Attention all readers...
Our blog is teaming up with some friends of mine. They're making an eco-cafe with all reusable cups, solar powered appliances, etc... and they need donations. If you would like to donate contact me at
bastinjb@mcsdonline.org
Please help, your support is much appreciated. Below is the link.
Thanks,
Blaine Bastin
http://earthhelps.blogspot.com/
Friday, February 17, 2012
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Styrofoam Research 1
Styrofoam which was created by Dow Chemicals in the 1970′s as a insulation device. Hamburgers, coffee cups, even house hold construction products were made out of Styrofoam. The production of Styrofoam products used CFC’s. The use of CFC’s was banned in 1989 so many companies stopped using products made with Styrofoam including McDonald’s (voluntarily). Production methods changed so there was no longer CFC pollution in production but many of it’s ill effects remained.
Styrofoam does not breakdown easily and it releases chemicals when it gets wet that contaminates water that touches it thus contaminating the water supply. The following fact I already knew but I had to find it online to get that actual particulars (you will be shocked, I think about it everytime I get food in a Styrofoam container):
By 1986, styrene was found in 100 percent of all samples of human fat tissue taken as part of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Human Tissue Survey. Researchers found that Styrofoam cups lose weight when in use, meaning that styrene is oozing into the foods and drinks we consume. It then ends up stored in our fatty tissue, where it can build up to levels that can cause fatigue, nervousness, difficulty sleeping, blood abnormalities, and even carcinogenic effects.
(source: http://www.greenhome.com/info/news/41.shtml)
There is also the question as to whether Styrofoam can be recycled. It can be but alot of recycling plants do not accept it because of the cost involved. Here are some other facts about Styrofoam recycling:
Polystyrene recycling is not “closed loop” – collected polystyrene cups are not remanufactured into cups, but into other products, such as packing filler and cafeteria trays. This means that more resources will have to be used, and more pollution created, to produce more polystyrene cups.
-”Plastics Industry Grasps for Straws,” Everyone’s Backyard, January/February 1990, Citizen’s Clearinghouse for Hazardous Waste, p. 6.
What are the real health effects of eating and drinking food from Styrofoam containers:
World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer. Long-term exposure to small quantities of styrene is also suspected of causing:
– low platelet counts or hemoglobin values;
– chromosomal and lymphatic abnormalities;
– neurotoxic effects due to accumulation of styrene in the tissues of the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves, resulting in fatigue, nervousness, difficulty sleeping, and other acute or chronic health problems associated with the nervous system.
Because many of these effects can be more pronounced on developing bodies, extra caution is advisable for women who are pregnant (or considering becoming so) and for prepubescent children.
And now I will take it a step further… Dunkin Donuts!! They are probably the single biggest food producer that creates Styrofoam waste! 3 billion Styrofoam cups are purchased and disposed of each year in the US from customers of Dunkin Donuts!!
if you want to send them an old fashion letter or call them:
Dunkin’ Donuts Consumer Care
130 Royall Street
Canton, MA 02021
Tel: 800-859-5339
Styrofoam does not breakdown easily and it releases chemicals when it gets wet that contaminates water that touches it thus contaminating the water supply. The following fact I already knew but I had to find it online to get that actual particulars (you will be shocked, I think about it everytime I get food in a Styrofoam container):
By 1986, styrene was found in 100 percent of all samples of human fat tissue taken as part of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Human Tissue Survey. Researchers found that Styrofoam cups lose weight when in use, meaning that styrene is oozing into the foods and drinks we consume. It then ends up stored in our fatty tissue, where it can build up to levels that can cause fatigue, nervousness, difficulty sleeping, blood abnormalities, and even carcinogenic effects.
(source: http://www.greenhome.com/info/news/41.shtml)
There is also the question as to whether Styrofoam can be recycled. It can be but alot of recycling plants do not accept it because of the cost involved. Here are some other facts about Styrofoam recycling:
Polystyrene recycling is not “closed loop” – collected polystyrene cups are not remanufactured into cups, but into other products, such as packing filler and cafeteria trays. This means that more resources will have to be used, and more pollution created, to produce more polystyrene cups.
-”Plastics Industry Grasps for Straws,” Everyone’s Backyard, January/February 1990, Citizen’s Clearinghouse for Hazardous Waste, p. 6.
