Plastic Overdose

Plastic Overdose

Plastic is everywhere. It is so widespread that it has been found deep in the ocean, in arctic ice, and even in people’s bloodstream. Peaking in usage after World War III it is already in to-go boxes, cups and utensils, childrens’ toys, clothes, virtually any packaging and the list goes on. Plastic is made from fossil fuels and contributes to global greenhouse gas emissions through every part of its life cycle. Although traditional plastic continues to be ubiquitous in the 21st century, its elimination is important for sustainable living. 

Most plastic is produced from fossil fuels, primarily crude oil and natural gas. The dangers associated with crude oil are widely known, such as oil spills, and destruction of land. And some might think natural gas is a better alternative, but fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is the most common method in which it is obtained. There is a lot of environmental disturbance and pollution, including earthquakes, groundwater and surface water contamination involved in the extraction and transportation process of fossil fuels and derivative products as well. It requires a lot of energy to drill that deep into the ground and not to mention the amount of water that is wasted being pumped into the ground. Ethylene is a gas that is released when either substance is processed (Frienkel). The process to obtain ethylene, from steam cracker plants, is extremely energy intensive, and produces the most greenhouse gas emissions out of the whole plastic life cycle (Laville). Shell and ExxonMobil are both trying to build themselves one new cracker plant each. It has been found that, “Annual emissions from just these two new facilities would be equal to adding almost 800,000 new cars to the road” (Hamilton). Not only are these steam cracker plants costly to the environment, they are also costly to human health since the carcinogen benzene, volatile organic compounds and other toxic chemicals are emitted in this process (Plastic).  It may be difficult for people working in this fossil fuel refining industry to see how it makes sense to bring an end to that field of work, but done with good organization and leadership the workers could be retrained without any cost to them, during which period the plastic tap would turn off. They could then work in a safer environment with solar, windmills or dams that do not expose workers to the same toxins fossil fuels do, and help build a better society for everyone else. If governments around the world, including the United States, prioritize this switch then the transfer over will feel easy and there will be one fewer massive contributor to climate change phased out for good. In the United States the oil sector is still heavily subsidized and renewable energy receives only a fraction of the oil sector’s sum. Removing oil subsidies and providing more subsidies for renewable energy would be a good first step in the right direction. 

Once plastic has been turned into a product and is brought into people's homes it continues to present a risk to human health. Because people are so surrounded by plastics and use them, wearing them down, people “produce” microplastics that usually get washed away into our water, polluting our drinking water and contaminating the marine creatures people eat because the creatures eat the plastics first which accumulate up the food chain. Microplastics are plastics that have been broken down to less than 5 mm in length. Nanoplastics are truly microscopic plastics which are the result of microplastics breaking down further. Sometimes humans might ingest plastics directly when babies nibble on plastic toys or, more commonly, polluted drinking water and foods like shellfish. Fine plastic particles can also enter the system through breathing.

 In fact, every day it is estimated that a person ingests the equivalent of one credit card worth of plastic per week, and in ten years this can add up to 2.5 kilograms (Al-Youm) . Having them enter our body in any way no matter how small exposes us to toxins that like to attach to little bits of plastic or toxins that leech directly from the plastics or microplastics themselves. Microplastics are not harmless to people because of their size “Exposure to [plastics’] toxic chemicals is linked to cancers, birth defects, impaired immunity, endocrine disruption and other ailments” (“For Health’s Sake…”).... Overall there have been very few studies done regarding the effects of plastic once ingested, but in mice plastic has been shown to accumulate in the liver, kidneys and intestines. The presence of plastics was even shown to increase the level something might be toxic to the brain (Robertson). BPA, bisphenol A, is also a known health risk. Now it is very popular to not use it, and in the United States is only officially illegal with the food packaging of baby products, but other bisphenols have replaced it. And studies have shown the effects of these new but similar bisphenols have effects similar to BPA in mice (Hunt).

Plastic is cheap and packages most of people's on-the-go wants and needs. Imagine someone going to Starbucks for their morning coffee and bagel with cream cheese. Their coffee, hot or cold will come in plastic. Obviously both have plastic lids, but yes the paper cup also has plastic lining the inside of it as well. The paper and the plastic are fused together making them very difficult, if not impossible, to separate, and certainly very costly. The other part of this, is the plastic that can more easily be recycled, most of the time is not, 91% of plastic in the world is not recycled (Dufour). These paper cups can only be sent to the landfill, a primary methane producer, or to be incinerated which emits a whole host of other toxins, and likely the plastic cups along with them. And often plastics do not even make it to, or stay in those waste management streams which is why so much of it is found in the ocean. The benefit to plastic and the reason it is used so much is because it is so cheap. This is because the price does not include the environmental cost. 

Once in the ocean, plastic continues to endanger life. In animals the risks of microplastics can already be seen. Consuming too much plastic can cause them to die of starvation (Hoare).  Or they may accumulate plastics in their system and then be eaten by a bigger fish or human (Rochman). Plastics also get into our water and the ocean via our laundry machines in which we wash our clothes that are made out of plastic like nylon and polyester. Not all plastic has become a microplastic before it gets to the ocean, much plastic in the ocean sits on the surface for everyone to see. There are several garbage patches that cover the oceans: The Great Pacific garbage patch, the South Pacific garbage, the Indian Ocean garbage patch, and the North Atlantic garbage patch. The size of just the Great Pacific garbage patch is already three times the size of France. Once plastic is in the ocean, all sizes of it are harmful to the ecosystem. The oceans are vast but they are not big enough to hold all of human’s plastic waste and still have marine life and people living with minimal ramifications. Too many animals are already being strangled to death and starved to death by plastic. Not to mention, humans who pump millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the air need the oceans to help offset these emissions because it is known how dangerous air pollution is, but plastic is interfering with the ocean’s ability to be a carbon sink by affecting the growth of and inhibiting photosynthesis of certain ocean bacteria (Hollenbeck).

