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Persistant Organic Pollutants

by Posted in More Information Tagged , , ,

I was under the impression that pops was some kind of horrid Yorkshire dish involving hot milk and bits of bread but this is not the case. Rather POPs are a small set of toxic chemicals that remain intact in the environment for long periods and accumulate in the fatty tissues of animals.

POPs stands for persistent organic pollutants, also classed as PBTs (Persistent, Bioaccumulative and Toxic) or TOMPs (Toxic Organic Micro Pollutants.)

  • Persistant because they are are resistant to natural biodegradation. They do not break down and can last for decades.
  • Pollutants because they are highly toxic, causing death, disease, and birth defects among humans and animals.

plastic in fishHow can you avoid them? You cant! They travel through the environment through the atmosphere (windbourne), the food web (by being eaten) and through the waterways by attaching themselves to particles in water. POPs released in one part of the world can be transported many hundreds of miles away from the original source. POPs have been discovered in remote regions where they have never been used, the middle of oceans and Antarctica.

Pops can enter the food chain at the most basic of levels. “Planktonic organisms are the first link for pollutant transfer in the pelagic system. Traditionally, primary producers, (all those organisms that are able to synthesise organic matter capturing the energy of the sunlight) such asphytoplankton have been considered as the initial step for transport of POPs into food webs. Recent studies, however, point out that the capacity of uptake of bacteria is an important route for POPs transportation via the microbial food chain. The microbial food chain is the link between microorganisms in the sea.” From GPA website.

Because POPs are not soluble in water but readily absorbed and retained in fatty tissue of animals, this leads to a process called Biomagnification, also known as bioamplification or biological magnification. This is, is the increase in concentration of a substance that occurs in a food chain as a consequence of:

Food chain in a swedish lake. From the bottom:...

Food chain in a swedish lake. From the bottom: freshwater shrimp, bleak, perch, northern pike, osprey (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

  • Persistence (can’t be broken down by environmental processes)
  • Food chain energetics
  • Low (or nonexistent) rate of internal degradation/excretion of the substance (often due to water-insolubility)

Which means as POPs pass up the food chain, they increase exponentially. For example lets say that each bit of plankton contains 1 POP. A worm eats 5 plankton so now it contain 5 POB, 5 worms are in turn is eaten by a fish (25) and 3 fish are caught by a fisherman (75). The higher up the food chain the more you absorb.

It is claimed that plastic particles in the sea attract POPs.

Related articles

Where Do Pops Come From

Most are created by humans in industrial processes, either intentionally or as byproducts.

Many POPs are currently or were in the past used as pesticides. Others are the result of industrial processes. Including plastic manufacture and disposal

In May 1995, the United Nations Environment Programme Governing Council (GC) began investigating POPs. and 2001 the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants was formed to organise the severe restriction of their production, by the international community.

State parties to the Stockholm Convention on P...

State parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. Italiano: Stati ratificanti della Convenzione di Stoccolma sugli inquinanti organici persistenti. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

These are related to the plastic industries

Dioxins

They are of concern because of their highly toxic potential.

Once dioxins have entered the body, they endure a long time because of their chemical stability and their ability to be absorbed by fat tissue, where they are then stored in the body.

Their half-life in the body is estimated to be seven to eleven years.

In the environment, dioxins tend to accumulate in the food chain. The higher in the animal food chain one goes, the higher the concentration of dioxins.

Doixin is a known human carcinogen and the most potent synthetic carcinogen ever tested in laboratory animals. Find out lots more here.

Dioxins occur as by-products in the incineration of chlorine-containing substances such as PVC (polyvinyl chloride), in the chlorine bleaching of paper, and from natural sources such as volcanoes and forest fires, waste incineration, and backyard trash burning, and herbicide manufacturing. More on burning plastic here.

Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) compounds are used as additives in paint, carbonless copy paper, and plastics.

Of the 209 different types of PCBs, 13 exhibit a dioxin-like toxicity. Their persistence in the environment corresponds to the degree of chlorination, and half-lives can vary from 10 days to one-and-a-half years.

PCBs are toxic to fish, killing them at higher doses and causing spawning failures at lower doses. Research also links PCBs to reproductive failure and suppression of the immune system in various wild animals, such as seals and mink.

Read more about PCBs here.

And here are some more…

Aldrin is an organochlorine insecticide that was widely used until the 1970s, when it was banned in most countries.

Chlordane a pesticide,  It was sold in the United States from 1948 to 1988, both as a dust and an emulsified solution. It is now banned.

DDT, First synthesized in 1874, DDT’s insecticidal action was discovered by the Swiss chemist Paul Hermann Müller in 1939.  A worldwide ban was formalised under the Stockholm Convention, but its limited use in disease vector control continues to this day and remains controversial.

