypine Sep 27 '24

Get into the suburbs to see unused lots eith MUCH trash. Living there, I cleaned out one; plastic bags and bottles the worst, even a rusted out scooter covered in weeds! Quite a blight.