What are the real health effects of eating and drinking food from Styrofoam containers:
World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer. Long-term exposure to small quantities of styrene is also suspected of causing:
– low platelet counts or hemoglobin values;
– chromosomal and lymphatic abnormalities;
– neurotoxic effects due to accumulation of styrene in the tissues of the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves, resulting in fatigue, nervousness, difficulty sleeping, and other acute or chronic health problems associated with the nervous system.
Because many of these effects can be more pronounced on developing bodies, extra caution is advisable for women who are pregnant (or considering becoming so) and for prepubescent children.
And now I will take it a step further… Dunkin Donuts!! They are probably the single biggest food producer that creates Styrofoam waste! 3 billion Styrofoam cups are purchased and disposed of each year in the US from customers of Dunkin Donuts!!
if you want to send them an old fashion letter or call them:
Dunkin’ Donuts Consumer Care
130 Royall Street
Canton, MA 02021
Tel: 800-859-5339
Styrofoam Research 2
Polystyrene Foam Report
What is it?
Polystyrene is a petroleum-based plastic made from the styrene monomer. Most people know it under the name Styrofoam, which is actually the trade name of a polystyrene foam product used for housing insulation. Polystyrene is a light-weight material, about 95% air, with very good insulation properties and is used in all types of products from cups that keep your beverages hot or cold to packaging material that keep your computers safe during shipping.
Why not use it?
The biggest environmental health concern associated with polystyrene is the danger associated with Styrene, the basic building block of polystyrene. Styrene is used extensively in the manufacture of plastics, rubber, and resins. About 90,000 workers, including those who make boats, tubs and showers, are potentially exposed to styrene. Acute health effects are generally irritation of the skin, eyes, and upper respiratory tract, and gastrointestinal effects. Chronic exposure affects the central nervous system showing symptoms such as depression, headache, fatigue, and weakness, and can cause minor effects on kidney function and blood. Styrene is classified as a possible human carcinogen by the EPA and by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). A voluntary compliance program has been adopted by industries using styrene. The US Department of Labor, Occupational Safety & Health Administration unsuccessfully (a federal court overturned the ruling in 1992) tried to limit the amount of worker exposure to styrene to 50 parts per million (ppm). According to the Styrene Information and Research Center (SIRC), they still encourage their member companies to comply with the 50 ppm exposure limit. This program would reduce styrene exposures to a 50 ppm TWA with a 100 ppm (15 minute) ceiling.
-OSHA (US Dept of Labor, Occupational Safety & Health Administration)
A 1986 EPA report on solid waste named the polystyrene manufacturing process as the 5th largest creator of hazardous waste.· The National Bureau of Standards Center for Fire Research identified 57 chemical byproducts released during the combustion of polystyrene foam. The process of making polystyrene pollutes the air and creates large amounts of liquid and solid waste.
Toxic chemicals leach out of these products into the food that they contain (especially when heated in a microwave). These chemicals threaten human health and reproductive systems.
These products are made with petroleum, a non-sustainable and heavily polluting resource.
The use of hydrocarbons in polystyrene foam manufacture releases the hydrocarbons into the air at ground level; there, combined with nitrogen oxides in the presence of sunlight, they form tropospheric ozone -- a serious air pollutant at ground level. According to the EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) more than 100 million Americans currently live in areas that fail to meet air quality standards for ozone. California, the Texas Gulf Coast, the Chicago-Milwaukee area, and the Northeastern U.S. all have "serious ozone air quality problems," according to EPA. Ozone is definitely a dangerous pollutant. The EPA says: "Healthy individuals who are exercising while ozone levels are at or only slightly above the standard can experience reduced functioning of the lungs, leading to chest pain, coughing, wheezing, and pulmonary congestion. In animal studies, long-term exposure to high levels of ozone has produced permanent structural damage to animal lungs while both short and long term exposure has been found to decrease the animal's capability to fight infection." In other words, prolonged exposure to atmospheric ozone above legal limits might be expected to damage the immune system.
By volume, the amount of space used up in landfills by all plastics is between 25 and 30 percent. -"Polystyrene Fact Sheet," Foundation for Advancements in Science and Education, Los Angeles, California.
Polystyrene foam is often dumped into the environment as litter. This material is notorious for breaking up into pieces that choke animals and clog their digestive systems.
