Plastic and Health

It is really unbelievable how much plastic we use in our everyday lives. Most of this plastic is pretty obvious. There is plastic packaging from tupperware, shampoo bottles, water bottles, granola bar packaging, shopping bags, the impossible to open packaging on children's toys, and so on and so on. Then there are the spaces we live in including insulation, windows, flooring, and the list goes on. There is also all of the things we use from day to day from toothbrushes (the handle), to coffee makers, to computers (casings), to toys, to cars, and another endless list of items.

There are also some other uses of plastic which are slightly less obvious. Many of our clothes are made from polyester, which is a type of plastic. There is now plastic lumber and things that used to be made of wood, such as picnic tables and decks, can now be made of plastic. Acrylic is another type of plastic that can be found in many items including paint. Plastic is even used as an additive in some fuels.

There are so many benefits to using plastics: they're affordable, flexible, light-weight, durable, and, as can be seen above, can be changed to be used in almost any way imaginable. In a society such as ours, it is no wonder that we have let plastic take over. Unfortunately, there are also many disadvantages to plastic.

Only some plastics are recyclable, and those that aren't don't biodegrade easily so they sit in landfills for up to thousands of years. Often, plastics don't even end up in the landfill but land in our rivers, lakes and oceans where they disturb marine life. Plastic is made of oil and we already know some of the problems with oil including that there is only so much oil to go around.

There are also additives put into plastic that cause health problems in people. The most notable of these are BPA and phthalates.^[1] Other chemicals have been found to leach out of certain plastics. All of these chemicals affect our environment and ourselves. There are many health issues now being found related to these chemicals including asthma, lower immune response, obesity and reproductive issues.^[1]

So what can we do about all this? We certainly can't change society overnight, particularly considering all of the benefits of plastics. Well, step 1 is to become aware of plastic and how we use it. Reduce how much plastic you use when you can and recycle whenever possible. Perhaps one day, we can find a healthier balance in our use of plastics.

[1] Emily Main. Protect Your Health: Shrink Your Plastic Profile, 2010. Accessed February 21, 2011 from http://www.rodale.com/disadvantages-plastic
Plastic Bottles: Keattikorn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net