CHEMICALS IN PLASTIC THAT LEADS TO CANCER

A chemical widely used in plastics and food-can lining - which has been linked to cancer and labelled a toxic substance in Canada - has now been linked to weight gain and diabetes.

Researchers showed that only small doses of the chemical can trigger a reaction in the body that scrambles hormone signals.

Hidden danger: The effects of bisphenol A (BPA), a common chemical in plastic bottles and food-can lining, have been revealed in a new study into obesity

A report published last week in PLoS ONE shows that the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) - used in everything from fertilisers to plastic water bottles - can 'fool' the body into creating more fat.

Furthermore, it can lead to the incdreased production of insulin, the body's way to regulate fat and carbohydrates. 

If there is too much insulin created, the body can become 'immune' to its effects - leading to weight gain and type 2 diabetes.

Health problems: Exposure to BPA can fool the body into producing fat or creating too much insulin, which can lead to type 2 diabetes

Angel Nadal, a BPA expert at the Miguel Hernendez University in Spain, said: 'When you eat something with BPA, it's like telling your organs that you are eating more than you are really eating.'

His latest research finds that BPA affects the pancreas, the organ that creates insulin. A small amount of the chemical can trigger the release of almost double the insulin actually needed to break down food. 

Dr Nadal's team found that a quarter of a billionth of a gram of BPA was enough to start this reaction.

THE POTENTIALLY DEADLY CHEMICAL IN COMMON USE

Bisphenol A (BPA) is an organic compound used in a wide variety of products, mostly plastics. 

It is controversial because many studies have shown that it has adverse health affects, while others say it is not a  concern.

The World Health Organisation has not limited or banned the use of the chemical in industry, but the EU and Canada has banned its use in baby bottles. In 2010 Canada became the first country to declare BPA a toxic substance.

Various studies have linked BPA to prostate and breast cancer, while another showed it can affect brain function in lab rats.

A 2009 study on Chinese workers in BPA factories found that they were four times more likely to report erectile dysfunction and reduced sexual desire than workers with no heightened BPA exposure.

Studies around the world estimate that 90 per cent of people in developed nations have BPA levels in their blood above the threshold in Dr Nadal's study. 

Staying away from plastic bottles or food cans will not be enough to escape BPA.

Dr Nadal says that it is used in everyday products such as cash register receipts and toilet paper.

The chemical industry points to BPA's clean bill of health, saying that it has been thoroughly tested and deemed safe for use.

But Dr Nadal disagrees, saying that it can be harmful - especially for pregnant woman and their unborn child.

He said: 'The foetus is not only exposed to BPA but also to higher levels of insulin from the mother, making the environment for the foetus even more disruptive.'

He points to other studies that suggest that increased chemicals in the womb can 'pre-programme' weight gain later in life.

PLASTICS LEADS TO CANCER

Plastics are all around us, but not all are created equal! Polycarbonate plastics, like some food, drink and bottle packaging and some epoxy resins, which coat metal food cans, contain the chemical Bisphenol A. BPA can leach into food and is believed to disrupt the endocrine system, leading to potential reproductive and developmental issues. In fact, in a study by the Center for Disease Control, they found 93% of their population tested had BPA in their bodies, with women and children having the highest levels. While further research is necessary, we can reduce our exposure to BPA NOW by limiting our use of plastics and metal food cans.

HARMFUL PLASTICS

• PETE or PET (polyethylene terephthalate)–used for most clear beverage bottles, such as 2-liter soda, cooking oil bottles and peanut butter jars. One of the most commonly recycled plastics on the planet.
• HDPE (high-density polyethylene)–used to make most milk jugs.
• LDPE (low-density polyethylene)–used in food storage bags, some cling wraps and some squeeze bottles.
• PP (polypropylene)–used in opaque, hard containers, including some baby bottles and some cups and bowls. Drinking straws and yogurt containers are sometimes made with this.

AVOID THESE

• PVC (polyvinyl chloride)–used in commercial plastic wraps and salad dressing bottles.
• PS (polystyrene)–used in Styrofoam cups, meat trays and “clam-shell”-type containers.
• Other (these contain any plastic other than those used in #1-6. Most are polycarbonate which contain BPA)–used in some water bottles, Nalgene water bottles, some baby bottles, and some metal can linings.