Dieldrin  an alternative to DDT, and a highly effective insecticide widely used during the 1950s to early 1970s. Long-

term exposure has proven toxic to a very wide range of animals including humans.It is now banned in most of the world.

Endrin  A pesticide. Currently, the use of endrin is banned in many countries.

Heptachlor was used as an insecticide. Animals exposed to Heptachlor epoxide during gestation and infancy are found to have changes in nervous system and immune function. Higher doses of Heptachlor when exposed to newborn animals caused decrease in body weight and death.

Hexachlorobenzene, a fungicide now banned globally under the Stockholm Convention

Mirex, is a chlorinated hydrocarbon that was commercialized as an insecticide and later banned because of its impact on the environment.

toxaphene is an insecticide. It is a mixture of closely related substances whose use is now banned in most of the world due to concerns of toxicity.

Since then, this list has generally been accepted to include such substances as carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and certain brominated flame-retardants, as well as some organometallic compounds such as tributyltin (TBT).

Thanks to Wikipedia and the worldbank

Naptha & Oil Derived Plastic

by Posted in 1.2 Plastic The Product Tagged , 1 Comment

Crude oil is a mixture of different hydrocarbons each with a different boiling point. These substances are separated from each other  in a distillation tower.
This results in the separation of heavy crude oil into lighter groups called fractions. Each fraction is a mixture of hydrocarbon chains (chemical compounds made up of carbon and hydrogen), which differ in terms of the size and structure of their molecules.

How Stuff Works puts it like this
Hydrocarbons are molecules that contain hydrogen and carbon and come in various lengths and structures, from straight chains to branching chains to rings.
There are two things that make hydrocarbons exciting to chemists:
Hydrocarbons contain a lot of energy. Many of the things derived from crude oil like gasoline, diesel fuel, paraffin wax and so on take advantage of this energy.
Hydrocarbons can take on many different forms. The smallest hydrocarbon is methane (CH4), which is a gas that is a lighter than air. Longer chains with 5 or more carbons are liquids. Very long chains are solids like wax or tar. By chemically cross-linking hydrocarbon chains you can get everything from synthetic rubber to nylon to the plastic in tupperware. Hydrocarbon chains are very versatile!
Find out more about hydrocarbons here.

 

oil refinery

Petroleum Oil Refinery Process Diagram

From crude oil you can distill a whole load of products including;
gasoline
lubricating oils
kerosene
jet fuel
diesel fuel
heating oil
Naptha a feedstock for plastic

How much in a barrel?
Oil is sold between countries in quantities called barrels.
One barrel of oil is 42 US gallons 159 litres or 35 gallons or 280 pints
The weight of a barrel depends on where the oil comes from. However, there are about 8 barrels in a tonne
A barrel of crude oil can make about

  • 7.27 gallons (27.5 liters): Other products (feedstocks for petrochemical plants, asphalt, bitumen, tar, etc.)
  • 1.72 gallons (6.5 liters): Liquefied Petroleum Gases (LPG)
  • 3.82 gallons (14.5 liters): Jet Fuel
  • 1.76 gallons (6.6 liters): Heavy Fuel Oil (Residual)
  • 1.75 gallons (6.6 liters): Other Distillates (Heating Oil)
  • 9.21 gallons (35 liters): Diesel
  • 19.15 gallons (72.5 liters): Gasoline
  • Approximate figures because every barrel of crude is different.
  • A flight from San Francisco to Tokyo may take about 9,000 US gallons of jet fuel which requires about 2,250 barrels of crude oil to extract. From Econtrader

    Naptha

    Definitions of naptha vary but
    the fraction that boils between 27 °C and 93 °C (5 – 7 C atoms) is often called light naphtha.
    the fraction that boils between 93 °C and 177 °C (6 – 10 C atoms) is heavy naphtha.
    Crude oils from different sources contain different percentages of naphtha.
    Naptha cannot be refined into gasoline or motor oil.
    Naptha is the plastic feedstock of choice for many but in the US, most plastic is made from natural gas.

    Google says you can get anything from 27 to 54L of naptha from 1 barrel of crude.

    Naptha to Plastic

    Cracking & Polymerisation
    Hydrocarbon chains can be further refined by cracking and polymerising.
    Very basically cracking breaks the existing chains and polymerisation is remixing them into something new. You can read more about it here.

