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Plastics are polymers, simple molecular combinations of carbon and hydrogen atoms linked together in chains. Some are produced naturally like spider silk and cotton. By adding chemicals such as chlorine to the mix, synthetic polymers are created with many useful functions.
Products include PVC pipe (polyvinyl chloride), acrylics, textiles, Plexiglas, polyethylene bottles, polypropylene containers and foam rubber. With the addition of plasticizers, opacifers, colors, fillers, strengtheners and light stabilizers, more than 1 billion tons of plastics has been produced since World War II. So far, none have disappeared.
Where ocean currents meet, vast areas of plastics are massing on the surface and in the deep waters below. Oceanographers are calling one of these areas in the Pacific between Hawaii and California the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” It is one of seven major trash zones found in the oceans across the planet. Estimates of total garbage found in these areas range from 3 million tons to 16 million tons. Cups, bottles, fish netting, packaging, old balloons, plastic sandwich wrap and plastic bags are blown in or washed in through rivers and storm drains from across the planet, all of it in the last 50 years.
In 2008 alone, world production included 780,000 tons of plastic cups and plates, 3,960,000 tons of plastic bags, sacks and wraps, 2,680,000 tons of polyester PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) bottles, 750,000 tons of white translucent homopolymer or High Density Polyethylenem (HDPE) bottles, 3,720,000 tons of other plastic packaging and 4,810,000 tons of other nondurable goods such as footwear and clothing. Overall, 90 percent of these items were simply discarded, less than 10 percent recycled.
The massive introduction of discarded plastics into the environment represents a new source of chemical contamination. Objects used only in the moment actually last forever presenting a cost to the environment and to human health. Forty-four percent of all seabirds eat plastics and 26 percent of all marine life is affected. In addition to the most obvious examples like six-pack rings choking sea otters and pocket combs lodging in the guts of sea turtles, sea and air creatures die as their intestines become blocked with debris.
While plastic floats, the smaller bits and tiniest particles sink. There is very little degradation even as wave's break down plastic into smaller pieces. Packaging that traps air stays on the surface and is blown by the winds, while smaller fragments are moved by currents. As they are worn down, plastics leach chemicals and toxic-laden particles that are ingested by fish and seabirds. These pollutants are found on the surface and below. When large pieces break down to smaller particles flecked with acrylic, polyester and synthetic polymers, smaller organisms then consume them. With particles as small as powder, even zooplankton can swallow them.
Plastic components also act as a sponge to collect chemicals found on the ocean surface. One of the main culprits in this process is plastic resin pellets used in the plastics manufacturing process called “nurdles.” These multi-colored plastic components are fed into plastic injection molding machines and melted down to produce plastics of all kinds. Two-hundred and fifty billion of them are made each year and they are showing up in great numbers in the oceans. It turns out that “nurdles” act as a magnet for chemicals like DDT and PCB's (aggressively toxic polychlorinated biphenyls) used to make plastics more pliable.
Now banned, they act as time capsules leaking toxins into the oceans. In addition, free floating toxins released by copy paper, automobile grease, coolant and fluids, fluorescent tubes along with direct factory discharges into streams and rivers all stick to the surface of visibly floating material. Plastics attract and accumulate toxins in great concentrations, up to one million times more than surrounding seawater.
The oceans are also turning up components of beauty aids, shower creams, body scrubs and hand cleaners. These products are loaded with exfoliates, little plastic granules, micro-fine polyethylene beads that do not break down are also swallowed by little sea creatures. Cleaners used to remove paint from boats and aircraft also contain similar chemicals and are ending up in the ocean environment. As toxins concentrate at the top of the food chain, we are consuming these chemicals through our seafood.
One of the world's leading environmental research scientists, Dr. Anthony Andrady from the North Carolina Research Triangle emphasizes that these plastics will take tens of thousands of years to degrade. “Except for a small amount that's been incinerated, every bit of plastic manufactured in the world for the last 50 years or so still remains. It's somewhere in the environment.”
