So people kind of knew asbestos was harmful wayyy before it mostly stopped being used in 1979 (USA). But, it was still used constantly in many industries and ended up everywhere. What do you think is an example of something we find out is DRASTICALLY harmful 10-50 years from now? My guess would be screen time.
Obviously microplastics wont be as bad as asbestos. But since we have kept making our world “safer” with these things, horrible stuff like asbestos wont really be a problem. The consequences will not be as bad, like you said. But I don’t think the point was “what will be as bad as asbestos” but more like “what will be something that we will find out is worse than we first thought” or what will be something that has unintended/unforseen consequences.