    Ethane and Propane are derived from Naptha
    Using high-temperature furnaces
    Ethane is cracked into ethylene
    Propane is cracked into propylene,
    Using a catalyst, a reactor and some heat these are now remade into plastic polymers
    Ethylene becomes polyethylene also called polythene, the world’s most widely used plastic,
    Propylene joins together to create polymers called polypropylene.
    Most of the plastics we use are derived from polyethylene and polypropylene
    Polypropylene and polyethylene were discovered in  1951 by two chemists working for Phillips Petroleum Company.

    There are enough petrochemicals in one barrel of oil to make one of the following

    • 39 polyester shirts
    • 750 pocket combs
    • 540 toothbrushes
    • 65 plastic dustpans
    • 23 hula hoops
    • 65 plastic drinking cups
    • 195 one-cup measuring cups
    • 11 plastic telephone housings
    • 135 four-inch rubber balls

    Addatives

    Processing can include the addition of plasticizers, dyes and flame-retardant chemicals – see  additives….

    Product

    The polymers are now melted, cooled then cut into small pellets called nurdles.
    These pellets are now shipped to manufacturers who make plastic products by using processes such as extrusion, injection molding, blow molding, etc.

    Qualities & Biodegradability

    These plastics are chemically inert and will not react chemically with other substances which makes them very useful. It also means that they do not break down chemically so do not biodegrade. This has a huge environmental impact as plastic trash lasts forever. See plastic lifespan.

    These plastics can be recycled
    Useful links

 

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Polychlorinated Biphenyls

by Posted in 1.4 Additives Fact Sheets Tagged , , ,

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a group of manmade chemicals. They are oily liquids or solids, clear to yellow in color, with no smell or taste. PCBs are very stable mixtures that are resistant to extreme temperature and pressure. PCBs were used widely in electrical equipment like capacitors and transformers.

The commercial production of PCBs started in 1929.

Since the 1970s and 80s use has been banned or severely restricted in many countries  because of the possible risks to human health and the environment.

Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) compounds were used as additives in paint, carbonless copy paper, and plastics.

They were used as a plasticiser to make plastics more flexible.

Commercial production of PCBs ended in 1977 because of health effects associated with exposure. In 1979, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) banned the use of PCBs; however, PCBs are still present in many pre-1979 products.

Of the 209 different types of PCBs, 13 exhibit a dioxin-like toxicity. Their persistence in the environment corresponds to the degree of chlorination, and half-lives can vary from 10 days to one-and-a-half years.

From the 1920s until they were banned in 1979, the U.S. produced an estimated 1.5 billion pounds of these industrial chemicals. They were used in a variety of manufacturing processes, particularly for electrical parts, across the country. Wastes containing PCBs were often improperly stored or disposed of or even directly discharged into soils, rivers, wetlands, and the ocean.

Exposure to PCBs is through food

  • Food: PCBs in food are probably the single most significant source of exposure for people.
  • Surface Soils: 
  • Drinking Water and Groundwater: PCBs are not very water-soluble so it is quite rare for them to be found in groundwater.
  • Indoor Air: Older fluorescent lights found in schools, offices, and homes may still contain transformers or ballasts that contain PCBs. 

Case Studies ( almost complete) from the world bank website

PCBs are toxic to fish, killing them at higher doses and causing spawning failures at lower doses. Research also links PCBs to reproductive failure and suppression of the immune system in various wild animals, such as seals and mink.

Large numbers of people have been exposed to PCBs through food contamination. Consumption of PCB-contaminated rice oil in Japan in 1968 and in Taiwan in 1979 caused pigmentation of nails and mucous membranes and swelling of the eyelids, along with fatigue, nausea, and vomiting.

Due to the persistence of PCBs in their mothers’ bodies, children born up to seven years after the Taiwan incident showed developmental delays and behavioral problems. Similarly, children of mothers who ate large amounts of contaminated fish from Lake Michigan showed poorer short-term memory function. PCBs also suppress the human immune system and are listed as probable human carcinogens.”

Dioxins are classed as a persistant organic pollutants, (POPs), also known as PBTs (Persistent, Bioaccumulative and Toxic) or TOMPs (Toxic Organic Micro Pollutants.)

Find out more about dioxins here.

POPs are a small set of toxic chemicals that remain intact in the environment for long periods and accumulate in the fatty tissues of animals. You can find out more about POPS here

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Monomors and Polymers

by Posted in 1.2 Plastic The Product Tagged 4 Comments

We are going to start right at the beginning – before plastic there were polymers – before polymers it was monomers..

A monomer is a molecule that can join with other molecules to form a chain of molecules.

A chain of monomers (or molecules) is called a polymer.

So, a polymer is a chain of repeating monomers or molecules.

A polymer is a large molecule that is made out of many smaller molecules that are joined together by covalent bonds. It may also be called a macromolecule.

