Harmful Health Effects of Plastics
-Dr.M.A.Aleem M.D.D.M (Neuro)
Emeritus Professor
The Tamilnadu Dr.M.G.R. Medical University
Past President
Tamilnadu Pondycherry Association of Neurologists
Former Vice-Principal
KAPV Govt. Medical College and MGM Govt. Hospital.
Fromer HOD and Professor of Neurology Senior Neurology civil surgeon KAPVGMC and
MGM Govt. Hospital
Consultant Neurologist
ABC Hospital
Trichy 620018
Tamilnadu
India
drmaaleem@hotmail.com
Phone 9443159940
The theme for World Environment Day 2018 is "Beat Plastic Pollution. Our Indian prime minister Narandra Modi has pointed out on the increasing damage plastics are doing to our environment and the our country's beaches.
The Indian state of Tamil Nadu announced that it would ban the use of plastic items, including nonbiodegradable plastic bags, starting in January 2019.
Life in plastic: on waste management framework
Plastics are organic polymers of high molecular mass and often contain other substances. They are usually synthetic, mainly derived from petrochemicals. Due to their low cost, ease of manufacture, versatility, non-corrosiveness and imperviousness to water, plastics are used for multiple purposes at different scales.
Plastic was invented in New York in 1907 by Leo Baekeland. Further, many chemists, including Nobel laureate Hermann Staudinger (father of polymer chemistry) and Herman Mark (father of polymer physics), have contributed to the materials science of plastics. However, these scientists could not have anticipated such an exponential growth of plastic production.
Critical impact
Plastic has become an indispensable material in modern society. Worldwide, one million plastic bags and one million plastic bottles are used every minute.
About 50% of our plastic use is single use (disposable) and it constitutes 10% of the total waste generated. More than 9.1 billion tons of plastic are said to have been “manufactured since the material was initially mass-produced in the 1950s. In 2015, scientists said that “of the nearly 7 billion tons of plastic waste generated, only 9% was recycled, 12% incinerated, and 79% accumulated in landfills or the environment.
In India
India is the global host of 2018 World Environment Day. The theme for this year is 'beat plastic pollution
In India, which accounts for almost 18% of the world population in 2.4% of the global land area, the accumulation of plastic waste is huge. An estimate in 2015 revealed that 60 cities across the country generated over 15,000 tonnes of plastic waste every day. Even if plastic is a convenient alternative, it is a difficult substance for nature to digest.
Plastics in Oceans
Each year, 13 million tonnes of plastic end up in the oceans. A study revealed that 20 rivers (mostly from Asia) carry two-thirds of plastic waste to the ocean; the Ganga’s contribution to this is one of the highest. Researchers exploring the Arctic have found very high levels of microplastics trapped in the ice. Last year, a plastic spoon was found in the remains of a whale shark off Rameswaram. Experts explained that whale sharks are filter feeders and like to swallow everything floating in the sea. The economic impact of plastic pollution on marine ecosystems through fisheries and tourism losses and beach cleaning-up costs is estimated to be around $13 billion per year.
Plastics on Land
Plastic disposed of on land degrades slowly and its chemicals leach into the surroundings. Drinking water samples analysed from 14 countries, including India, revealed that 83% have micro-plastics concentrations. According to a United Nations Environment Programme report, the overall annual natural capital cost of plastic use in the consumer goods sector is $75 billion.
What should we do?
In reality, we cannot eliminate plastic use from our day-to-day activities. However, we should not allow plastic to reach the soil or water. The government should restrict plastic production and encourage recycling through appropriate policies. The ‘Plastic Waste Management Rules 2016’ need to be strictly followed.
As most plastic items pass through our hands, public care, with behavioural change, is necessary. Household-wise waste segregation is the key. We should act as responsible citizens with a determination towards maintaining cleaner surroundings. Every shopkeeper should go in for and encourage the use of biodegradable packing materials while shoppers should use cloth bags. Mass public awareness on the dangers of plastic hazards is a prerequisite.
Eco-friendly substitutes (cloth/paper/jute bags, leaves/areca leaf plates, paper straws) should be developed. For this, scientific and financial support (soft loans and subsidies) is required. Charges for plastic bag use and deposit-refund for plastic bottles may be effective options. The recent decision by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on extending the mandate on packing food grains and sugar products in jute bags is welcome. Even if the intention is to promote the jute industry, it is a step that reduces plastic pollution. The Swachh Bharat Mission should emerge as a platform for plastic waste management.