DO'S

• Replace plastic water bottles, cups, cutting boards and food containers with glass, bamboo, cloth, wooden, ceramic and stainless steel products
• Eat and cook with fresh foods rather than canned foods
• Especially limit your use of plastics if you are pregnant and/or have young children who are at a greater risk since they are still developing
• Find a food store where you can get your fresh produce and meat wrapped in paper, rather than plastic
• Use aluminum foil to wrap food rather than plastic cling wrap
• Bring your own bags whenever you shop, not just for the supermarket. By bringing your own bag, you alone can save between 400 and 600 plastic bags per year.

DON'T

• Use plastic containers or bottles with the recycling numbers 3 (Polyvinyl Chloride, PVC), 6 (Polystyrene, PS), and 7 (Other), which can be found on the bottom of the containers
• Microwave plastic containers
• Wash plastic containers in the dishwasher. If plastics are being used, wash by hand with warm water.
• Use harsh chemical detergents on plastic products
• Use plastics that are old, worn, and scratched 
• Forget children and adults can ingest small amounts of BPA when drinking/eating from cups or containers with the chemical

DETERIORATING CONDITIONS OF HIMALAYAS

Himalayas have been a part of india's rich culture.but today because of human beings the condition of them is deteriorating. The heap, which includes biodegradable plastic, can be found just four kilometers from Shimla in the reserved forest of Lalpani. And this is not an isolated pocket either. The amount of plastic and other bio-degradable waste in the Himalayas is growing at an alarming rate and wreaking havoc with this fragile ecosystem. Trekkers and tourists have become litterbugs, who don't think before tossing a juice can or wafer wrapper by the mountainside.

To save the fragile ecology of Himalayas, the Himachal Pradesh government on October 2, 2009, banned the use, storage, sale and distribution of all types of polythene bags. On October 2, 2011, the government imposed blanket ban on the use and storage of non biodegradable disposable plastic cups, plates and glasses and warned that violators would be fined up to Rs 5,000. Himachal Pradesh was the first to ban plastic and polythene bags. This photograph is, however, proof that the law is totally ineffective.

The disrespect for the Himalayas is capable of causing a time bomb of water. Biodegradable waste absorbs heat, which along with global warming, raises the overall temperature in the mountains, melting glaciers and creating glacial lakes thus posing the threat of glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) in the future. Continuous storage of huge quantities of water has turned these lakes on high mountains into "water bombs" for the population living downstream in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Nepal. The Himalayan range extends for approximately 2,400km within the 3,500km length of the Hindu Kush-Himalayan ranges, and has about 33,000sqkm of the estimated 110,000sqkm of glaciated area.

FATE OF SEAS AND OCEANS

Garbage dumped into the sea is no longer an environmentally or socially acceptable practice. Historically garbage was discharged into the sea, as the oceans were seen as vast domains where garbage disappeared because it either decayed or sank.Today marine debris in the oceans is one of the major threats to the marine environment, estimated to kill more than one million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals and turtles each year through ingestion and entanglement. Plastic bags can be mistaken for jelly fish, a source of food for turtles and whales, while other plastic material is eaten by fish, seabirds and other marine life, causing death. Both non-biodegradable plastic products and so called biodegradable products once disposed into the sea can persist for indefinite periods of time and potentially cause damage to vessels and harm to humans and marine life.

The beauty of our coastlines is devalued as garbage accumulates. Beaches, often in remote places, are polluted by garbage washed up from the sea. Much of this garbage comes from ships, yachts, trawlers and other marine craft. The fact is that garbage does not just magically appear – it is generally the result of people’s negligence. Garbage is also costly for recreational boaters, the fishing industry and other vessels as rope and plastic materials may become caught in propeller shafts or block water intakes causing major damage, expensive repairs and loss of income while vessels are repaired. All seafarers are encouraged to recover persistent garbage from the sea as opportunities arise and if safety practices allow. Such garbage should be disposed at shore facilities and the circumstances reported to the authorities. If you use the sea for recreational or commercial purposes it is in your interest to ensure that our seas stay clean and unpolluted.

our assembly

With the introduction of Narendra Modi's project of Swach Bharat everyone was even more enthusiastic to clean the country. After all, when the prime minister of a country picks the broom to clean India then who doesn't feel to do same. Our school also organised various competitions and many cleaning drives. They all were very fruitful and I hope that this continues until we fulfill Gandhi's dream of Clean India.
In our school a special assembly was conducted on the theme"cleanliness". The most interesting part of the assembly was when a boy named Sohard Sharma recited a self written inspirational poem as the theme"e-waste." The poem was of about 500 -1000 words and it was such an informative one. It included everything from what is e-waste to the measures to curb it. E-waste is abbreviated for Electronic waste. Well,  as the name suggests it includes all the damaged electronic devices that we throw in our bins when they are no more useful to us. Have you ever thought that these damaged parts of your computer or your old cell phone may be useful to someone else. So, please from now onward whenever you make a decision to throw your electronic devices think thrice before you do so. Ok, let me tell you guys a very interesting thing. These problems of e-waste are also related to the problems of use of plastic. Thinking how? Well, you need not scratch your head. I will provide you with the answer.Your most of the electronic devices have this component"plastic". Now, this plastic can be recycled if you do a bit of work of not throwing them in your bins or landfills. Instead, you should give them in the nearest recycling centre.

