Sunday, April 22, 2018 was Earth Day
for 2018. April 22 every year is a day set aside to relook at planet Earth
worldwide. It is a day activities are done worldwide to show support for
environmental protection. The day is coordinated globally by Earth Day Network,
an environmental movement.
The Earth Day Network have a saying
which says “Earth Day is Every Day”. I guess in other words they are saying
environmental protection is not an April 22 specific thing, but rather an
everyday thing including April 22 itself. In yet clearer terms environmental
protection ought to be a way of life.
The theme for Earth Day 2018 is “End Plastic Pollution”. The idea
behind the theme is for the coordinator of the Earth Day, Earth Day Network to educate “millions of people about the health
and other risks associated with the use and disposal of plastics, including
pollution of our oceans, water, and wildlife, and about the growing
body of evidence that plastic waste is creating serious global problems.
From poisoning and injuring marine life to the
ubiquitous presence of plastics in our food to disrupting human hormones and
causing major life-threatening diseases and early puberty, the exponential
growth of plastics is threatening our planet’s survival”.
Having given the foregoing general background, I am
going to proceed to throw the searchlight on an aspect of the 2018 theme with a
view to helping end plastic pollution. That aspect is microplastic, as captured
in the heading of this post, and in sync with the theme of this blog which is a
sustainable clean and balanced natural environment. Some forms of microplastics
are broken down plastic, microbead and microfiber. Microplastic is not as
visible as the plastic we see around us. And that makes it more dangerous. It
creeps in unawares and before you say Jack Robinson it is lodged where it
should not be lodged.
DEFINITION
Let us establish what microplastic is so as not to
leave room for doubt. A common understanding in environmental science on the
characteristics of microplastic is as follows:
Synthetic materials with a high polymer content
Solid particles
Smaller than 5 mm
Insoluble in water, and
Not degradable
As an explanation of the first characteristic,
synthetic means artificial or manmade, and polymer means a chain of large
molecules (monomers). A natural form of polymer is the cellulose that is found
in the cell walls of plant. Proteins that make up our muscles and skin are also
natural polymers.
CHEMISTRY
A polymer, natural or synthetic, very likely has a
backbone made of carbon, a strong, stable and friendly atom that is perfectly
agreeable to forming molecular bonds. Other elements, normally, oxygen,
hydrogen and nitrogen join the carbon backbone, and based on choice and
arrangements of atoms varieties of polymers are produced.
Most of today’s plastics are made of hydrocarbon
molecules (hydrogen and carbon) derived from the processing of oil and natural
gas. Ethylene, a gas released in the processing of the two products contain
four hydrogen atoms and two carbon atoms. Subject to further chemical treatment
of ethylene one can get polyethylene, a common and variedly used plastic- from
sandwich wrapper to astronaut tether, during a spacewalk.
There are two chemicals used in the making of
plastics which ought to be of concern to us, in terms of our health. The
chemicals are bisphenol- A or BPA and phthalates or DEHP. BPA is a building
block of polycarbonate plastics. An example of such plastic is the bottle in
which water is sold- VOLTIC etc. Phthalates are additives in the making of
plastics.
Why we should be bothered by these chemicals is that
the bonds of BPA plastic can break down over time when exposed to heat etc.
thereby releasing toxin. Also, DEHP as an additive in plastic leach toxin over
time.
PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS
Microplastic is closer to you than you think. Microbead,
a form of microplastic is used in the making of personal care products. Microbead
is smaller than I mm. I am going to make a list of the products which may
contain microbead so you know how close to you microbead is.
Toothpaste
Soap
Facial scrub
Cleansing pads
Colognes
Cotton swabs
Deodorant
Facial tissue
Lipstick
Lip gloss
Shaving cream
Talcum powder
Pomade
Toilet paper
Shampoo
POLLUTION
These personal care products release microplastic
(microbeads) pollutants into the natural environment. How do they do that? The
microbeads in most of these products find their way into water bodies (e.g.
oceans) through drains and sewage treatment systems.
According to the June 17, 2017 edition of The
Guardian, Scientists at Ghent University in Belgium estimated that those who
eat seafood ingest up to 11,000 tons of microplasitcs annually.
From the same publication, a report of a study by Plymouth
University said microplastic was found in a third of UK- caught fish such as
cod, haddock, mackerel and shellfish.
NATURAL PRODUCTS
Some natural products that were used before
microbead was introduced, and could be used in place of the synthetic personal
care products are as follows:
Almonds
Coconut husk
Sea salt
Oatmeal
Apricot pit
Cocoa husk
GOING FORWARD
Going forward, that is making polymers that should
not pollute the natural environment, we should go for the ingredients that do
not pollute the environment when being decomposed. We should go for
biodegradable materials and nontoxic building blocks, and dump or gradually
minimize petroleum based materials which compound the problem by the greenhouse
gas that is associated with their processing. I have made a list of some of environmentally
friendly organic materials that could be used in making personal care products
in the preceding section.
The philosophy to drive the making of plastic must
be health and environmental concerns, more so when our experience with plastic
so far, as hindsight, should clearly and easily tell us there is a critical
need for reengineering of focus as suggested in the preceding paragraph.
Indeed there are practical efforts at using natural
materials in manufacturing personal care products etc. instead of synthetic
materials. According to Wikipedia one company moving in that direction is Burt’sBee. Burt’s Bee is an American personal care company that sells its products
internationally. Burt’s Bee is a subsidiary of a bigger company called Clorox
Company. Clorox describes itself as "Earth friendly, Natural Personal Care Company". Burt’s Bee makes
products for health, personal hygiene, beauty and personal care, using natural
ingredients. Burt’s Bee has
outlets for the distribution of its Earth-friendly products in the United
States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, Germany and Hong Kong.
It is heart-warming that despite the overwhelming
threat of plastic pollution there is a green light at the end of the tunnel!
There is a need for many more Burt’s Bees in diversified and sustained manner
as the fight to rid the natural environment of plastic pollution gathers
momentum. A sustainable clean and balanced natural environment we must have, if
we, as earthlings, must not trigger cosmocide, cosmos being the integrated
whole.
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