We cannot transform our world into a ‘plastic planet’. What is needed is collective public effort to stop plastic pollution and safeguard our ecosystem/biodiversity.
Plastic Pollution: Causes, Effects and Solutions
At present, plastic pollution has become a serious global problem. Billions of plastic bags are thrown every year across the world. These plastic bags block the flow of drains, and moving further, they reach rivers and oceans. Since plastic does not get naturally disintegrated, it affects the life and environment of rivers, oceans etc in an adverse manner. Due to plastic pollution, millions of animals and birds are killed at the global level, which is a highly worrisome aspect in terms of environmental balance.
It is a matter of deep concern that at present around 1500 million tonnes of plastic has been collected on the entire planet, which is constantly damaging the environment.
Today, the use of plastic per person is 18 kilograms, whereas its recycling is only 15.2 percent. Also, plastic recycling is not that much considered safe as more pollution spreads through recycling of plastic.
Why Plastic Bags should be Banned
Today, plastic is seen everywhere, which is contaminating the environment. As per an estimate, about ten to fifteen thousand units in India are producing polyethylene. According to the 1990 data, its consumption in India was twenty thousand tonnes, which is now reported to reach three to four lakh tonnes – it is an ominous sign for the future. Since polyethylene came into circulation, all the old materials became obsolete as clothes, jute and paper were replaced by polythene. Polyethylene-made items cannot be used again after using the, so, they have to be thrown out. These poly-manufactured objects are not dissolvable, i.e., they are not biodegradable substances.
Wherever plastic is found, the fertile power of the earth is reduced and the seeds buried under do not germinate. So, the land becomes barren. Plastic blocks the drains, the heaps of polyethylene pollute the atmosphere. As we throw left-over food items wrapped into polyethylene, animal consume them along with it, which adversely affects the health of animals, even leading to their death.
What is Plastic Pollution?
The pile-up of plastic products on the ground or in water is called plastic pollution, which has an extremely bad effect on the lives of human beings, birds and animals. Plastic pollution has a dangerous impact on wildlife, wildlife habitat, and human beings. Plastic pollution affects land, air, waterways and oceans.
Plastic is mainly made from synthetic resins emitted from petroleum substances. In the resins, plastic monomers are made by combining ammonia and benzene. Plastic contains molecules of chlorine, fluorine, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and sulphur.
Today every country in the world is struggling with the devastating problems of plastic pollution.
In our country, especially the urban environment has been badly affected by plastic pollution. In the cities, cow and other animals and birds are getting killed by consuming plastic bags in large numbers. As it’s not naturally degradable, it remains permanently in nature once it is formed due to the absence of any capable micro bacteria that can destroy it in nature. It leads to serious ecological imbalance. It also does not get destroyed due to being insoluble in water. It increases heavy water pollution and inhibits the water flow on the earth, due to which such polluted water produces flies, mosquito and poisonous pests, which spread diseases such as malaria and dengue.
Why is Plastic Pollution a Problem?
Research has shown that the use of plastic bottles and containers is extremely dangerous. Having a hot food or water in a plastic vessel can lead to cancer. When the plastic is hot due to excessive sunlight or temperature, leakage of harmful chemical dioxin in it causes heavy damage to the body.
Plastic bags below 40 microns are not biodegradable: they sustain in the environment for ever. In addition to not being degraded for a long time, plastic causes many ill-effects, which are harmful to human health. For example, PVC, used in the manufacture of pipes, windows and doors, is made by polymerization of vinyl chloride. Chemicals used in its composition can cause cancer of the brain and liver. To make the packing of machines, extremely rigid polycarbonate plastic phosgene is obtained from saturating of the bisphenol compounds. These components generate highly toxic and humid gas. Formaldehyde is used in the manufacture of many types of plastic. This chemical can cause rashes on the skin. Staying in its touch for several days can lead to asthma and respiratory diseases.