The shift modern societies have made into convenience culture will make it difficult to completely do away with plastics. That is why plastic alternatives are being created that will allow people to retain their culture without contributing to the negative consequences the planet now faces. There are of course items that do not need to be packaged in any kind of plastic at all because glass or aluminum will do just fine or because people bring their own containers to stores, but still it is unlikely this malleable wonder will disappear. Convenience culture is unlikely to go away, so switching to sustainable plant-based plastic alternatives is the way to go. The most promising plant-based plastics would either be composable in a municipal facility or at home. In either case there would need to be implementation of compost bins, infrastructure, and education even though home compostable items do not need the extreme heat of municipal facilities and can degrade in the natural environment. There is also the possibility of making these planet-safe plastics from food waste and would therefore not interfere with how cropland is allocated. More research and lifecycle analysis of these new plastics still needs to be done (Hamilton), but the dangers of fossil-fuel-based plastics have been made abundantly clear. For the sake of health, traditional plastic production must end. 

Plastic as it is made is not a natural substance and it is irresponsible for people to believe they know how to live in its overbearing presence. People need the oceans and the land and the fruitful resources they contain to thrive. There is no world in which one species can suppress the whole ecosystem in which they live and still expect to survive. The Native Americans had a culture of nurturing their land and the land provided for them in turn. The interconnectedness of the world means an excess of waste will bring about a wasteland, and nurture and care will bring a nurturing land. How one touches the earth is how one leaves the earth, so be careful. 

Refer to: The Connection Between Fracking and Plastic from NowThis Earth for more info.

Works Cited

Hollenbeck, Amanda. "Plastic Pollution Effects Bacteria that Aids in Oxygen Production." Laboratory Equipment, 2019. ProQuest, http://ezproxy.canyons.edu:2048/login?url=https://ezproxy.canyons.edu:2457/docview/2227311459?accountid=38295.

Hamilton, Lisa Anne, et al. “Plastic & Climate The Hidden Costs Of A Plastic Planet.” Center of International Environmental Law, 2019, www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Plastic-and-Climate-FINAL-2019.pdf.

Dufour, Fred. “A Whopping 91% of Plastic Isn't Recycled.” National Geographic, 20 Dec. 2018, www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/07/plastic-produced-recycling-waste-ocean-trash-debris-environment/.

"For Health's Sake, Stop using Plastic." Business Mirror, May 02, 2019. ProQuest, http://ezproxy.canyons.edu:2048/login?url=https://ezproxy.canyons.edu:2457/docview/2218188775?accountid=38295.

Al-Youm, Al. "Researchers Say we could be Ingesting ‘credit Card’ Worth of Plastic Every Week." Egypt Independent, Jan 03, 2020. ProQuest, http://ezproxy.canyons.edu:2048/login?url=https://ezproxy.canyons.edu:2457/docview/2332011657?accountid=38295.

Laville, Sandra. “Single-Use Plastics a Serious Climate Change Hazard, Study Warns.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 15 May 2019, www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/15/single-use-plastics-a-serious-climate-change-hazard-study-warns.

Wei-Haas, Maya. “Why 'BPA Free' May Not Mean a Plastic Product Is Safe.” National Geographic, 13 Sept. 2018, www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2018/09/news-BPA-free-plastic-safety-chemicals-health/.

Robertson, Ruairi. “Are Microplastics in Food a Threat to Your Health?” Healthline, 9 May 2018, www.healthline.com/nutrition/microplastics#what-they-are.

Freinkel, Susan. Plastic: A Toxic Love Story. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011.

Patricia, Hunt, et al. “Replacement Bisphenols Adversely Affect Mouse Gametogensis with Consequences for Subsequent Generations.” Current Biology, 13 Sept. 2018, www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(18)30861-3?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982218308613%3Fshowall%3Dtrue.

Plastic Pollution Coalition. “Report: Plastic Threatens Human Health at a Global Scale.” Plastic Pollution Coalition, Plastic Pollution Coalition, 20 Feb. 2019, www.plasticpollutioncoalition.org/blog/2019/2/20/report-plastic-threatens-human-health-at-a-global-scale.

Hoare, P. (2014, Sep 25). A PLANET drowning in PLASTIC: A floating pacific 'garbage' patch the size of wales. seabirds and whales dying horrible deaths. how our addiction to plastic is turning the oceans toxic. Daily Mail Retrieved from http://ezproxy.canyons.edu:2048/login?url=https://ezproxy.canyons.edu:2457/docview/1564558211?accountid=38295

Rochman, C. M., Hoh, E., Kurobe, T., & Teh, S. J. (2013). Ingested plastic transfers hazardous chemicals to fish and induces hepatic stress. Scientific Reports (Nature Publisher Group), 3, 3263. doi:http://ezproxy.canyons.edu:2069/10.1038/srep03263