THE HAZARDS OF WORLDWIDE MICROPLASTIC PARTICLES AND FIBERS Microplastics are tiny breakdown remains of human manufactured plastic products such as nylon and polyethylene. They are 5 millimeters or less in size. A penny is about 1.5 millimeters in thickness. |
Just because you can't see
something does not validate the opinion that it is not a problem.
Microplastic fibers, fragments
and debris... what are they and why do
we need to know about these worldwide micro pollutants?
we need to know about these worldwide micro pollutants?
Worldwide plastic production creates over 350 metric tons of added stress on the environment annually; and only a small percentage of the plastic is recycled. The multiple diverse products that utilize
plastics
in manufacturing has
resulted in a problem not suspected to arise even just a few years ago. Today, environmentalists are making us aware that the discarded, unused or broken plastic breakdown products are rapidly accumulating in overburdened landfills, dumps, and huge mounds on uncontained bare land deposits... and uncountable tons end up in fresh water, oceans at every depth, and even in rainwater.
And, yes!! They are found in humans worldwide!
BACKGROUND:
Discarded used plastic waste is very slowly degraded by natural exposure to sunlight, temperature changes, friction from other materials, water and burning. The atomic bonds within the chains of linked molecules of large pieces of plastics slowly break, gradually evolving into smaller and smaller remnants of the original mass of plastic. The amazingly diverse creative uses for plastics is just as dramatically matched by the dynamics of the smallest end products of the material. Very tiny end products of plastic disintegration reach an end point ...and get no smaller. Microplastic particles and fibers escape the physical impacts that break apart large plastic materials and thereby persist and accumulate in Earth's environment.
FROM: OURWORLDDATA.org In the marine environment: In 2018, the production of plastics totaled around 359 million metric tons worldwide. It is estimated that plastic lines, ropes and fishing nets comprise 52 percent of the plastic mass in the ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’ (GPGP) Most river plastic originates from Asia, which represents 86 percent of the global total. This is followed by Africa at 7.8 percent, and South America at 4.8 percent.
It’s
estimated that there are
more than 5 trillion plastic particles in the world’s surface waters.
DEGRADATION OF PLASTICS IN THE ENVIRONMENT:
Microplastic objects are any plastic particle 5 millimeters in diameter or less, which is about the size of a poppy seed. The discarded plastics on land surfaces such as dumps, landfills, along roadways, and in the woods eventually end up "over there". Temperature, sunlight, microorganisms, dissolved chemicals, and abrasion break down the plastic
waste into ever smaller fragments and fibers.
Unfortunately microplastics in waterways attract toxins to their
surfaces and so carry the toxins along with the plastic to the water's
bottom and are often mistakenly consumed by minute developing larvae of insects
and fish!Recognition that polymeric (repeating natural or manmade chemical structures linked together forming clumps or strands) macromolecules make up many important natural substances such as DNA, proteins, cellulose, and glycogen. Man made (synthetic) plastic polymers such as have been created in amounts weighing many billions of tons and having a variety of properties. Commercial products include thousands of familiar synthetic polymers.
Just a few man made materials derived from petroleum oil are teflon, nylon, polyester, polyethylene, epoxy and numerous configurations of fibers, flexible films, adhesives, resistant paints and tough, hard products... all of which have contributed to the transformation of our society. Oh, yes, almost forgot! They have, incidentally, transformed our 4.5 billion year old planet.
TRY
THIS AT HOME:
Pay special
attention to the disposable
plastic materials you go through
in a week. You will be surprised at the amount of waste generated
from grocery bags, hard vacuum wrapped utensils that require a
jackhammer to open, and trash can liners and food storage bags.
We've all been frustrated
in attempting to pry, cut, twist, chisel, and/or bite open a hard
plastic package enclosing a tool or kitchen utensil. Hard plastic
materials degrade more slowly than plastic
films . Films most
commonly used are drop cloths used as barriers in construction, garbage
bags, cling-type food wrappers, and bubble wrap. At the end of your week of plastic waste documentation, and realizing that in the USA alone 128 million other households are doing just what you do with plastic waste, is there any wonder there is a planetary health hazard growing while we all look the other way? See EarthIsSick.com for a shocking presentation about our planet's current health status.
Plastics
have innumerable important roles to play in current industrial,
medical, recreational, storage and distribution activities.
Unfortunately for the planet's health, the existential harm recently
being discovered proves plastic materials have diverse and hazardous
personalities.
Well documented presence of plastic pieces and fibers less than 5 millimeters in size are showing up in the atmosphere, mountaintop snows, deep oceanic fish tissue, human breast milk, in rain water and certainly in the water we drink. It is not a euphemism to say microplastics are everywhere! And they aren't going anywhere... ever! They are compounding the impact many man made chemicals are having. Other co-equal pollutants are herbicides, insecticides, hormone mimicking chemicals, and industrial products such as PFAS and PFOS. All these agents accumulate and do not degrade into harmlessness. They are being called "forever chemicals." |
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| Atomic structure of polyethylene | |
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EXAMPLES
OF PLASTIC BASED PRODUCTS:Plastics are constructed of polymers...repeating moleules stacked tightly together and bound by atomic electrostatic charge onto other identical molecules. There are many different materials made of plastic polymers being utilized for diverse applications. Just a few are listed below:
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The eight most common types of synthetic organic polymers, which are commonly found in households are:
Low-density polyethylene: (LDPE) White milk bottles all sizes, bleach type bottles, washing machine liquids and some bottle caps.
High-densitypolyethylene: HDPE products are commonly recycled. Items made from this plastic and include containers for milk, motor oil, shampoos and conditioners, soap bottles, detergents, and bleaches
Lo2-density Polypropylene: (PP) Plastic bags, plastic wrapping, cling film.
Polypropyline: Butter and margarine tubs, clear fresh soup containers, some bottle caps, glass
Polyvinyl chloride: (PVC) Clear bottles (look for a line on the bottom of the bottle), food trays, toys, piping, wire insulation caps
Polystyrene: (PS) Yogurt pots, insulated disposable cups, some trays, parcel packaging.
Nylon: Multiple products such as combs for your hair, hinges, bags, bearings, clothes, fishing tackle, toys, car parts and gear wheels.
Teflon: (Polytetrafluoroethylene) PTFE industrial coating, fabric and carpet coatings, cooking surfaces coated with PTFE prevents food from sticking to the pots and pans, nail polish.
Thermoplastic polyurethanes: (TPU) Very resistant to heat, instrument panels, caster wheels, power tools, sporting goods, medical devices, drive belts, footwear, inflatable rafts, and a variety of extruded film, sheet and profile applications.
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What can we do about
plastic waste defiling the planet's land, air and oceans?
Learn
more at these links below:
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HOME PHASE CHANGES
HOME PHASE CHANGES
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Website: T J Dunn, DVM
tjdunn2@gmail.com
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