5 Serious Damages Of Plastic For Your Health And That Of The Planet

Biologists tell us that marine ecosystems are in a dire situation. Plastic invades them, due to the dumping of millions of tons of packaging and disposable items present among urban waste.

China has decided to stop the import of plastic waste. All this has increased the need to reduce the production and consumption of plastics, as well as to improve their collection and recycling. We only recycle 9% of plastics.

The solution is to produce and consume less plastic

The European Commission has announced a package of measures in this regard and, in addition, wants to ban some plastic items, those most frequently found on European beaches: drinking straws, plates and cutlery, cotton sticks and balloon sticks .

One billion single-use plastic items are produced each year in the world. They are useful for only 20 minutes but take 400 to 1,000 years to decompose.

Some of the measures that are underway are:

• Goodbye to single-use cutlery and plates. They are replaced by reusable and / or compostable, such as bamboo. In addition, the production of plastic packaging must be reduced and its recycling system improved.
• Goodbye to single-use straws. They make up 4% of marine litter. They will stop being sold and for the drinks that require them (slushies) there are stainless steel or glass straws.
• No more single-use plastic bags. Shopping bags are no longer free, but in 2021 in Spain all light bags will be banned, those less than 50 microns thick.

There is no doubt that these measures to promote a more circular economy – without waste – are necessary. In fact, they have been for decades, but are they enough to address the health and environmental impacts of plastics?

The dangerous lure of plastic

Plastics are a group of materials that are very different from each other, which have in common that they can be easily molded. In general, they are lightweight, waterproof materials, they do not degrade easily and are resistant to corrosion. These properties have led to its use in recent decades soaring and spreading to all sectors.

Today, practically everyone is in contact with plastics anywhere and at any time: clothing, furniture, toys, cosmetics, paints, building materials, cars, telephones, household appliances, computers, food, packaging …

But there are plastic-free solutions for almost every need in everyday life.

Oil derivative out of control

To understand the impact on human health and the environment caused by plastics, it may be interesting to know in more detail their origin and composition.

The vast majority of plastics are made from oil and natural gas. The petrochemical industry manufactures polymers: polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), etc. These polymers are the basis of plastics.

Depending on the characteristics of the articles to be manufactured – color, hardness, flexibility, resistance to light, fire resistance, etc. – polymers are mixed with different additives, including solvents, plasticizers, flame retardants, stabilizers, pigments, pesticides, lubricants, etc. To manufacture food packaging, European laws allow the use of… 885 different substances!

They harm health and the environment

The petrochemical industry is linked to climate change, acid rain, chemical pollution and armed confrontations to control an increasingly scarce resource.

In addition, there is an effect on health and the environment during the use of plastic articles, because due to temperature changes and the use itself, toxic components (monomers, polymers or additives) are released.

1. Very little is recycled

It is estimated that between 1950 and 2015 6,300 million tons of plastic waste were generated in the world . Of all the plastic that we discard, currently only 9% is recycled, 12% is incinerated and the remaining 79% is dumped in landfills or left in the natural environment.

2. Your production is increasing

World plastics production reached 335 million tonnes in 2016 (60 million in Europe). Containers and packaging are the main use (40%), followed by construction materials (20%), automobile (10%), electrical and electronic sector (6%) and agriculture (3%).

But worst of all, manufacturing is skyrocketing. It is estimated that 8% of world oil production goes to the manufacture of plastics and is expected to reach 20% in 2050, mainly due to the greater consumption capacity of the populations of China and India.

3. They produce hormonal alterations

It is considered that 50% of the substances present in polymers are dangerous for health and / or the environment (some of them are bisphenols, phthalates, isocyanates, styrene …). Many of these substances are endocrine disruptors, that is, they have the ability to alter the human hormonal system at very low doses. This disruption is related to fertility problems, developmental disorders, obesity, and cancer.

4. Flooded by microplastics

The use of plastics in the composition of cosmetics (in exfoliating creams, for example), detergents, paints, fertilizers or fabrics leads to their release to the environment and impacts on ecosystems. The European Commission is studying the prohibition of some of these unnecessary uses.

But in addition, microplastics are also formed when larger plastic objects break down in the environment, such as the sheets used to cover greenhouses, fishing nets, urban garbage or tires.

5. They’ve gotten to the fish, the salt, and the water

These microscopic plastic particles are carried by water and air and accumulate in the organisms of animals, especially marine ones. Every year a minimum of 8 million tons of plastic waste is dumped into the sea. They have been detected in more than 700 different animal species, including edible varieties, and also in salt, drinking and bottled water, and even in the air we breathe.

We need to act: political and individual measures

The excess in the consumption of plastic has caused a situation that has gotten out of hand for all of us. It is now urgent to take action at the political, national and international level.

We can also take personal measures: we must rethink our consumption, learn to live with less plastic and less in general, because any alternative material would surely cause similar problems.

Dolores Romano is responsible for chemical substances policies at Ecologistas en Acción