Many organic compounds are added to create flexibility in plastic. Many types of polyethylene gasification are carcinogenic compounds. These toxic substances found in plastic are used during plastic formation. In the ready (solid) plastic utensils, if the food contents are kept for a long time or the skin of the body is in contact with the plastic for a long time then the chemicals present in plastic can wreak havoc. Similarly, the plastic waste that is thrown into the garbage for long period can leave many toxic effects for the environment.
How does Plastic Contribute to Air Pollution?
Plastic waste leads to the production of many toxic gases. As a result, severe air pollution is produced which leads to cancer, inhibits physical development and causes terrible disease. During the production of plastic, dangerous gases like ethylene oxide, benzene and xylene, etc are generated. Dioxin also emerges on burning it, which is very poisonous and produces cancer.
Due to plastics in the pits, the environment is damaged, soil and groundwater get toxic and gradually the ecological balance starts to deteriorate. The health of workers working in the plastics industry also suffers to a dangerous extent especially impacting their lungs, kidneys and nervous system.
What happens when you Burn Plastic?
Burning plastic waste usually emits carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide gases, which can cause diseases of the respiratory track or skin. Also, burning of polystyrene plastic produces chlro-fluro carbon, which is harmful to the ozone layer of the atmosphere. Similarly, burning of polyvinyl chloride produces chlorine and nylon, and polyurethane releases toxic gases like nitric oxide.
Throwing and burning of plastic both cause harm to the environment equally. There is a large amount of chemical emissions on plastic burning, which, by inhaling causes adverse effects on the respiratory system. Whether plastic is thrown into the ground or thrown into the water, its harmful effects are not reduced.
What are the Causes of Plastic Pollution?
Although plastic-made goods are helpful in improving the quality of the lives of poor and middle-class people, at the same time, they are unaware of the threat posed by their continued use. Plastic has become an object which has started being used in the places of worship, kitchen, bathroom, sitting room and reading-rooms. Not only this, if we have to bring any item such as ration, fruits, vegetables, clothes, shoes, milk, yogurt, oil, ghee and fruit juice etc from the market, then polyethylene is widely used .
In today’s world, there is a lot of fast food which is also packed in polythene. Man is so accustomed to plastic that he has forgotten to use bags made of jute or clothes. The shopkeepers too keep every type of polythene bag, because the customer has made it compulsory to keep the poly. It was not so four to five decades ago when bags used to be made of clothes, jute or paper that were beneficial for the environment.
Plastic carry bags have created a major problem in modern civilization. Because of no concrete arrangement of their disposal, they pose a grave threat for the environment. Five to seven quintals of carry bags are sold even in a small town. The process of pollution starts when the carry bags are thrown in the form of wastes in the garbage after their use. Due to not being biodegradable, the plastic carry bags never rot or fade and become a threat to the environment. The carry bags hinder the process of photosynthesis of crops in agricultural fields.
Food and drugs wrapped in plastic packing makes it contaminated and spoils it by initiating a chemical process. The consumption of such food threatens human life as it leads to terrible diseases.
Effects of Plastic Pollution
Plastic pollution is a serious threat to the environment. The scientists have been warning about its adverse effects for years. The problem has been particularly grave that despite various widely-publicised cleanliness drives, nothing is untouched by the plastic waste, be it villages, towns, cities, metropolises, not even the country’s capital, despite the fact that the use of polyethylene is prohibited. In this regard, the National Green Tribunal has time and again expressed strong displeasure. It has slammed the state governments on the indiscriminate use of plastic across the country.
Wherever the human stepped their feet; the polythene pollution kept on spreading. It has even been contaminating the Himalayan valleys. It has increased in such a way that the government is also campaigning for its prevention. All the places of picnic or outing suffer from it.
Studies prove that aquatic creatures are not safe due to plastic waste. Hazardous elements like microplastic are usually caused by the use of waste such as plastic bags, bottle lid, water flow in containers, emission of ultraviolet rays and large amounts of microbes used in cosmetics and toothpaste. Micro plastic absorbs dangerous chemicals, and when birds and fish eat it, it goes into their body. The latest study on the Arctic Sea proves that plastic will be more in the next three decades than the fishes or other aquatic species.
By coming from different streams in the ocean, small pieces of plastic have been constantly collected in very large quantities for years. Their amounts are estimated at around 100 to 1200 tonnes. They are in abundance in the sea of Greenland. It is feared that due to rapidly growing pieces of plastic in the Arctic Ocean, the sea of surrounding countries can be polluted. Studies have shown that millions of tonnes of plastic waste has found its way in the oceans of the world, and it is increasing day by day, which is a dangerous sign.