Many cities and counties have outlawed polystyrene foam (i.e. Taiwan, Portland, OR, and Orange County, CA).
Can polystyrene be recycled?
While the technology for recycling polystyrene is available, the market for recycling is very small and shrinking. Many Americans are hearing from their curbside recycling agencies that they will not accept PS goods. The good news is that the current Biopolymer revolution (biodegradable polymers) is charting a path for producing environmentally friendly packaging material to replace those peanuts. Corn based and other seeds known collectively as soapstock waste lead the way. Some are already available as replacements. Perhaps the problematic recycling situation will be solved by replacing the product.
Polystyrene recycling is not "closed loop" - collected polystyrene cups are not remanufactured into cups, but into other products, such as packing filler and cafeteria trays. This means that more resources will have to be used, and more pollution created, to produce more polystyrene cups.
-"Plastics Industry Grasps for Straws," Everyone's Backyard, January/February 1990, Citizen's Clearinghouse for Hazardous Waste, p. 6.
Does polystyrene deplete the ozone layer?
Initially a portion of polystyrene production was aided by the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), the chemicals that break down ozone in the troposphere. When this issue came to light, polystyrene manufacturers negotiated a gradual phase-out of CFCs in the production process and no CFCs have been used since the late 1980's.
Though polystyrene manufacturers claim that their products are "ozone-friendly" or free of CFCs, this is only partially true. Some polystyrene is now manufactured with HCFC-22, which, though less destructive than its chemical cousins, CFC-11 and CFC-12, is still a greenhouse gas and harmful to the ozone layer. In fact, according to a 1992 study by the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, HCFCs are three to five times more destructive to the ozone layer than previously believed.
-"Study Finds CFC Alternatives More Damaging Than Believed," The Washington Post, December 10, 1989.
Why Use Alternatives?
Post-consumer recycled paper, bamboo, corn plastics, etc. are easily renewable resources.
All of these products biodegrade when composted.
Paper products can be recycled at most people's doorstep where community recycling is in place.
In 1995, 40% of all US paper was recycled, including 32.6 million tons of paper & paperboard. (EPA)
Every ton of 100% Post-consumer waste recycled paper products you buy saves:
12 trees
1,087 pounds of solid waste
1,560 kilowatts of energy (2 months of electric power required by the average US home)
1,196 gallons of water
1,976 lbs. of greenhouse gases (1,600 miles traveled in the average US car)
3 cubic yards of landfill
space
9 pounds of HAPs, VOCs, and AOXs combined
390 gallons of oil
What is it?
Polystyrene is a petroleum-based plastic made from the styrene monomer. Most people know it under the name Styrofoam, which is actually the trade name of a polystyrene foam product used for housing insulation. Polystyrene is a light-weight material, about 95% air, with very good insulation properties and is used in all types of products from cups that keep your beverages hot or cold to packaging material that keep your computers safe during shipping.
Why not use it?
The biggest environmental health concern associated with polystyrene is the danger associated with Styrene, the basic building block of polystyrene. Styrene is used extensively in the manufacture of plastics, rubber, and resins. About 90,000 workers, including those who make boats, tubs and showers, are potentially exposed to styrene. Acute health effects are generally irritation of the skin, eyes, and upper respiratory tract, and gastrointestinal effects. Chronic exposure affects the central nervous system showing symptoms such as depression, headache, fatigue, and weakness, and can cause minor effects on kidney function and blood. Styrene is classified as a possible human carcinogen by the EPA and by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). A voluntary compliance program has been adopted by industries using styrene. The US Department of Labor, Occupational Safety & Health Administration unsuccessfully (a federal court overturned the ruling in 1992) tried to limit the amount of worker exposure to styrene to 50 parts per million (ppm). According to the Styrene Information and Research Center (SIRC), they still encourage their member companies to comply with the 50 ppm exposure limit. This program would reduce styrene exposures to a 50 ppm TWA with a 100 ppm (15 minute) ceiling.
-OSHA (US Dept of Labor, Occupational Safety & Health Administration)
A 1986 EPA report on solid waste named the polystyrene manufacturing process as the 5th largest creator of hazardous waste.· The National Bureau of Standards Center for Fire Research identified 57 chemical byproducts released during the combustion of polystyrene foam. The process of making polystyrene pollutes the air and creates large amounts of liquid and solid waste.