P2O Process Emissions

Airborne Emissions

In December 2011, CRA completed the stack tests analyzing the emissions from the P2O process. The profile of the emissions generated by the process during the second test is shown here:

The CRA results from the stack tests completed in both September 2010 and December 2011 reaffirm other findings that the operation of the P2O processor is a clean, "green" process. Moreover, the most recent stack test from December 2011 was performed on the existing commercial processor with a pre-melt system and produced results showing emissions decreased with increased plastic feed rates; further validating that the P2O process is highly green, clean and scalable.

The emissions documented by CRA from the P2O stack test were lower than what would be produced by the same test on a natural gas furnace of similar size. 

The process puts a high percentage of oxygen back into the air, with minimal harmful emissions, well within the regulatory criteria established by the NYSDEC. 

The company underwent a stack test in December of 2012 in conjunction with seeking permitting to run heat transfer fluids (HTF), which act as plastic densifiers and heat exchange agents, with plastic feedstock. The results of the December 2012 stack test further validated the process and confirmed that the P2O process emits approximately the same emissions of a natural gas furnace of the same size.

Other Material Residue

An average of 86% of the process output is usable fuel and another approx. 10-12% of the process output is off-gases.

    
The final approx. 2-4% is a plasticized carbon black residue, which is below TCLP standards for safe landfill disposal. Subsequent testing also indicates this residue has a heating value of 10,600 BTU/lb, making it appropriate for use by heavy industry, such as steel manufacturers for the purposes of fueling blast furnaces

PLASTIC 2 OIL

Niagara Falls, New York, June 13, 2013 - JBI, Inc. (the “Company” or “JBI”) (OTCQB: JBII), a clean energy company that recycles waste plastic into liquid fuels, is pleased to announce that it has finished assembly of its third Plastic2Oil (“P2O”®) processor at its Niagara Falls facility.

 The designs behind the third processor have undertaken significant upgrades since the previous generation processors, including the addition of a real-time residue removal process that the Company anticipates will increase processor uptime, as measured by the amount of time the processor is at full capacity producing fuel. All individual subsystems, including burners, kilns, towers, off gas, cooling and flue gas systems have been tested and are operational. Processor 3 is now undergoing initial plastic feeding, fuel production and process debugging, which will address any initial problems and any parts that may potentially fail under the full heat of the process and plastic loads. This testing is consistent with the Company’s standardized new processor start-up protocol.

 JBI President and Chief Executive Officer Tony Bogolin said, “We believe that this new processor will significantly improve our production and will be our flagship for use at future P2O sites. In addition, we anticipate that consistent production out of this processor will be a stabilizing force to help fuel the Company’s growth.”

source : http://www.plastic2oil.com/ 

Throwing Plastic in Seas

One of the most serious threats to our oceans is plastics pollution. Plastic constitutes approximately 90% of all trash floating on the ocean’s surface, with 46,000 pieces of plastic per square mile. Why is there so much plastic in the ocean? Unlike other types of trash, plastic does not biodegrade; instead, it photo-degrades with sunlight, breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces, but they never really disappear. These plastic pieces are eaten by marine life, wash up on beaches, or break down into microscopic plastic dust, attracting more debris.

Plastic is also swept away by ocean currents, landing in swirling vortexes called ocean gyres. The North Pacific Gyre off the coast of California is home to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the largest ocean garbage site in the world. The floating mass of plastic is twice the size of Texas, with plastic pieces outnumbering sea life by a measure of 6 to 1. These floating garbage sites are impossible to fully clean up.

Plastic poses a significant threat to the health of sea creatures, both big and small. Over 100,000 marine mammals and one million seabirds die each year from ingesting or becoming entangled in plastic.

It takes 500-1000 years for plastic to degrade. Even if we stopped using plastic
s today, they will remain with us for many generations, threatening both human and ocean health. Despite these alarming facts, there are actions we can take to address the problem of plastics.