Polymers may consist of just one type of monomer or many different monomers. But the pattern must repeat

So a polymer is many  monomers or small molecules, joined together in a repeating pattern. The pattern has to repeat a number of times, (a minimum of 500 was one number I read)

Chains of polymers then bond or stick together to form stuff like cellulose, the woody stuff in plants.

Natural polymers are created as part of ongoing biological processes – cotton is part of a plant, wool is grown by sheep and leather is the skin of what ever unfortunate animal.

Synthetic Polymers

Synthetic polymers are, as the name suggests, manmade. The key point here is that though the base material may be a natural product such as oil, the polymers derived from it are not. They are not the result of a natural process but have been created artificially.

Monomors have been isolated and then rearranged in new groupings to form new polymers in a precess known as polymerisation. Read more about it here.

 

3D Plastic

by Posted in 1.3 Plastic Types - Fact Sheets Tagged , ,

There is a new machine on the market that can create 3d components out of plastic without the need for moulds. Using plastic thread and computer design drawings (or even a photo) it builds the product up by layer. It is the same principal as the coil pots you made at school.

“On top of a heated plate, a “pen” squeezes out lines of plastic thinner than a human hair as a fan cools it instantly – turning 3D objects on a PC screen into real, solid plastic models.

Instead of simply putting ink to paper, 3D printers allow anyone to create an object they’ve designed, using plastics or metal. The machine then takes the design and builds up the item one microscopic layer at a time, with it slowly appearing before your eyes.” Yahoo.

This means that anyone with access to one of these machines, a computer aided design program and some base plastic, can make whatever they want. And the machines cost less than £700.00 and can be bought at Maplins, a high street electronics store.

The thought is quite horrific. We are already drowning in a mass of plastic crap we don’t need and can’t dispose of properly but at least amounts were limited, and I say that with a hollow laugh, by manufacturing constraints. Now anyone can build anything.

I was worried about the implications for a massive increase in plastic rubbish, concerned that the long-term implications of plastic detritus were being ignored and remain unacknowledged. I should have thought harder.

In May 2013, the US Government demanded that non-profit  Defence Distributed  (DD) took their design for a plastic pistol off line. Yes the designs for the fully-functional 3D-printed handgun, the Liberator, were available on line. By the time the organisation complied, “the files had “already been downloaded more than 100,000 time and, according to the founder Cody Wilson, are now safe in the hands of Internet communities.”

Frickin A! An unlicensed gun that cannot be detected by airport scanners. For sure it might self destruct after a few rounds – into hundreds of pieces of non biodegradable, polluting plastic.

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PTFE Non stick plastic

by Posted in 1.3 Plastic Types - Fact Sheets Tagged , , , 11 Comments

When I was young and innocent, I knew nothing of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). Well, it’s not the kind of thing a nicely brought up girl should have to deal with.

Instead, I went out met a man, got married and got given some very nice, very expensive wedding pans. Lovely non-stick pans.

Which brings us right back to polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) .

  • This is what the non-stick coating on pans is made from.
  • Teflon is perhaps the best known manufacturer of polytetrafluoroethylene (non-stick) linings.
  • Polytetrafluoroethylene is a plastic and, like other plastics, has a down right nasty side.

Over to wise geek…..
The nonstick coating used in DuPont’s Teflon® pans has been found to release one or more of 15 different toxic gases when heated to certain temperatures, but is generally safe when used according to manufacturers’ specifications. Which chemicals are released depends on the temperature of the pan. This outgassing can be fatal to pet birds and can cause “polymer fume flu,” also known as “Teflon® flu,” in humans.

read the rest here

Teflon say if you use the pans properly(?), there shouldn’t be a problem. Try telling that to the budgie.

Whatever, the pans are too good to throw out, and I feel bad about giving them away, so I am still using them – but in future I will not be buying any more non-stick.

New Non Stick Pans

 

No PTFE non stick frying pan

More info

You can find out about the other sorts of plastic here

 

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Polylactic acid, (PLA)

by Posted in 1.3 Plastic Types - Fact Sheets Tagged , , , 1 Comment

There are some truly biodegradable and compostable bioplastics.
Biodegradable products break down through a naturally occurring microorganism into simple, stable compounds which can be absorbed into the ecosystem. More about biodegrading here.
To be classed compostable, items must biodegrade within a certain time (around the rate at which paper biodegrades), and the resulting biomass must be free of toxins, able to sustain plant life and be used as an organic fertilizer or soil additive.

