Environmental Effects Of Plastics Essay

Currently, 300 million tons of plastic are manufactured to supply the world demand and between 5 and 13 million tons are found in the ocean (Katsnelson, 2015). Based on current trends, by 2050, 2,000 million tons of plastic will be manufactured to supply the worlds demand for plastic, meaning more pollution in the oceans (Vaughan, 2016, May 23). As Richard Thompson has stated, “While some of the plastic floats at the surface, the heavier pieces sink to the ocean floor making it hard to clean up the waste” (Katsnelson, 2015). Some of the waste comes from fishing materials or cargo ships. For example, fishing nets, buoys and other debris that is left behind from fishermen lead to the

Since the 1960s plastics are made using bisphenol A, an industrial chemical which until recently did not raise any concern. Research shows that BPA; being used to make plastic and resins, coating the inside of metal products, raised major health concerns (FactsAboutBPA.org. 2015) .Exposure to BPA is a concern because of the possible effects it has on the adult brain and the behaviour of infants.

According to an article on Huffington Post, The total amount of plastic pollution in the world's ocean is about 130 million metric tons. It is thought that each year the oceans are gaining 5 to 13 million tons of plastic pollution. If this estimation rings true within 10 years there will be 250 million tons. That would be the equivalent to there being 1 pound of plastic to every 3 pounds of fish, according to the Ocean Conservancy. However it is thought to be good news that The science paper found that there are just five countries that are responsible for over half of the plastic pollution. These countries include China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka.

BPA can be found in plastics assigned with the recycle number of 7 and the lining of canned goods. Products of this designation number usually appear as clear and hard plastics, which represent most of our stuff in the kitchen—bottles, containers, disposable utensils, etc. Besides bisphenol A, there are other types of phthalates, chemicals used as softening agents for manufacturing soft plastics that are identified as endocrine disrupters. Endocrine disrupters have been studied for decades in order to find links between the chemicals and negative health effects. Though not all materials contain either BPA or phthalates, some types of plastics are still as dangerous as those made with the chemical.

A research program called plastic oceans, states “ We use over 3oo million tons of NEW plastic every year. Half of this we use just ONCE and usually for LESS than 12 minutes. 8 million tons of plastic waste end up in the ocean every year. A large amount of this “thrown away” plastic carries toxic chemicals such as BPA, phthalates, pesticides and PCBs. Which is dangerous to living things.

Within our oceans, there is a system of the ocean currents rotating clockwise around the world called gyres. Within these gyres across the globe, contains the everyday plastic item. An everyday plastic item can be a toothbrush, a plastic water bottle, a plastic coffee mug, or a plastic laundry detergent container. The Earth’s five oceans no longer only have water and sea life situated within the ocean but, plastic as well. Out of all five gyres, the one closest to the United States is the largest. About eighty percent of debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch comes from land-based activities from North America. The majority of plastics within the ocean will never deteriorate, they will only break down to smaller and smaller pieces (Great Pacific Garbage

The overuse of plastics in today's society has become major environmental issue for our oceans. Plastic pollution is the dumping, littering, or disposing of any type of man-made plastic that has been produced and has ended up in our ocean and has not been recycled.

With the combination of polymers that don’t biodegrade and mass overproduction, companies are harming the environment in severe ways. Plastic, a material seen everywhere, is a polymer made from oil. It is mass produced to make everything from shampoo bottles to automobiles and does not biodegrade. When it is eventually thrown out, the waste usually finds it way into the ocean, where it is either buried under sediment or eaten by marine life (Weisman 287-295). Creating a material that will ultimately kill marine life will undoubtedly wreak havoc on the

Plastic never, ever, ever, ever, ever goes away. It will continue to break down, but it will never fully decompose. What does this mean for our ocean? It means that more and more plastic is getting into our waterways and ocean-life is consuming the plastic, thinking it is food. Unfortunately, they are being poisoned by our trash. They are also consuming it, and think about this, then we eat that fish, which means we are consuming the plastic - YUCK!

Where does all the plastic go. Every bit of plastic that has been created is still here. This is because plastic is one-hundred percent non-biodegradable! Even the most degraded plastic down to polymers cannot be digested by bacteria (Laist, 1997). If global issues like starvation and climate change are not enough to stress on, the weight of an issue literally churning in the Pacific Ocean is startling. For decades the majority of the world’s population has not been properly educated on the nature of plastic and the potential harm it can do to our environment and our physical health. Due to factors of man and the natural effects of nature, a major problem has developed that is now harming our food.

Plastic bags, first introduced in the 1950s as a convenient way to store food, have since developed into a global scourge, littering roadsides, clogging sewer drains and landfills and getting ingested by animals and marine life. And in recent years we've discovered they are so prevalent that they now comprise a significant portion of the plastic and other garbage that has collected in huge ocean gyres far from land. The environmental think tank Worldwatch Institute reports that China's decision to ban free plastic bags in 2008 has cut demand by some 40 billion bags, reduced plastic bag usage there by 66 percent and saved some 1.6 million tons of petroleum. Recently California has instituted a ban on on these plastic bags in an effort to reduce c02 emissions and enviromental waste. Convenience stores and grocery stores would be required to charge ten cents per bag. With California instituting this ban on the bags, this will be very beneficial since it will provide better air conditions, encourage people to start reusing and recycling more, and cause less harm to the environment and marine life.

It’s no secret that the amount of plastic we produce and use as a nation alone, and globally as a whole, has gotten out of hand. “Enough plastic is thrown away each year to circle the earth four times” (D 'Alessandro). In an effort to visualize this amount, take the approximate length around the earth, being just over 24,901 miles, and multiply it by four (Cain). The amount of plastic our earth throws away over just one year can stretch across a length of 99,604 miles. Not to mention, it takes plastic a ridiculous amount of time to degrade, from 500-1,000 years (D 'Alessandro). So where is all the plastic going after we produce it and are done using it? Landfills, the ocean, and all over

It’s not news that plastic is harmful to the environment, but how much damage is it really causing? Plastic is everywhere around us and a huge part of our lives. Chemicals added to plastics are absorbed by human bodies. Some of these chemicals have been found to alter hormones or have other potential human health effects. Along with effects on humans, plastic also very negatively affects wildlife. Plastic debris, laced with the same chemicals that affect humans, are regularly ingested by marine animals. When plastic is “disposed of” in landfills the chemicals spread underground and eventually find their way into our water sources. “One of the most ubiquitous and long-lasting recent changes to the surface of our planet is the accumulation and fragmentation of plastics,” wrote David Barnes, a lead author and researcher for the British Antarctic Survey.

Plastics are very convenient products that we use in our every day life and for most people it would be difficult to imagine a plastic free world. It is everywhere: used for water bottling purposes, food covering, parts that make up our daily items such as cell phones, clothes, and hospital equipments. With so many convenient methods for the use of plastics, many of us fail to recognize the dangers of plastic pollution which starts with industrial pollution, continues with its distribution and consumer pollution. Designed to be discarded, disposable plastics such as water bottles, lids and straws are the greatest source of plastic pollution in addition to being toxic to our health and non-environmentally friendly due to

The additives in the plastic can be toxic to our health and environment. Plastics have countless advances in our way of life. Benefits of using plastic are that it is convenient, inexpensive, light and easily shaped. Plastic containers used to store food help preserve flavor and freshness. It’s a perfect building material and it also has ability to prevent contamination therefore can be used in sterile medical environment. However, more than 90% of the plastic waste is disposed through landfills, open burning and littering after we are done with it.