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Jeff Evans is a sales consultant for Simplicity Solar in Grand Junction. He writes on renewable energy and sustainable living issues and can be reached at jeff.ecolife@gmail.com.
Products include PVC pipe (polyvinyl chloride), acrylics, textiles, Plexiglas, polyethylene bottles, polypropylene containers and foam rubber. With the addition of plasticizers, opacifers, colors, fillers, strengtheners and light stabilizers, more than 1 billion tons of plastics has been produced since World War II. So far, none have disappeared.
Where ocean currents meet, vast areas of plastics are massing on the surface and in the deep waters below. Oceanographers are calling one of these areas in the Pacific between Hawaii and California the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” It is one of seven major trash zones found in the oceans across the planet. Estimates of total garbage found in these areas range from 3 million tons to 16 million tons. Cups, bottles, fish netting, packaging, old balloons, plastic sandwich wrap and plastic bags are blown in or washed in through rivers and storm drains from across the planet, all of it in the last 50 years.
In 2008 alone, world production included 780,000 tons of plastic cups and plates, 3,960,000 tons of plastic bags, sacks and wraps, 2,680,000 tons of polyester PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) bottles, 750,000 tons of white translucent homopolymer or High Density Polyethylenem (HDPE) bottles, 3,720,000 tons of other plastic packaging and 4,810,000 tons of other nondurable goods such as footwear and clothing. Overall, 90 percent of these items were simply discarded, less than 10 percent recycled.
The massive introduction of discarded plastics into the environment represents a new source of chemical contamination. Objects used only in the moment actually last forever presenting a cost to the environment and to human health. Forty-four percent of all seabirds eat plastics and 26 percent of all marine life is affected. In addition to the most obvious examples like six-pack rings choking sea otters and pocket combs lodging in the guts of sea turtles, sea and air creatures die as their intestines become blocked with debris.
While plastic floats, the smaller bits and tiniest particles sink. There is very little degradation even as wave's break down plastic into smaller pieces. Packaging that traps air stays on the surface and is blown by the winds, while smaller fragments are moved by currents. As they are worn down, plastics leach chemicals and toxic-laden particles that are ingested by fish and seabirds. These pollutants are found on the surface and below. When large pieces break down to smaller particles flecked with acrylic, polyester and synthetic polymers, smaller organisms then consume them. With particles as small as powder, even zooplankton can swallow them.
Plastic components also act as a sponge to collect chemicals found on the ocean surface. One of the main culprits in this process is plastic resin pellets used in the plastics manufacturing process called “nurdles.” These multi-colored plastic components are fed into plastic injection molding machines and melted down to produce plastics of all kinds. Two-hundred and fifty billion of them are made each year and they are showing up in great numbers in the oceans. It turns out that “nurdles” act as a magnet for chemicals like DDT and PCB's (aggressively toxic polychlorinated biphenyls) used to make plastics more pliable.
Now banned, they act as time capsules leaking toxins into the oceans. In addition, free floating toxins released by copy paper, automobile grease, coolant and fluids, fluorescent tubes along with direct factory discharges into streams and rivers all stick to the surface of visibly floating material. Plastics attract and accumulate toxins in great concentrations, up to one million times more than surrounding seawater.
The oceans are also turning up components of beauty aids, shower creams, body scrubs and hand cleaners. These products are loaded with exfoliates, little plastic granules, micro-fine polyethylene beads that do not break down are also swallowed by little sea creatures. Cleaners used to remove paint from boats and aircraft also contain similar chemicals and are ending up in the ocean environment. As toxins concentrate at the top of the food chain, we are consuming these chemicals through our seafood.
One of the world's leading environmental research scientists, Dr. Anthony Andrady from the North Carolina Research Triangle emphasizes that these plastics will take tens of thousands of years to degrade. “Except for a small amount that's been incinerated, every bit of plastic manufactured in the world for the last 50 years or so still remains. It's somewhere in the environment.”
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Jeff Evans is a sales consultant for Simplicity Solar in Grand Junction. He writes on renewable energy and sustainable living issues and can be reached at jeff.ecolife@gmail.com.