Compostable Plastics – PLA

Polylactic acid, (PLA), plastic is an example of a biodegradable bioplastic. PLA or polylactide was discovered in 1932 by Carothers (at DuPont). (Whats a bioplastic? Find out here)

PLA is a bio-polymer
Bio-polymers can be produced from natural resources
A natural bio-polymers is one that is extracted directly from biological raw materials such as cellulose and cotton from plants, wool from sheep and silk from moths
Man made bio-polymers are also derived from plants but then further treated using chemicals.

Poly-lactic acid (PLA), falls into this category.
PLA is made from the starch found in plants including beets, sugar cane, and tapioca.. Starch is a natural polymer, a white, granular carbohydrate produced by plants during photosynthesis Starch can be made into bio-plastic. However when exposed to water starch bio-plastic swells and deforms.To stop this happening the starch needs to be modified

Starch is transformed into PLA by;
1) Using microorganisms to transform it into a lactic acid – a monomer
2) Then chemically treating the lactic acid to create a long chain polymer, polylactic acid – PLA

There are several different types of Polylactic Acid
Racemic PLLA (Poly-L-lactic Acid),
Regular PLLA (Poly-L-lactic Acid),
PDLA (Poly-D-lactic Acid),
and PDLLA (Poly-DL-lactic Acid).

Recycling

PLA can be recycled back into lactic acid and used to make products of the same quality as the original- there is no down-cycling. Currently only recycled in Wisconsin and Belgium.

Biodegradable

PLA products biodegrade into water, carbon dioxide and organic materials. and so can be composted.

“First, the moisture and heat in the compost pile split the polymer chains apart, creating smaller polymers, and finally, lactic acid. Micro-organisms in compost and soil consume the smaller polymer fragments and lactic acid as nutrients. Since lactic acid is widely found in nature, a large number of organisms metabolize lactic acid.  The end result of composting is carbon dioxide, water and humus, a soil nutrient.  This degradation process is temperature and humidity dependent. “
In commercial composters this should take about 30-45 days. In home composting bins it might take longer. Obviously the bulkier the product the harder it is to break down, and the longer it takes.

Rotting Away

a PLA bottle left in the ocean will biodegrade in six to 24 months.
It can be used for medical implants that biodegrade over time

NB PLA will not compost in landfill.

Composting PLA Plastic At Home
While most agree that PLA plastic is indeed compostable, many say that it can only composted in large scale municipal schemes. As we don’t have many large scale municipal schemes this they say is a pointless advantage.I say the days of large scale municipal schemes is fast approaching as governments aim to divert biodegradable rubbish from landfill sites.
Moreover I have been composting my PLA plastic for years. We have used and composted the following PLA plastic products ( including Biobags , Deli pots  and disposable Cutlery  )

The Rest

Are PLA products safe to eat?
People …PLA products are not edible yet are generally non-toxic. Small pieces of PLA will most likely pass harmlessly through the gastrointestinal tract. Once passed through the gastrointestinal tract it will be eliminated in the stool. 
Pigs …PLA can apparently be returned to the food chain. I have heard it suggested that you can feed it to your pig. Please double check.
I am allergic to corn; could I still use PLA products?
Yes, the heat used in the process of deriving the starch from corn destroys the immunologically reactive profiilin. Profilin is the chemical that usually causes an allergic reaction and is not found in PLA products.

Burning PLA Plastic
PLA will not emit toxic fumes when incinerated.

Useful stuff to know

Remember, not all bio- plastics can be composted and some are not as green as they sound
Find out about composting here.

PLA products I use  

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Palm Oil

by Posted in 3.1 General & Homemade, 4 About The Alternatives Tagged , , 3 Comments

While I was in Malaysia I got to see some orangutangs. Most of them were in the rehabilitation center which is basically a safari park, a bit of preserved jungle.  I was also  lucky enough to see one in what was left of the  wild outside – along  with some big nose monkeys. When I say wild, I mean a tiny strip of jungle left straggling along the river bank. The rest of the area, that had once been wild and wonderful rain forest, was now covered with palm oil plantations. Acre upon bloody rolling acre of palm trees. The only reason we got to see so much wild life was that it had been pushed right up to the river by  farmers encroaching on their habitat. Those monkeys had no where to go and no where to hide.

Palm oil comes from Malaysia and Indonesia. Both countries have cut down hundreds of acres of rainforest to make way for huge mono crop farms. While Malaysia appears to be finally taking a more considered approach Indonesia is still tearing down trees and destroying ancient peat land at a frightening rate.

“The average annual rate of forest loss in Indonesia was 498,000 hectare (ha)  (FAO, 2010) from 2000 to 2010 or the equivalent of over 55 rugby fields per hour.

The expanding palm oil industry has been a key driver of this deforestation.  In the decade to 2010, Indonesian plantation area nearly doubled to close to 8.0 million ha and is expected to near 13 million ha by 2020 (PWC, 2012).”