BURNING PLASTICS

ILL EFFECTS OF BURNING PLASTICS

Being readily combustible, these plastics when burned under open and uncontrolled fire conditions at low  temperatures plastics generate black fumes of smoke and toxic volatilisation products, which become incorporated into the ambient environment, resulting in human and environmental exposure .

In addition, large amount of greenhouse gases such as methane and carbon oxides and particulate matter are emitted into the atmosphere. When garbage or refuse is burned under open-fire low temperature conditions, the waste plastics that they contain contribute to smoke generation and infuse toxic decomposition products of plastics into the smoke which can potentially cause significant health and environmental concerns.

The byproducts of plastic combustion are airborne particulate emission (soot) and solid residue ash
. Several studies have demonstrated that soot and solid residue ash possess a high potential of causing significant health and environmental concerns. The soot when generated is accompanied with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), semi-VOCs, smoke (particulate matter), particulate bound heavy metals has the ability to travel thousands of kilometers, depending on prevailing atmospheric conditions, before it can drop back on earth and enter into the food chain.

The toxicity of combustion products generated from burning of plastics has been evaluated by various researchers under experimental conditions. Significant amount of pollutants of environmental and health concern including carcinogens such as PAHs(  polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) , nitro-PAHs and dioxins have been identified in the airborne particulate emissions. Further, these particulates have been found to be highly mutagenic. PAHs in the range of 8-340 ppm have been observed in the soot which is significant enough to cause cancer.

 Researchers have also found high concentration of persistent free radicals (unstable and highly reactive molecules) both in the soot and the solid residual ash which are considered to be very important in the creation of adverse health effects especially to human lungs.

. DEHP is one of the compounds among the plasticizers used in plastic manufacturing  that has been described by USEPA as a probable human carcinogen, a potential endocrine disruptor and
is believed to be harmful by inhalation, generating possible health risks and irreversible effects. This compound is also released during the combustion of plastic.

With the above discussion, it is worth emphasizing that open uncontrolled burning is by no means an
environmentally sound option to dispose of waste plastics including waste agricultural plastics such as discarded grain storage bags.

NOW WHEN YOU SEE SOMEONE BURNING THE PLASTIC WASTE, STOP HIM/HER FROM DOING SO.

Fate of plastic

Our small step towards this

Our bit of step towards this......

Have you ever thought what do we do with the non-biodegradable materials and what we ought to? Let us try to understand What is Non-Biodegradable material? Anything that cannot be decomposed by micro-organisms is described as non- biodegradable. And what is the fate of this non-biodegradable waste? Its very hazardous and affects each and every life form possible on this planet Earth in an undesirable way.

 This justifies the reason for the recycling of plastic, a non-biodegradable waste which you, me and everyone in this world in one way or the other. Isn't it true that we want to get rid of each of everything that troubles us ranging from itching to mess in our room.So, why not plastic. We may not be able to realize the hazardous affects of plastic today but in coming years,  this will only become so dangerous to our lives that we won't be able to correct our this mistake. So, why not to avoid such a situation.Why not to do something until its too late.Now, let me tell me acquaint you with with a very good quality our teammates: they are very inquisitive. Once, while working with this project only our team member observed that the garbage picker who comes to the houses puts all the collected garbage with his "own hands" in a single big rag only and we people feel so shameful to throw such garbage with our hands in dustbin. Isn't. After all they are also human Beings and if they can do it why can't we. Let me tell you one thing: We say him "kudewala" but actually we are the ones who throw garbage and make our country dirty and make lose its beauty and they are the ones who clean our country. So, they are not "Kudewala" instead in a true sense we are the ones. They are the saviors of the elegance of our country. When asked what he does with all that garbage, he said that in a way it's his source of income. Quite surprising... Something which is of complete wastage and is worthless for us is a source of income for someone..Isn't it. 
We talked to the garbage picker who comes to our school regarding what he does and how he manages everything. We saw that he was mixing all the garbage, be it plastic or vegetable peel. But later on he told us that he will segregate the waste later on .

when he can do it then why can't we all??

 Segregating the waste then and there will be quite difficult task for him. This same task we carried with the garbage picker who comes to our homes. But the slight difference we found in two cases is that the one who comes to the home segregates the waste then and there.    

Our talk to the the garbage picker

As shown in the above picture he has two bags one for plastic and other for remaining waste.

