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Columnist has a minion!

Layton the Twiddle




Columnist
Legacy Name: Columnist


The Field Ontra
Owner: nervous

Age: 6 years, 6 months, 4 days

Born: September 24th, 2017

Adopted: 2 years, 11 months, 3 weeks ago

Adopted: April 3rd, 2021

Statistics


  • Level: 1
     
  • Strength: 10
     
  • Defense: 10
     
  • Speed: 10
     
  • Health: 10
     
  • HP: 10/10
     
  • Intelligence: 112
     
  • Books Read: 112
  • Food Eaten: 0
  • Job: Unemployed



We are surrounded by plastics everywhere we go. They are in our stores, our schools, our households, and even, in our bodies. They are in our oceans, lakes, rivers, and soil. How? There are several things to consider here. Let's start with the basics, and go from there...



Plastic Paradise

Plastics are synthetic materials made predominately of polymers, or chains carbon atoms that may or may not have attachments of sulfur, nitrogen, or oxygen, created from monomers.



Plastics may include words you've heard like acrylics, polyesters, silicones, and polyurethanes. Plastics are hallmarked by their resistance to organic solvents.

Plastics are produced from petrochemicals, or fossil-fuel based materials like petroleum or gas. Most plastics fall under this category.

Because the chemical structure of plastics make them resistant to organic processes, they are nonbiodegradable, meaning they cannot be broken down by the natural degradation process.

By one estimate by author and journalist Alan Weisman, 1,000,000,000 tons of plastic has been discarded since the major plastics production in the 1950s and 1960s, including micro and macro plastics.



Manufacturing



Plastics starts with raw materials like oil or gas to make ethane and propane. Then, the ethane and propane are treated with high heat. In the business, this is known as cracking. Cracking is how monomers form such as ethylene and propylene. They are combined with a catalyst and fed to an extruder which is then melted and sank into a pipe-like structure. From there, the plastic cools, and is cut into small pieces that are shipped to factories such as food packing plants, water bottle plants, and vehicle production plants.

In this process, plastic manufacturing creates byproducts, or unintended chemical products. Most toxic byproducts are released into the air. Such byproducts include trichloroethane, acetone, styrene, benzene, and methyl ethyl ketone. Other emissions include sulfur and nitrous oxides, ethylene oxide, and methanol.

An invisible yet serious threat of pollution is the byproduct of plastic resin. As ethylene is polymerized, the mixture is scrubbed with caustic solutions that became high-level and volatile pollutants.

For example, manufacturing PET resin creates toxic emissions like nickel, benzene, and ethylbenzene.



Ocean Pollution



Around 300,000,000 tons of plastics are produced every year. 8,000,000 tons of plastic end up in the ocean a year, and this plastic makes up 80% of marine debris altogether, from surface debris to deep sea debris.

Marine species will ingest or become entangled in plastic which causes mass injury and death to coral reef, fish, turtles, whales, and seabirds.



The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a gyre of plastic debris including both micro and macro plastics in the north-central Pacific Ocean. Here is the largest accumulation of plastic pollution in the world.

In this island of trash, hundreds of thousands of seabirds ingest plastic that has high toxicity levels, causing infertility and death in the species. Fish in the Pacific ocean ingest 12,000 to 24,000 tons of plastic every year. This plastic is then transferred to other animals like other fish, whales, and birds.

Many marine animals mistake plastic for food and consume highly toxic plastic that affects their bodies and their lifespans. In addition to that, many animals find themselves entangled in plastic, unable to move. These include sealions, turtles, monk seals, and whales. Many of these species that inhabit the Great Pacific Garbage Patch such as the Hawaiian Monk Seal, and the Steller Sea Lion are now critically endangered species.



Health Risks



The effect of plastic pollution on human health is for lack of better word, pretty outstanding. In multistage manufacturing of plastics, each stage brings a new risk to human health. For instance:

Extraction and transportation of plastics releases toxic substances into the water and the air that have known impacts such as cancer, and neurotoxicity.

Refining and Production of plastic resins and additives releases carcinogenic substances in the air that can affect the nervous, reproductive, and developmental centers of the human body and brain.

Plastic Waste Management releases heavy metals like lead and mercury into particulate matter which can be breathed in and bond with water and soil.

It has been found that 78% of priority pollutants listed by the Environmental Protection Agency and 61% listed by the EU are associated with plastic litter from manufacturing. This being said, harmful chemicals with plastics are divided into categories: Ingredients of plastic material, byproducts of manufacturing, and chemicals absorbed from the environment. So the possible responses in toxicology caused by plastic can be a combination of all three.

Carcinogens detected by biomonitoring studies include industrial chemicals, commercial plastics, and byproducts of heating, or, as mentioned before, cracking. Measures of carcinogenic agents in the human body have skyrocketed since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.



What Can I Do?

There are many ways people individually can reduce plastic pollution, and in turn, reduce the need for massive plastic manufacturing around the world.
Things include:

Support Plastics Bans: Many countries around the world are already banning the use of single use plastic bags, takeout containers, and cups. You can support local and national bans on plastic products.

Reduce the Use of Single Use Plastics: The best way to reduce plastic pollution is to reduce the usage of single-use plastic products. This includes water bottles, plastic bags, cups, straws, and single-use utensils. There are many alternatives to using single-use plastic products. Examples include using a reusable grocery bag, reusable water bottles, and reusable coffee cups. In a business setting, politely refuse the plastic product and offer them an alternative.

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle: Reduce and reuse foremost. Try reusable items that don't have to be thrown away after only one use. Reuse or donate clothing items, repurpose materials you would otherwise throw away, and consider investing in reusable straws, utensils, plates, and bags. Only 9% of plastic is actually recycled worldwide. Recycling reduces the mass of plastic that ends up in our oceans, but it is not a perfect method. Reducing and reusing are the most important steps in the triple-R process.

Spread the word! There are many organizations that are non-profit working to eliminate or reduce plastic consumption. Spread the word with friends and family about the problem of plastic pollution in the world. Encourage friends and family to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.



RESEARCH
James, W., Jia, C., & Kedia, S. (2012). Uneven magnitude of disparities in cancer risks from air toxics. International journal of environmental research and public health, 9(12), 4365–4385. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph9124365
Lebreton, L., Slat, B., Ferrari, F., Sainte-Rose, B., Aitken, J., Marthouse, R., Hajbane, S., Cunsolo, S., Schwarz, A., Levivier, A., Noble, K., Debeljak, P., Maral, H., Schoeneich-Argent, R., Brambini, R., & Reisser, J. (2018). Evidence that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is rapidly accumulating plastic. Scientific reports, 8(1), 4666. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-22939-w

MISC LINKS
Running List of Plastic Pollution Solutions
Ecology Center, Cancer Alley, International Union for Conservation of Nature, Center for Biological Diversity, This Is Plastics, and OHVEC.

IMAGES
National Geographic, LA Times, OHVEC, EWG, and Plastic Paradise.

CREDITS
profile template (c) helix (get it)
background from patternvomit research and notes by nervous

Author's Note

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