Indiginous people have  been expelled from their land and the loss of habitat has obviously resulted in a  reduction in wildlife some of which, like the orangutang,  is now endangered. This has caused international concern and calls by many for palm oil to be boycotted,  So much so that in  2004, an industry group called the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was formed to work with the palm oil industry to help mitigate some of the worst impacts and rehabilitate the palm oil brand.

The World Wildlife Foundation has approved the  RSPO efforts  in “providing assurance that valuable tropical forests have not been cleared, and social safeguards have been met during the oil’s production” of Certified Sustainable Palm Oil.

What’s Palm Oil Used For?

Almost everything from food to cosmetics. You can see a big list here.

How Do I Know?

That’s not so easy. Many products that use palm oil don’t clearly label the fact. Palm oil and its derivatives can appear under many names.

The WWF lists includes the following:

INGREDIENTS: Vegetable Oil, Vegetable Fat,  Palm Fruit Oil,  Glyceryl, Stearate, Stearic Acid, Elaeis Guineensis, Palmitic Acid, Palm Stearine, Palmitoyl Oxostearamide, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-3, Sodium Kernelate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Lauryl Lactylate/Sulphate, Hyrated Palm Glycerides, Etyl Palmitate, Octyl Palmitate, Palmityl Alcohol

And here are some more

  • PKO – Palm Kernel Oil
  • PKO fractionations: Palm Kernel Stearin (PKs); Palm Kernel Olein (PKOo)
  • PHPKO – Partially hydrogenated Palm Oil
  • FP(K)O – Fractionated Palm Oil
  • OPKO – Organic Palm Kernel Oil
  • Palmate
  • Palmolein
  • Palmitate – Vitamin A or Asorbyl Palmitate (NOTE: Vitamin A Palmitate is a very common ingredient in breakfast cereals and we have confirmed 100% of the samples we’ve investigated to be derived from palm oil)
  • Sodium Laureth Sulphate (Can also be from coconut)
  • Sodium Lauryl Sulphates (can also be from ricinus oil)
  • Sodium dodecyl Sulphate (SDS or NaDS)
  • Elaeis Guineensis
  • Glyceryl Stearate
  • Stearic Acid
  • Chemicals which contain palm oil
  • Steareth -2
  • Steareth -20
  • Sodium Lauryl Sulphate
  • Sodium lauryl sulfoacetate (coconut and/or palm)
  • Hydrated palm glycerides
  • Sodium isostearoyl lactylaye (derived from vegetable stearic acid)
  • Cetyl palmitate and octyl palmitate (names with palmitate at the end are usually derived from palm oil, but as in the case of Vitamin A Palmitate, very rarely a company will use a different vegetable oil)

*Disclaimer: Through research we’ve found that Vitamin A Palmitate can be derived from any combination of vegetable oil such as olive, coconut, canola and/or palm oil. Though in all the cases we’ve documented, companies use palm oil to make derivatives like Vitamin A Palmitate, it can be tricky to know for sure.

Join The Plastic Boycott & Go Palm Oil Free

Being plastic free means our palm oil consumption is cut to  a minimum because we

  • eat little processed food as processed food is usually plastic packed food.
  • cook from scratch and the only oil we use is olive oil or sunflower seed.
  • make most of our own cosmetic and cleaning products. We know what goes into them and that is the tiny amount of palm oil in a cosmetic emulsifier. Really we are talk maybe 25g And is certified sustainable.
  • clean using bicarb and palm oil free soap
  • using butter not margarine
  • don’t shampoo

When we do buy we try to buy palm oil free using this great data base of palm oil free products for guidance.

You can read why Lush stopped using palm oil in their cosmetics here.

Considerations

The palm oil industry provides a lot of work. While a boycott might help some it will of course impact on others. A meaningful dialogue and alternative work opportunities need to be developed.

PVC

by Posted in 1.3 Plastic Types - Fact Sheets Tagged , , ,

 A white brittle plastic until you add plasticisers the most common being phthalates then it becomes soft and flexible. PVC is known as the “poison plastic” because of the lethal chemicals produced during its manufacture and possibly again when disposed of.

It is an ethane derived plastic.

PVC is one of the cheaper plastics and consequently widely used.

PVC is a polymer – a large molecule created by linking together smaller molecules.

It is a combination of oil and chlorine. Chlorine is a salt, the same salt you use in the kitchen.

Over 50% of the weight of PVC comes from chlorine which means PVC requires less petroleum than many other polymers.

It is a thermoplastic material. It will melt when heated to a certain temperatures and harden when it cools.

It is naturally rigid but can be made flexible with the addition of more chemicals including phthalates.

