Continuing the saga of mans path to self destruction, we had left off at the start of the new age in automobiles and the loss of marine life due to oil spills. This in turn has led to major pollution of the planets entire water supply.
In the early 50's the loss of an occasional oil tanker, [as those ships were called back then], were downplayed to the public and seemed almost trivial to the seemingly unlimited supply of oceanic waters. Sad to say but, like the old proverbial saying 'a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step' so too was the beginning of our destruction of the planet's oceans via oil spills, and other toxic dumping in the seas.
During the the early days of the development of the automobile, a far worse invention was about to become unleashed upon the face of the globe.
It's name was Plastic. First introduced by an inventor named Alexander Parkes in 1862, his material then was called Parkesine, an organic material derived from cellulose. It was a process first used to coat billiard balls. John Wesley Hyatt improved upon it with a derivative called celluloid and the use of it spread to the making of film for the movie industry. By the time the 50's had arrived, the use of this substance was beginning to seep into our everyday lives in a most innocuous manner.
Plastic bags were first introduced on a large scale manner, with the story that it would help save the trees and reduce the use of paper by reducing the need for paper bags. Back then too, when you went food shopping at the supermarket or the neighborhood grocery you would get your goods in brown shopping bags.
Now in the dawn of the 21st century, plastic has been ingrained into every facet of our lives, and while it has been promoted as something for the benefit of mankind, the flip side of this is that it is something that can lead to the planet's demise. here are a few interesting things to know about this 'indispensable, can't live without material'. From the original three compounds of material used, it is now a combo of many.
Now made from polymers, plastics is now used in the manufacturing of more products, and in use in more industries than wood. The main ingredient of today's plastics is crude oil. Yes crude oil happens to be the main ingredient combined with a slew of other chemicals and compounds, whose negative effects are mind boggling to say the least. Apart from crude oil here are a few of the other main ingredients that comprise today's modern plastic/s. Vinyl Chloride, Terephthalic Acid, Propylene, Ethylene, Butadiene 1.3, among many others that are used to either harden or soften the plastic. Allegedly photo-synthetic [ the ability to decompose by sunlight] it has yet to be seen doing so.
Non biodegradable, this substance is now found floating over a goodly size of the earths oceans,and on land takes an extremely long time to disintegrate, all of which is leading to an accumulation of garbage that civilized man is finding harder and harder to dispose of safely. This in turn means we may or may not have a world left to turn over to little Johnny or his sister Sarah. Doesn't look like a bright future does it?
Vinyl Chloride,- used in the making of poly vinyl chloride [PVC] plastic and other vinyl products. Studies have shown that [acute] short term exposure [to concentrated amounts],in the air, has affected the central nervous system of humans, causing dizziness, drowsiness and headaches. Chronic [long term] exposure to vinyl chloride, again in the air, has resulted in liver damage to humans. Cancer has also become a concern as a rare form of liver cancer in humans has been tied to the prolonged breathing and oral intake of vinyl chloride. The E.P.A. has classified vinyl chloride as a group A human carcinogen.
Ethylene- a small hydro carbon gas that is most often bonded with polypropylene to create Methyl - ethylene and can be soluble in water.Hmm, beginning to see the picture yet?. Still unclear? Lets go further.
Propylene,- exposure to high amounts of this gas can or may cause damage to the following organs, the Lungs and the upper respiratory tract. While we are told that these things can only harm us in concentrated amounts, what about the long term effects of being exposed to them for extremely long periods of time? Would you nibble a half of a pellet of rat poison daily thinking that it can only harm you if you take it in mass quantities? Or for that matter Arsenic, a carcinogen and deadly poison that is being introduced to many municipal water supplies and certain brands of apple juice, do you think that because you didn't die from it in the first two weeks that it is any less harmful?
Enter Butadiene,- an industrial chemical used in the production of synthetic rubber, now being used in the production of plastic. Butadiene can also be found coming from... the exhaust of automobiles. The NIOSH has considered butadiene 1.3 to be an occupational carcinogen as defined by the OSHA. As with propylene, butadiene is also highly soluble in both water and alcohol. Epidemiological studies have shown that workers exposed to 1.3 butadiene, i.e. [rubber factory workers], show an increase in the incidence of leukemia, and the EPA has classified it as a carcinogen to humans.
Last but not least is the use of terephthalic acid. while not much elaboration can be done because of the scientific jargon, it's importance here comes from it being not as soluble as butadiene or propylene, and it is used mostly in the production of plastic bottles and clothing. It has been touted as the greatest thing since sliced bread by the very people who brought us the Gulf of Mexico fiasco.
The fact that these people are bragging of it's benefits to our every day way of life should set alarm bells ringing. This has been a company that has been known to flagrantly disregard safety in all it's procedures to minimize expenditures.
Lets see how much this scourge to the earth has been interjected into our daily lives. If you smoke, it is wrapped around every pack of cigarettes. The majority of cooking oils are presented to us in plastic bottles, as are sodas, and juices. Of course buying soda or juice from the can or carton you have to face the fact that the interior of them is coated with Teflon which contributes to another form of chemicalized poisoning. Damned if you do, and damned if you don't, the enemy of man has this destruction of man on lock down.
Tupperware, a female favorite is made from plastic, dishware cups, all manner of utensils used in the kitchen are not only made from this substance, but when purchased they also come wrapped up in plastic- talk about overkill. Buying bread, cakes and snacks at the supermarket? the bread in all likelihood is wrapped in plastic. Cakes in a box? Chances are that to see the product you can view it through a plastic partition in the box. Anything and everything that we purchase for either necessity or pleasure comes encased in plastic.the disposal of trying to dispose of all this plastic dwarfs the imagination.
Those avid weekend fishermen who sail off in chartered boats out to the deep blue to enjoy an early morning to evening day of fishing usually have one or two six packs of beer along for the trip. Here's the bad side. That plastic that usually holds the six pack together is usually tossed overboard when the last can of beer is about to be consumed. it doesn't sink. It does not melt from the rays of the sun, and because of it's density it does not dissolve in the briny ocean. Aquatic life that have the unfortunate mishap to swim into the snares of these plastic anomalies, usually end up being asphyxiated. Clear plastic has been the main culprit for the demise of many a marine life, and birds that live on land but feed off the seas. As these goes so do man.
If the insertion and proliferation of plastic continues unchecked this planet may very well become encased in a prism or prison of our own making which would limit water and sunshine, indeed the future with this looks grim indeed. As you make your way home or to work keep in mind that vital parts of the car you drive, the bus you take, or the train you sit on all have plastic parts in the interior and engines. With this much dependence upon plastic who knows what will become us. Until next time, live well, be happy, make love, we bid you Peace.
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