Eating Plastic

As you might imagine, I love plastics and other polymeric materials. They intrigue my mind and they have allowed me to make a living using that knowledge. At the same time, I realize that they have their limits. There are times that metals will solve a problem better, or maybe ceramics or sometimes, maybe nothing at all is the best solution - I'm thinking of the Vuvuzela as a good example of something that should not be made at all -regardless of the material used.

To be clear - there are times that plastics are the wrong choice. Such as in the case of this young women who eats plastic. Yes, eats plastic. And not just in small doses, but large quantities - 60,000 items - including

"I have eaten 12 remotes, over 5,000 beads, over 1,000 cocktail swords, 100 forks, about ten water bottles, two pacifiers, three CD cases, about 50 hangers, about 25 plastic lids on to-go cups..."

I hope that she gets some help, as eating all that plastics cannot be good for anyone. I'm not thinking about anything leaching from the plastic, but just the large bolus of indigestible items that could lead to blockages, punctures and all sorts of physical issues. As I said, plastics are often the wrong choicee and that is clearly the case here - proper food would be so much better.