PVC can be used in either form – hard or soft and is used as an insulator and coating for electrical cables, packaging, cling film, bottles, credit cards, audio records and imitation leather window frames, pipes, flooring, car interiors and to make medical disposables.

PVC is used massively in the building industry. Most water pipes are now made from PVC. They replace metal pipes that were less adaptable, more easily damaged and a lot more expensive.

PVC is known as the “poison plastic” because:

  • Toxic chemicals are used in its creation.One of those is vinyl chloride monomer (VCM). VCM is a gas and a known carcinogen causing cancerous tumors in the brain, lungs, liver and various tissues in humans.
  • Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a chlorinated plastic.
  • Dioxins are unintentionally, but unavoidably produced during the manufacture of materials containing chlorine like PVC
  • Dioxin is a known human carcinogen and the most potent synthetic carcinogen ever tested in laboratory animals.
  • Burning these plastics can release dioxins.

Recycling & Biodegradability

PVC does not biodegrade

PVC is not as easy to recycle as other plastics but it can be done. Though opinions differ.For pro try reconvynal and cons go to Earth 911

Safe or lethal? The debate….

Lethal

Toxic chemicals are most certainly used in its creation one of those is vinyl chloride monomer (VCM). VCM is a gas and a known carcinogen causing cancerous tumors in the brain, lungs, liver and various tissues in humans.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), found that early-era PVC (manufactured before 1977) could leach VCM into drinking water to levels that exceed the maximum contaminant level of 2 micrograms per liter of water.
Dioxins, which are lethal, are released if PVC is burnt in a low temperature fire such as an open fire or house fire.

The green movement argue that the toxins used to make PVC endanger those who work in the industry and can pollute the environment. They also claim that the toxins continue to leach out over the products lifetime putting the user at risk.

Safe

Supporters of PVC say that in the beginning manufacturers did not realise the dangers of VCM and since regulations were put in place in the 1970s those dangers have been minimised. They also claim that now the product is safe for users the chemicals are inert and no leaching has been detected.

If PVC is disposed of properly, then there is no risk of dioxins being released. Though of course this does not answer for house fires.

The argument is made more complex when phthalates are involved. Phthalates are a group of chemicals added to PVC (amongst other things), to make it more flexible. These chemicals are toxins and are not bound to the plastic. This means they are able to migrate out of plastic into the surrounding environment. That they do this is fairly well established. Whether they do so in amounts that could be dangerous or not,  is not so clear cut – but I bet you can guess which side believes what.

For an interesting summary of the debate read this article from Mother Earth News

This is from a man who works with PVC in his family business

And this is from Greenpeace

Recycling & Biodegradability

PVC does not biodegrade

PVC is not as easy to recycle as other plastics but it can be done. Though opinions differ.For pro try reconvynal and cons go to Earth 911

There’s lots more on the different plastics and what they are used for  HERE

Find out about all plastic, the boycott  and us  here

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Biodegrading and degradation – Plastic Lifespan,

by Posted in 1.2 Plastic The Product Tagged , 9 Comments

So most plastics are made from oil and most plastics do not biodegrade. See how and why here…

But what does that actually mean?

Biodegrading

Biodegradation refers to the breaking down of organic substances by natural means. Natural means, means the breaking down is done by naturally occurring entities – things that are made in the body such as enzymes ( clever things that enable chemical break downs) or micro organisms that inhabit the teeny tiny world ( bacteria, fungi and exceptionally small plants and animals ). Any plant-based, animal-based, or natural mineral-based product has the capability to biodegrade

The key point is, is that the process of biodegradation is an integral part of the natural cycle. This process could be called rotting or decomposing or other nasty sounding things and yes it can be smelly but it is the very basis of life. Because as natural materials break down they release all kinds of nutrients that are used to feed other living organisms. Orange rind becomes compost which releases nutrients the orange tree can utilize. The tree feeds and so has the energy to make fruit which we eat discarding the peel which then biodegrades into compost – feeding many other creatures along the way including worms. It’s a kind of magic

In short…..

Biodegrading is the breaking down of organic substances,  (plants, dead animals, rocks, minerals etc.), by natural means. It  happens all the time in nature. We live, we die, we rot and so we feed the next generation. Even if you are a rock. All plant-based, animal-based, or natural mineral-based substances will over time biodegrade.

Here’s how long it takes for some commonly used products to biodegrade, when they are scattered about as litter:

Paper ~ 2-5 months 
Cotton rags ~ 1-5 month
Natural fiber rope ~ 3-14 months
Orange peel ~6 months
Wool socks ~1 to 5 years
Leather shoes ~25 to 40 years
Tin cans ~ 50 to 100 years

Plastic – years? centuries? maybe never!

