Recycled plastics: dangerous for the environment and your health
Questions about the environment weigh heavily on people’s minds these days. Reports of new disasters flooding the airwaves. This year, the United States had been hit by a record 905 tornadoes as of May 11, 2008. Statistics reveal that the US averaged a total of 1,270 tornadoes per year for the past ten years.
The American honeybee is disappearing and is predicted to become extinct.
It is not just our external environment that worries us. Recently published findings on treated wastewater revealed contamination from antibiotics, birth control methods and chemicals used in the manufacture of plastics.
Meanwhile, health conditions we can’t explain, like ADHD, autism, and fibromyalgia, are on the rise. It’s natural to wonder if environmental factors are at play here.
A major soft drink manufacturer recently jumped on the “green bandwagon” by announcing its line of recycled plastic clothing under the rPET® label. Their merchandise includes T-shirts, bags, hats, wallets and notebooks made from used plastic bottles that would otherwise end up in landfills.
“It’s a great use of recycled materials,” a company spokesperson said.
The industry giant isn’t alone in its eco-friendly product offering. In 2007, 328 new green products were launched compared to just five in 2002.
How friendly to the environment are recycled plastics?
Timothy J. Krupnik, writing for the Berkeley Center for Ecology’s Recycling Department, explained that plastics are made from ethylene, which is a natural gas. Ethylene is released during the oil refining process. In this sense, plastics are derived directly from crude oil, which is a non-renewable resource. The gas is mixed with other additives, many of them toxic, to produce the product.
PET soda bottles, for example, use lead barriers in the bottle’s structure. Due to the many chemicals that are added to these products, plastic production is an extremely toxic process. Compared to glass, the production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) releases 100 times more toxic chemicals into the atmosphere.
Plastic recycling requires significant amounts of energy, compared to glass. Glass can be reprocessed “as is” repeatedly from its original form. The same is not the case with PET, due to the numerous compounds that make it up.
If the soda giant really wanted to go “green,” going back to glass containers would be a better option.
By now, we’ve all heard of the dangers of heating plastics. The dioxin leech has been a common topic on talk shows for several years.
But consider plasticizers, a group of chemicals used to soften plastic, shape it, and make it less rigid. Plasticizers contain phthalates, a toxic chemical and known endocrine disruptor. Your endocrine system helps regulate your nervous, reproductive, and immune systems.
Phthalates (collectively monoethyl phthalate, monobutyl phthalate, monobenzyl phthalate, diethyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalate, and benzyl butyl phthalate) can be ingested into the body when using plastic products such as drinking or food storage containers. food.
Carbonated beverages, fatty foods, and products heated in plastic cause these chemicals to leach from the packaging into the food or beverage itself. When these chemicals migrate to the endocrine system, they mimic the body’s natural hormones. This confuses the endocrine system and leads to serious health disorders.
The University of North Carolina, Asheville studied the ingestion of phthalates in Play-Doh in 2004. The study found that phthalates enter the body both through heating (gases) and through residues on the skin, which should leave you wondering. whether recycled clothing made of plastic is safe. That same year, the European Union banned the use of plastic softeners in all toys and products intended for children under three years of age.
Until now, studies on the absorption of these chemicals in the human body have focused on inhalation and consumption. We don’t know if body heat, for example, is enough to release harmful chemicals or if phthalates can be absorbed through the skin. We know that the water temperature in a shower is enough to release toxins into vinyl shower curtains.
Consider what you don’t know before deciding to use a product.
The Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit organization operating in San Francisco, advises consumers:
o Use personal care products, detergents, cleaners, and other products that do not have “fragrance” in the ingredient list; “fragrance” commonly includes the phthalate DEP.
o Avoid cooking or microwaving on plastic.
o Use a non-vinyl shower curtain.
o Use paints and other hobby products in well-ventilated areas.
o Give children wooden and other phthalate-free toys, and don’t allow children to chew on soft plastic toys.
o Healthcare workers and patients can urge their medical facilities to reduce or eliminate the use of products that contain phthalates.
o Avoid products made of flexible PVC or vinyl plastic. Some examples of these products include PVC patio furniture, vinyl raincoats, flexible PVC building materials, vinyl shower curtains, and children’s or pet toys made from PVC.