He told that he actually segregates the various kind of waste and then he sells some of them and earns. So. a thought came to our mind that why not do this step of segregation at grass root level only??? Why not we ourselves segregate our own waste??? Don't you feel that its our duty to do it?? In our school, we actually have 2 kinds of dustbins: Biodegradable which is colored green and Non-Biodegradable which is colored blue. In spite of having 2 different containers we were not making proper usage of it. Its just like when you have a resource and you don't make proper use of it. We observed, to be very honest, that we were not utilizing them as per their usage. We extended our observations to other classes as well. We even tried to find out how these bins were used in our labs and other rooms of the school.

Instead of two dustbins, everything was dumped
in a single one. 

If it has to be done in this way only, then
what's the difference between the two???

Blue Dustbin for Non- Biodegradable waste

Green Dustbin for biodegradable waste

 And then our teacher, Manju ma'am opened our eyes. She discussed the problem in the class and discussed the utility of these containers.And what we noticed was that all students were aware about the proper usage of the two bins but still we were not following. Its like we have laws but we don't abide by them. So, its whose mistake??

In Chemistry Lab....

 What used to be in class 9-F....

Then, we talked to our supervisory head about the proper usage of the bins. We told about our initiative. Hearing all this, she was very happy and liked it. She even appreciated us for our work.  She decided to write a notice to make all the students aware of the proper usage of bins and motivated all to take their small steps to save our planet. After all, School is a place where we learn so many things and is the best place wherein we can take this initiative. 

Circular which was announced in different sections of IX and X standards.

Our talk with supervisory head

This is what we tried to ensure.

Green for Biodegradable!!!!

 Then, we realized the need of hour and started with the work.  We made sure that each and everyone in the class will stand through his responsibility. Navya, from our class took the initiative happily to ensure that we all do it. Because if we will do at grass root level only then, it will not only benefit the garbage picker but also we too. After all we all our citizens of the same country and we ought to do a bit of it because my friends, remember that every bit counts. We even made placards to spread awareness about the issue starting with our class only.

Then we extended this procedure to our homes wherein we started using two containers for waste. Let me tell you one of the secret of various foreign countries... These countries look so beautiful and i may say alluring because these are clean and  a major role is made by having different containers for different uses that help them to live in such a pleasing environment. If they can do it then why can't Indians, we,the citizens of the country. So, let us join our hands to achieve it.   

This is what we observed after few days....

Our observations in other classes as well.

proper usage of bins is helpful to all. So, let us do it.

Take initiative to make people aware of their duty...

Even the sweepers do in this way, then why can't we??

We have to take care about this in cleaning duty held in our school as well.

Another point we realized during this project was that Nowadays plastic has becoming so important that every other thing contains plastic. But this plastic is very harmful. So we need to get rid of it and at the same time it has become very important to use in our lives. So, what to do? Well, one thing we can do is to have a substitute for plastic and polythene bags. For the polythene bags we can use paper bags or jute bags. But for the plastic used in appliances, it is difficult to have a substitute for it or if we have it the it won't be efficient. Do we have any other solution to it? The answer is : YES. We can use biodegradable plastic. Isn' it? It won't harm our environment as well as have the efficiency to be used replacing non-biodegradable plastic.

    

PLASTIC IN LANDFILLS

DUMPING PLASTIC IN LANDFILLS 

Each year, 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. This averages to about 1 million bags per minute.

When consumers mindlessly accept plastic bags, use them for only a minute, then toss them away without a thought…this poses a tremendous environmental problem!

 Huge amount of plastic is being dumped into landfills. Plastic being non- biodegradable poses a huge threat to environment and animals.

 Landfill Waste - Indiscriminate dumping of plastic waste on land makes the land infertile due to its barrier properties where it may take up to 1,000 years to decompose, and potentially leak pollutants into the soil and water. Lead and Cadmium pigments, commonly used in LDPE, HDPE and PP as additives are toxic and are known to leach out. Garbage mixed with plastics interferes in waste processing facilities and also cause problems in landfill operations. 

 Clogged Waterways — Plastic bags clog drains and waterways, threatening urban environments and creating severe safety hazards. Drainage systems blocked by plastic bags have been identified as a major cause of flooding in countries like India and Bangladesh during monsoon season. Not only do floods destroy homes, derail trains, delay traffic, and cause mudslides, but they also create breeding grounds for water born diseases, malaria, and dengue fever.

Animal Death- More than 1 million birds and animals die each year from plastic entanglement. Large land animals like cows and camels also die from ingesting plastic bags. The bags coat their stomachs and they die of starvation because food can no longer be absorbed and digested.