Extensive use of synthetic polymers has led to certain environmental hazards, making it a matter
of global concern. Think and write some harmful effects of it. Suggest some steps to reduce these
effects.
Answers
Plastics have transformed everyday life; usage is increasing and annual production is likely to exceed 300 million tonnes by 2010. In this concluding paper to the Theme Issue on Plastics, the Environment and Human Health, we synthesize current understanding of the benefits and concerns surrounding the use of plastics and look to future priorities, challenges and opportunities. It is evident that plastics bring many societal benefits and offer future technological and medical advances. However, concerns about usage and disposal are diverse and include accumulation of waste in landfills and in natural habitats, physical problems for wildlife resulting from ingestion or entanglement in plastic, the leaching of chemicals from plastic products and the potential for plastics to transfer chemicals to wildlife and humans. However, perhaps the most important overriding concern, which is implicit throughout this volume, is that our current usage is not sustainable. Around 4 per cent of world oil production is used as a feedstock to make plastics and a similar amount is used as energy in the process. Yet over a third of current production is used to make items of packaging, which are then rapidly discarded. Given our declining reserves of fossil fuels, and finite capacity for disposal of waste to landfill, this linear use of hydrocarbons, via packaging and other short-lived applications of plastic, is simply not sustainable. There are solutions, including material reduction, design for end-of-life recyclability, increased recycling capacity, development of bio-based feedstocks, strategies to reduce littering, the application of green chemistry life-cycle analyses and revised risk assessment approaches. Such measures will be most effective through the combined actions of the public, industry, scientists and policymakers. There is some urgency, as the quantity of plastics produced in the first 10 years of the current century is likely to approach the quantity produced in the entire century that preceded.
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Answer:
Plastics are inexpensive, lightweight, strong, durable, corrosion-resistant materials, with high thermal and electrical insulation properties. The diversity of polymers and the versatility of their properties are used to make a vast array of products that bring medical and technological advances, energy savings and numerous other societal benefits (Andrady & Neal 2009). As a consequence, the production of plastics has increased substantially over the last 60 years from around 0.5 million tonnes in 1950 to over 260 million tonnes today. In Europe alone the plastics industry has a turnover in excess of 300 million euros and employs 1.6 million people (Plastics Europe 2008). Almost all aspects of daily life involve plastics, in transport, telecommunications, clothing, footwear and as packaging materials that facilitate the transport of a wide range of food, drink and other goods. There is considerable potential for new applications of plastics that will bring benefits in the future, for example as novel medical applications, in the generation of renewable energy and by reducing energy used in transport (Andrady & Neal 2009).
Virgin plastic polymers are rarely used by themselves and typically the polymer resins are mixed with various additives to improve performance. These additives include inorganic fillers such as carbon and silica that reinforce the material, plasticizers to render the material pliable, thermal and ultraviolet stabilizers, flame retardants and colourings. Many such additives are used in substantial quantities and in a wide range of products (Meeker et al. 2009). Some additive chemicals are potentially toxic (for example lead and tributyl tin in polyvinyl chloride, PVC), but there is considerable controversy about the extent to which additives released from plastic products (such as phthalates and bisphenol A, BPA) have adverse effects in animal or human populations. The central issue here is relating the types and quantities of additives present in plastics to uptake and accumulation by living organisms (Andrady & Neal 2009; Koch & Calafat 2009; Meeker et al. 2009; Oehlmann et al. 2009; Talsness et al. 2009; Wagner & Oehlmann 2009). Additives of particular concern are phthalate plasticizers, BPA, brominated flame retardants and anti-microbial agents. BPA and phthalates are found in many mass produced products including medical devices, food packaging, perfumes, cosmetics, toys, flooring materials, computers and CDs and can represent a significant content of the plastic. For instance, phthalates can constitute a substantial proportion, by weight, of PVC (Oehlmann et al. 2009), while BPA is the monomer used for production of polycarbonate plastics as well as an additive used for production of PVC. Phthalates can leach out of products because they are not chemically bound to the plastic matrix, and they have attracted particular attention because of their high production volumes and wide usage (Wagner & Oehlmann 2009; Talsness et al. 2009). Phthalates and BPA are detectable in aquatic environments, in dust and, because of their volatility, in air (Rudel et al. 2001, 2003). There is considerable concern about the adverse effects of these chemicals on wildlife and humans (Meeker et al. 2009; Oehlmann et al. 2009). In addition to the reliance on finite resources for plastic production, and concerns about additive effects of different chemicals, current patterns of usage are generating global waste management problems. Barnes et al. (2009) show that plastic wastes, including packaging, electrical equipment and plastics from end-of-life vehicles, are major components of both household and industrial wastes; our capacity for disposal of waste to landfill is finite and in some locations landfills are at, or are rapidly approaching, capacity (Defra et al. 2006). So from several perspectives it would seem that our current use and disposal of plastics is the cause for concern (Barnes et al. 2009; Hopewell et al. 2009).