Why Plastic is Bad for Your Health
In recent years, the use of plastic has been more heavily criticised than ever for the many problems it can cause. While today many people are aware that using large amounts of plastic is not only contributing to the depletion of natural resources but also to the pollution of nature, the impacts plastic has on human health are not discussed nearly as often – although they are equally alarming!
Of course, we should be limiting the use of plastic in all areas of our life, but when it comes to food, using plastic to save, store or cook in is a major hazard and can have profound negative effects on our health and well being.
Read on to learn more about why plastic is bad for you and what you can do about it.
Harmful chemicals
Plastic food storage containers are filled with more than just food, they’re chock full of harmful chemicals. Plastics are made out of refined crude oil and contain chemicals such as BPA (Bisphenol-A) that function mainly as plasticisers, making plastic more durable and flexible. While this makes plastic very practical for everyday use, it also adds a significant health risk, especially whenever it comes in contact with food. When plastic is used to store or heat a dish, chemicals from the container can leach into the food.
Studies of laboratory animals have shown that high doses of BPA disrupt reproductive development and functions. It was previously thought that BPA levels in humans weren’t a concern, but there has also been research showing that people who had high levels of BPA in their system had increased rates of a number of serious health issues including diabetes, heart disease and liver toxicity.
BPA isn’t the only problem
To solve this problem, companies have started producing plastic labelled as “BPA-free”. In these articles BPA is replaced by other chemicals, BPS (Bisphenol-S) and phthalates, such as diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP),
that are supposedly less likely to go into the food. Unfortunately, in many cases it happens anyway and the health risks remain.
Plastic’s Health Risks for Women
The chemicals in BPA in particular act similarly to oestrogen and, in the long run, can possibly interfere with women’s hormonal balance and affect reproduction. Research has also linked BPA to breast cancer in animals along with obesity, thyroid issues and neurologic disorders in humans.
Plastic’s Health Risks for Children
The World Health Organization has shown that exposure to high concentrations of Phthalates and BPA during pregnancy can lead to the child experiencing lung problems or being more likely to develop asthma later in life. In children the high exposure to these chemicals has been linked to increased insulin resistance and elevated blood pressure. New York University School of Medicine has stated that this could be playing an important part in the epidemic of childhood obesity and diabetes as well as linked to negative effects for the heart and kidneys.
Plastic’s Health Risks for Men
Although negative effects have been shown to primarily affect women and children, men are not immune to them. According to the same WHO study as mentioned above, men’s risk of prostate cancer can increase significantly if they are often in contact with these chemicals. And similarly as in women, their reproductive abilities can be compromised.
Unfortunately, it’s nearly impossible to remove all contact from plastic and its harmful chemicals but there are some simple things you can do to limit the contact plastic has with your food and what you consume. To reduce the risk of being exposed to chemicals like BPA, never heat or microwave your food in a plastic container, as it’s believed that heating up the plastic can increase the amount of chemicals and toxins that leak into your food. However, it is best to simply use natural products for food storage. Although leading health organizations such as the NIH and the WHO have not outright declared all plastic food storage products as seriously hazardous to our health, it is obvious that natural products should be preferred for this purpose. Luckily, this has become a lot easier in recent years, due to the increased availability of non-toxic and eco-friendly products.
Try switching out any plastic food containers with glass containers or a natural alternative to plastic wrap, like SuperBee beeswax wraps. Glass or ceramic containers are always safe and can be cleaned easily. Since they are heavy and breakable other eco-friendly food storage alternatives should also be considered. Today a number of plastic-free, plant-based products are available to store anything from water to cooked food or fresh produce. Increasing the use of these items for food storage will help reduce exposure to harmful chemicals and have a positive effect on both you and your family’s health and the environment.
