Annotated Bibliography

Hemp can be cultivated for fiber or oilseed. It has many uses. It can be used to make thousands of products, from clothing to auto parts. From 1999 to 2013, 17 states legalized it in some way. Some states enacted

crop with a vivid history spanning centuries. However, the hemp plant has been faced with controversy in the last 70 years. The industry is experiencing restrictions that are thought to be imposed by the current social, economic and political atmosphere surrounding key stakeholders, rather than any technical inferiority. Education regarding this subject seems inadequate and appears restricted to those who actively research the topic themselves. As a fiber and oilseed crop, hemp offers agricultural potential as well as the ability to be manufactured into valuable end uses. Possibilities exist for expanded growth in hemp markets and a closer look should be taken to reexamine the current situation

hemp industry was valued at an estimated $500 million in annual retail sales and growing for all hemp products, according to the Hemp Industries Association, a non-profit trade organization consisting of hundreds of hemp businesses.Not only can hemp be used for a shocking number of products, its net environmental benefit is impressive. Among the more salient features, hemp grows in a variety of climates and soil types, is naturally resistant to most pests, and grows very tightly spaced allowing it to outcompete most weeds. A natural replacement for cotton and wood fiber, hemp can also be pulped using fewer chemicals than wood because of its low lignin content. Its natural brightness can obviate the need to use chlorine bleach. Why is this amazing plant illegal? Because it is erroneously confounded with marijuana, and many policymakers believe that by legalizing hemp they are legalizing marijuana, which is not true. Canada, Britain, France, Germany, and Spain, along with over twenty other countries, process industrial hemp without affecting the enforcement of marijuana laws. In fact, industrial hemp and marijuana are different breeds of Cannabis sativa; hemp has no value as a recreational drug. Actually smoking large amounts of hemp flowers can occur a significant headache, but not a high. Industrial hemp is grown in abundance in many parts of the world and produces the strongest natural fiber known to man. Hemp as a raw material is one of the most useful plants on our planet with thousands of applications including a viable plastic material! Hemp plastic is a bioplastic made using industrial hemp. There are many different types of hemp plastic; from standard plastics reinforced with hemp fibers, to a 100% hemp plastic made entirely from the hemp plant.

It can be made into fabric that is “10 times stronger than cotton” (Ayers). Additionally, “The high cellulose level of hemp is perfect for make ethanol fuel production.” (Ayers). But it does not stop at fabric and fuel. The outer coating of hemp can be made into animal bedding, mulch, cardboard, fiberboard, insulation, and various types of filters. The inner fibers can be made into rope, paper, carpet, and canvas. When ground up and mixed with a concentration of citric acids, it produces a material called hempcrete; a building material that unlike concrete, gets stronger and firmer with age. With the bounty of materials that hemp can create, it has the ability to save our environment. If legalized, hemp would replace the need for cotton farms, lower the amount of deforestation, and reduce the demand for

Hemp has many ways it can put oxygen back into the air. One of the best ways it can give us cleaner air, other than through the automotive industry, is by replacing wood made paper with paper made from hemp. According to George Antonio from Drexel University, “until the 1880’s between 75% and 90% of paper was made with hemp fiber.” Many major documents such as the first draft of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and even Benjamin Franklin’s newspapers were made from hemp paper. They utilized hemp for many reasons, and one of those was to save us from deforestation, which is becoming a big problem for endangered species and the state of our air. Hemp takes 90-120 days to mature while trees take 20-80 years. Since hemp was banned in 1937, 70% of America’s natural forests have been destroyed, and the demand for paper is only growing and is expected to double in the next 20-30 years.

With its beneficial assets of efficiency, durability and saving water, the pros to cons lean towards the side of hemp with the advantages outweighing cotton tenfull. Overall, with all of its economic, environmental and useful assets, it offers as a textile crop much deserving to be the fabric of our future. Evidently, I believe it’s time for hemp to reclaim its place on the

The definition of hemp is a plant that has low THC and perhaps has a higher level of CBD, and it is a non-psychoactive variety of the same species as recreational marijuana. Hemp breathes in four times the carbon dioxide of trees, and has amazing versatility and environmental benefits; it is hardy, pest and drought resistant, and grows over ten feet tall and even in elevations over eight-thousand feet. This plant produces four times the pulp per acre as compared to harvested trees, and only takes five months to grow. Hemp is high in antioxidants, fiber, calcium, and iron; it is good for skin, inflammation, weight loss, immune support, and cognitive brain function. Hemp seed is a complete plant protein with all twenty amino acids and a 3:1