Toxic chemicals leach out of these products into the food that they contain (especially when heated in a microwave). These chemicals threaten human health and reproductive systems.
These products are made with petroleum, a non-sustainable and heavily polluting resource.
The use of hydrocarbons in polystyrene foam manufacture releases the hydrocarbons into the air at ground level; there, combined with nitrogen oxides in the presence of sunlight, they form tropospheric ozone -- a serious air pollutant at ground level. According to the EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) more than 100 million Americans currently live in areas that fail to meet air quality standards for ozone. California, the Texas Gulf Coast, the Chicago-Milwaukee area, and the Northeastern U.S. all have "serious ozone air quality problems," according to EPA. Ozone is definitely a dangerous pollutant. The EPA says: "Healthy individuals who are exercising while ozone levels are at or only slightly above the standard can experience reduced functioning of the lungs, leading to chest pain, coughing, wheezing, and pulmonary congestion. In animal studies, long-term exposure to high levels of ozone has produced permanent structural damage to animal lungs while both short and long term exposure has been found to decrease the animal's capability to fight infection." In other words, prolonged exposure to atmospheric ozone above legal limits might be expected to damage the immune system.
By volume, the amount of space used up in landfills by all plastics is between 25 and 30 percent. -"Polystyrene Fact Sheet," Foundation for Advancements in Science and Education, Los Angeles, California.
Polystyrene foam is often dumped into the environment as litter. This material is notorious for breaking up into pieces that choke animals and clog their digestive systems.
Many cities and counties have outlawed polystyrene foam (i.e. Taiwan, Portland, OR, and Orange County, CA).
Can polystyrene be recycled?
While the technology for recycling polystyrene is available, the market for recycling is very small and shrinking. Many Americans are hearing from their curbside recycling agencies that they will not accept PS goods. The good news is that the current Biopolymer revolution (biodegradable polymers) is charting a path for producing environmentally friendly packaging material to replace those peanuts. Corn based and other seeds known collectively as soapstock waste lead the way. Some are already available as replacements. Perhaps the problematic recycling situation will be solved by replacing the product.
Polystyrene recycling is not "closed loop" - collected polystyrene cups are not remanufactured into cups, but into other products, such as packing filler and cafeteria trays. This means that more resources will have to be used, and more pollution created, to produce more polystyrene cups.
-"Plastics Industry Grasps for Straws," Everyone's Backyard, January/February 1990, Citizen's Clearinghouse for Hazardous Waste, p. 6.
Does polystyrene deplete the ozone layer?
Initially a portion of polystyrene production was aided by the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), the chemicals that break down ozone in the troposphere. When this issue came to light, polystyrene manufacturers negotiated a gradual phase-out of CFCs in the production process and no CFCs have been used since the late 1980's.
Though polystyrene manufacturers claim that their products are "ozone-friendly" or free of CFCs, this is only partially true. Some polystyrene is now manufactured with HCFC-22, which, though less destructive than its chemical cousins, CFC-11 and CFC-12, is still a greenhouse gas and harmful to the ozone layer. In fact, according to a 1992 study by the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, HCFCs are three to five times more destructive to the ozone layer than previously believed.
-"Study Finds CFC Alternatives More Damaging Than Believed," The Washington Post, December 10, 1989.
Why Use Alternatives?
Post-consumer recycled paper, bamboo, corn plastics, etc. are easily renewable resources.
All of these products biodegrade when composted.
Paper products can be recycled at most people's doorstep where community recycling is in place.
In 1995, 40% of all US paper was recycled, including 32.6 million tons of paper & paperboard. (EPA)
Every ton of 100% Post-consumer waste recycled paper products you buy saves:
12 trees
1,087 pounds of solid waste
1,560 kilowatts of energy (2 months of electric power required by the average US home)
1,196 gallons of water
1,976 lbs. of greenhouse gases (1,600 miles traveled in the average US car)
3 cubic yards of landfill
space
9 pounds of HAPs, VOCs, and AOXs combined
390 gallons of oil
What can you do...
Now, being realistic, there may never be a day when styrofoam is not a problem. But, YOU can make a difference. If you use a reuseable cup instead you would be part of a massive effort to clean up our planet one cup at a time...
Thank You for Visiting This Blog,
Blaine B.
Thank You for Visiting This Blog,
Blaine B.
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