Plastic is a health hazard.
It's not just an attention grabber, it's reality.
At the latest, after I had finally seen the film "Plastic Planet", I got an approximate impression of what it actually means for us humans to be surrounded by plastic every day. And at the latest since the view of this film (which I can warmly recommend to everyone), I knew: I need to know more about it!
What is plastic anyway?
In order to be able to deal more closely with a phenomenon (and get upset about it later), it makes sense to know at the beginning what you are actually dealing with. What is plastic?
Plastics (thermoplastics, plastics) are materials that consist mainly of macromolecules and are characterized above all by their malleability, elasticity, temperature resistance, hardness and overall high resistance to external influences.
Depending on where boundary lines are drawn with respect to different properties of plastics, the subdivision into different small groups takes place differently - the most common method of distinguishing plastic types more precisely from each other, however, is that which is oriented towards the mechanical-term behavior of plastics: How do plastics behave at ambient temperature, where is their melting point?
By this classification one comes to three coarse large classes of plastics:
- Thermoplastics (a large part of the plastic that surrounds us - used, for example, in the packaging industry, in the automotive and construction industries)
- Thermosets (high mechanical and chemical resistance, often used for electrical installations)
- Elastomers (mouldable plastics, rubber, and all rubber
And although these subclasses of plastics differ greatly from each other both in their chemical structure and in their practical use, there are a number of similarities that have led to man still surrounding himself with them every day - and voluntarily as well.
At first glance, plastics seem to be incredibly practical and combine a number of useful properties that make them perfect candidates for many different applications.
They are much lighter than other materials that could be used as substitutes for comparable tasks (such as glass or metal), they are relatively hard and stable (they do not break so easily), compared to other organic materials they are relatively resistant to inorganic influences (acids, alkalis, salt solutions), have a low processing temperature (between 200° and 300°) and can therefore be produced with much less effort than, for example, metal and have low conductivities (in terms of heat and electricity), making them excellent insulation materials.
By the way, the term sculpture comes from the Greek and means "formed art" - we remember the second, somewhat more romantic way of using sculpture when we refer, for example, to antique sculptures, representations of humans and/or animals.
As early as the 16th century (but rather in the 17th century), when the first triple steps were taken in the field of plastics by discovering the usefulness of rubber and other rubber-like materials for everyday use, the euphoria was great: what could be done with them!
The list of inventions that have been made since then is long, and the list of chemists* who have been and are active in this field is long. The list of plastic products that have gradually found their way into our lives is also long - nowadays we can no longer imagine life without them.
The plastics industry is a huge industry: according to "Plastic Planet" (which was shot in 2009), the industry has a turnover of 800 billion euros per year. In Europe, 1 million people earn their living in and through the plastics industry.
The Plastic Problem of the Plastic Planet
It is hard to imagine the enormous amount of money and labor that is invested in this industry. However, this, combined with the above-mentioned properties that make plastics such special materials, must lead to problems.
And these problems have been there for a long time.
- The most urgent problem is that to date there has been no environmentally friendly solution for dismantling plastics - a plastic bag that we take with us to the supermarket takes over 400 years to decompose. And that doesn't mean until it can be recycled. It simply dissolves into ever-smaller components (microplastic). We don't see it - but that doesn't mean that it's not (anymore) there.
- Plastics (in macro and microform) waste the environment. Pictures of plastic-contaminated beaches, seas as rubbish dumps, mutilated sea creatures, and birds.
- Contaminated areas, especially in so-called developing countries, with plastic waste - huge rubbish dumps on Calcutta. But even in Germany, we don't know where to put them.
- Plastic has a devastating effect on the health of humans, animals, and the environment.
In this article, we cannot go into all the problems that plastic consumption is associated with. But the start should be made: What does this huge amount of plastic to which we are exposed every day actually mean for our bodies?
To be continued in the next part...