The destruction of our forest can be put to an end if the expansion of industrial hemp is continued. Everyday R trees are cut down for use of housing materials, paper, and pencils. “production of industrial hemp has been proposed as a viable source of substitute raw materials for a wide range of industrial productions including paper and composite wood products"(Ehrensing).the fibers in industrial hemp show stronger qualities that we are pulling out of trees today. There is proof in this in our past. “Over centuries the fibers were used for making ropes, sails, cloth, and paper, while the scenes were used for protein rich food and feed"(Parade 13). Industrial hemp was one of our ancestor’s most useful crops, but even though they use it all the time it was soon outlawed.

Hemp is one of the most desirable, industrial plants on the planet. The plant is also one of the most versatile plants known to man, and can be used for the purposes of feed, clothing, paint, paper and plastic, but cultivation is still illegal. More importantly, hemp is one of the most eco-friendly and sustainable resource that can improve people’s lives with minimal environmental impact.

BPA is a known endocrine disruptive chemical (EDC) with adverse developmental effects. It is known that BPA exposure causes respiratory problems like asthma and wheeze children.

Bisphenol-A, commonly referred to as BPA, is a synthetic carbon compound present in consumer plastic products. These products include water bottles, food containers, canned foods coated with protective linings, and shopping receipts. According to the CDC, 93% of Americans have traces of BPA chemicals present in their urine samples. This has recently attracted attention in the media because BPA is linked with a plethora of potential health hazards; such as the development of cancer, diabetes, asthma, and disruptions in the endocrine system. Scientists currently focus on the estrogenic activity caused by levels of BPA chemicals found in consumer plastic products, and are concerned about the potential negative effects on human health. This concern is based studies which have shown disruptions in the reproductive and endocrine systems of laboratory rats (Vinas and Watson 2013).

Although the FDA states that the levels of BPA in foods and beverages is safe, studies and experiments show differently. Based off of hundreds of experiments and studies from all over, Bisphenol A can cause many health risks and problems to the human body. Some of the health risks include: structural damage to the brain, impaired learning, altered immune function, etc. BPA also affected infants and babies immensely; BPA is common in baby bottles, sippy cups, baby formula cans, and other products for babies and young children (WebMD). Many urine studies have found higher BPA concentrations in children than adults, as well. Not only can BPA affect the human body, but it can also affect plants and aquatic life. Plastic containing BPA that ends up in the ocean, can contaminate the environment. “BPA can undermine the reproduction and development of aquatic life, especially fishes. There is also compelling evidence that aquatic invertebrates, reptiles and amphibians are also affected” (Medical News Today).

Production and disposal of plastic can have significant environmental and economically impacts. During production, energy and resources are wasted and toxic chemicals are released into the air. Disposal of waste causes air, soil, and land pollution and harm to wildlife. The manufacturing process of plastic produces solid waste, air emissions and waterborne emissions. The raw materials used in creating plastic are derived from oil and natural gas. These are fossil fuels, which produce carbon emissions when used. For example, 430,000 gallons of oil is required to make 100 million plastic bags, and U.S alone makes 380 billion each year (Green & DeMeo, 2012, p.6). That means about 1.6 billion gallons of oil is wasted on

Products that show traces of the harmful chemical BPA (Bisphenol A) are often found in food and beverage can linings and receipts. The European Union has banned the use of BPA chemicals in infant products, such as plastic baby bottles and miniature cutlery, but is still found in food containers, especially cans. BPA is also present in water-supply pipes, dental sealants and incubators for premature infants.

Recent experimental animal studies report that BPA exposure affects oocyte quality, fertilization, and maturation (overview in Table 1), which is consistent with the previous findings (Peretz, et al., 2014). Low-dose BPA (50 μg/kg) was given orally to adult C57BL/6J mice and significantly decreased the percentage of fertilized oocytes without any ovulation changes (Moore-Ambriz et al., 2015). In the in vitro studies, it was reported that BPA treatment decreased meiosis progression and increased spindle abnormalities, including abnormal spindle morphology and chromosome alignment at doses of 15 and 30 ng/ml (Ferris et al., 2015). Further, bovine oocytes exposed to BPA showed significant increases in DNA