Solutions to Plastic Pollution
It is the duty of the society to live up to the saying that nature is the unique gift of God. Therefore, the people have to come forward to prevent the pollution caused by polyethylene, and everyone has to be involved in dealing with it at one’s own level. Whether it is children or elderly, men or women, educated or uneducated, rich or poor, urbanites or villagers, all have to work hard to get rid of the menace of plastic. The older members of the family should not use polyethylene, and also prevent all other members from using it. Also, if you provide proper information about it to the people around, it will be the biggest step to stop the use of polyethylene. When you go shopping in the market, then take a jute or bag made of clothes with you, and if the shopkeeper gives the poly bag, prevail upon him from offering it. If the consumers stop using it, then its need will decrease day by day and a time will come when polyethylene will be eliminated from the environment. The Government machinery too needs to close the units engaged in the manufacture of polyethylene.
One of the other solutions of plastic waste is its recycling. Recycling mean making things new from plastic by getting back plastics from plastic wastes. Plastic recycling was first done by a California firm in 1970. This firm created tiles for drainage from plastic spills and plastic bottles of milk. But the work of recycling of plastic has its limitations as the recycling process is quite expensive and fraught with the danger of emitting more pollution.
Conclusion
As a matter of fact, most of the plastic is biologically non-degradable. This is the main reason why the plastic garbage produced today will last for hundreds of thousands of years, which will continue to play with our lives and the environment. In such a situation, we need to think seriously about plastic’s production and disposal. There is no doubt that the lesser the plastic on the earth, the lesser it will reach the sea. So, to reduce the plastic in the sea, we have to reduce its use on the earth. Since the sea pollution is an extension of the earth’s pollution, it can be more dangerous than the earth’s pollution for the world. In that situation, while the world has been transformed into a pile of plastic waste, there is little doubt that the sea will remain clean only when the earth becomes pollution-free. Plastic is one of the major factors in this regard.
The selfish and consumerist human has damaged the environment by the indiscriminate use of polyethylene. In today’s materialistic age, our society, unaware of polythene’s far-reaching adverse effects and toxicity, has gone too far in its use as if life is incomplete without it.
There is no exaggeration to say that we are living in the polyethylene or plastic era.
Everyone seems to be knowingly becoming unaware of the side effects of polyethylene, which is a type of poison that will destroy the environment. If we want to get rid of plastic in the future, it will be too late as by then the entire environment will become contaminated by it. So, the time is to act NOW.
Plastic ban in Tamilnadu
In Tamilnadu, Chennai generates 429 tonnes of plastic waste per day ,second only to Delhi (689 tonnes) in India.
Tamil Nadu Government has banned use of plastic products from January 2019. This decision has been taken to gift a plastic-free state to future generations.
In 2002, former Tamil Nadu chief minister late Jayalalithaa held a broom made of jute to demonstrate that it was better than a plastic broom.Jayalalithaa was accompanied by then chairperson of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control board to the event that offered the perfect setting to spread awareness on pollution caused by plastic.
The Tamilnadu state government had introduced the Tamil Nadu Plastic Articles (Prohibition of sale, storage, transport and use) Bill, the first piece of legislation by any state government in India to curb the menace of plastic waste in 2002.The bill introduced by Jayalalithaa faced stiff opposition in the assembly. It had to be referred to a select committee for further recommendations.
Sixteen years after Jayalalithaa's failed attempts, the Tamil Nadu government on June 2018 announced a ban on manufacture, sales, storage and use of disposable plastic across state, effective from January 1, 2019
However, the ban excludes using disposable plastic for essential commodities like packaging milk, curd, oil and medical utilities.
This is not the first time when Tamil Nadu will impose the ban. The Chennai Corporation in 2015 had enforced a strict ban on plastic bags and other polymer based items with a thickness of less than 40 microns.
In Trichy
The Tiruchi Corporation has planned to strictly enforce a ban on products made of plastics, less than 50 microns, in the city limit from January 26 Republic Day of 2018.
The sale of plastic carry bags, non-recyclable plastics and use and throw cups would not be allowed and similarly, manufacturing, storing and selling of plastics less than 50 microns would also be banned in Trichy city. It is also advised that the shopkeepers, who wanted to sell plastic with more than 50 micron should pay the requisite fee to register themselves with the Corporation.it is also imposed that the violators would be slapped with fine as per the 2016 rules in Trichy city.
In Tiruchirappalli District
First in Tiruchirappalli district Ponnampatti town panchayat (Thuvarankurichi) has eradicated plastics and for that it has received ISO 9001-2015 certified award .
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