The topic may be simple and it must have given you a crux of what the article deals with. But let me tell you that this is a big issue. People tend to behave very insensitively to this problem.
When educated people
behave in this way or if educational institutions and governments are ignorant
about these issues, I wonder what the purpose of education is.
Well, I find that most students study only for marks, so
people don’t care about this. I saw this happening in front of my own eyes at
an educational institution. Some students played sports on the ground shortly
before staff members arrived, dumped plastic waste there, and burned them.
Many students inhaled the plastic air and some even started
coughing, but the staff seemed unmoved, emotionless, and insensitive to these
effects. They were told many times not to burn there yet they came and burned
the plastic.
Injurious Plastics
We all know plastics are bad for our health. Plastics are
almost everywhere. People are so fed up with plastic that they don’t know what
to do. Thus, they find burning plastics as the easiest way to get rid of them.
They don’t realize that the easy method is toxic and a gateway to death.
Plastic burning releases pollutants like microplastics, bisphenols, and
phthalates.
Microplastics
According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration and the European Chemicals Agency, ‘microplastics are fragments
of any type of plastic less than 5 mm in length’. Microplastics have been
detected in marine organisms, food, and drinking water. They are even found in
the air we breathe due to burning.
Bisphenol
Bisphenol is a chemical produced in large quantities for use
in making polycarbonate plastics. Plastics are made more durable and flexible
by using phthalates. They influence the endocrine system and several organs.
They can negatively impact pregnancy, child growth, and the reproductive
system.
Harmful Impacts
Apart from these several other chemicals are released too.
What we need to know is how dangerous these chemicals can be. The point to
remember is that more than the flames, the smoke is toxic. When I saw those
students inhaling the smoke, I could understand the discomfort they would feel
and decided to bring this fact to the public’s eye.
It is smoke that is highly poisonous. These agents have a
very strong global warming effect and can cause cancer as they are highly
carcinogenic. Aside from cancer, it can also cause asthma, heart disease,
respiratory system disease, fits, nausea, and headaches.
Polystyrene Plastic Polymers
Polystyrene plastic polymers when burned release styrene,
which is usually absorbed through the skin and lungs. Burning polystyrene releases,
a lot of black smoke. Poly Vinyl Chloride plastics when ignited can release
dioxins which are very harmful to humans. Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) when heated
first releases chlorine in the form of hydrogen chloride. The smell of hydrogen
chloride gas is a disaster for living creatures and the environment.
When we put a flame on PVC, it is not possible to completely
ignite the material at once. It takes time for the material to turn black.
Polyurethane plastics when burned can form deadly hydrogen cyanide gas.
Reports in Support
I don’t want to give you a big tension or a heart attack
when you read this article, but I just want to inform you that inhaling the
smoke of burned plastics is just as poisonous, deadly, and carcinogenic as
inhaling the smoke of a cigarette from a person smoking nearby.
According to the data on plastics in MSW by weight (in
thousands of U.S. tons), around 35,410 tons of plastics were produced in 2017
out of which 3,000 tons were recycled, 5,590 tons were combusted with energy
recovery and 26,820 tons were converted into landfills.
There were 35,680 tons of plastics generated in 2018, out of
which 3090 tons were recycled, 5,620 tons burned with energy recovery, and
26,970 tons disposed of in landfills.
Condition in India
In India on solid waste management, the report says that in
2019-20, India generated 3.5 million tonnes of plastic waste out of which 12%
was recycled and 20% was burned. The report is based on data collected by the
Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).
The remaining 68% remain in the environment (land &
water). Hazardous waste went up by 5% between 2019-20 and 2020-21, while e-waste
increased by 32% between 2018-19 and 2019-20.
Way Forward
I don’t want to bore you, readers, with a lot of
information, but I want to make you aware. I know that many of you must have or
haven't heard of this, but the point is have our habits changed after getting
this knowledge?
The easiest way to solve this problem is to say no to
plastics and use cloth bags instead. I hope we care less about ourselves and
more about our environment and future generations. Only then will we be able to
bring about a change in our society?
Written by Claton Suares Borges
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