Why Plastic Doesn’t Biodegrade

Because they are man made, the majority of plastics do not biodegrade. “Nature doesn’t make things like that, so organisms have never seen that before ” says Kenneth Peters, an organic geochemist at Stanford University, quoted in this fantastic article I recommend you read

Which means the enzymes and the micro organisms responsible for breaking down organic substances  do not recognize plastic. Therefore plastic products are pretty much indestructible – they do not rot or biodegrade.

Except…

Plastic Eating Microbes

Of course it is not quite as simple as that. Some bacteria it seems can digest plastic. Don’t get too excited. They are rare and don’t eat a great deal but you can read the latest reports here

Biodegradable Musings

That said the term biodegradable can be difficult to define. It is often about the time something takes to biodegrade – the rate at which something breaks down. Arguably  everything, even man-made products, will eventually biodegrade. However if it takes centuries to do so, it is generally considered to be non-biodegradable.

It also depends where a product is dumped.

Why Landfill Doesn’t Work

“Many products that are inherently biodegradable in soil, such as tree trimmings, food wastes, and paper, will not biodegrade when we place them in landfills because the artificial landfill environment lacks the light, water and bacterial activity required for the decay process to begin.”

This is why newspapers landfilled back in 1952 can still be easily read!  The Garbage Project is an anthropological study ofwaste conducted by a group at the University of Arizona. From Greengood

Too Much Trash

The sustainable rate of biodegradation is only what an ecosystem can deal with. Too much and the microorganisms get overwhelmed and collapse sobbing, unable to cope.

Degrading

Of course plastic breaks, tears  and degrades – but only into smaller pieces of plastic. Read more about that here

 

Useful stuff to know

Degradable, biodegradable or compostable

So most plastics are made from oil and most plastics do not biodegrade. See how and why here… And yet you will find plastics described as degradable ...
Read More

Compostable Plastics Index

Plastic was the name given to early synthetic products such as cellophane,  that were derived from cellulose. These plastics  were biodegradable. Then they learnt how to make ...
Read More

Biodegrading and degradation – Plastic Lifespan,

So most plastics are made from oil and most plastics do not biodegrade. See how and why here... But what does that actually mean? Biodegrading Biodegradation ...
Read More

Plastic eating microbes

Is this a good idea?- much as I hate bad plastic I am rather attached to the computer and Dyson. Will they disappear before my very eyes ...
Read More

Degradation Initiators & Degradable Plastic

Traditional plastics do not biodegrade. Of course plastic breaks, tears and cracks. It weathers and sunlight makes it brittle, It falls apart – it degrades – but ...
Read More

 

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Plastics – a big list of the different types of plastic

by Posted in 1.2 Plastic The Product Tagged

Plastics can be made in a variety of ways from a variety of materials; shale gas, oil, plants even chicken feathers can all be used to make plastic.
However oil derived plastics are the most common.
Plastics are created from single units combined in a variety of ways. This process is called polymerisation. Different combinations result in different products and there are hundreds of them.
Plastics can be used to make everything from varnish to stockings, bottles to car parts by way of varnish, crisp packets and computers.
Most plastics do not biodegrade and last for centuries possibly for ever.
But then there are other plastics that are truly compostable with a lifespan of months and dissolve in the dishwasher.

Confused? Find out more here  What is plastic -an introduction.
Don’t know your P.E.T.s from your polymers?  Check out this collection of definitions essential for understanding plastic!

A List Of Plastics

Some quick notes

Click on the name to find out more

Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene -BOPP when polypropylene  is biaxially oriented, it becomes Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene -BOPP– the crisp crystal clear stuff used for greeting cards, the plastic wrapping round boxes of tea etc.  It is easy to coat, print and laminate to give the required appearance and properties for use as a packaging material.
Bioplastics are made from plants rather than oil.
Bio- degradable /Degradable Plastic has  additives to make it bio-degrade. NOT to be confused with compostable plastic!

Cellophane is one of the first plastics. Proper cellophane is plant derived and biodegradable. However the term is often applied to a petroleum derived product.

Compostable Plastic  has been certified compostable and can naturally biodegrade such as PLA plastic.

Degradable plastic with added chemicals to make them break down more quickly.

Ethane derived plastics – ethane comes from plants, oil coal and gas

Film plastics can be bonded together to create different kinds of product.All of which can be hard to RECYCLE

Halogenated Plastics include

  • Chlorine based plastics:
  • Chlorinated polyethylene (CPE)
  • Chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC)
  • Chlorosulfonated polyethylene (CSPE)
  • Polychloroprene (CR or chloroprene rubber, marketed under the brand name of Neoprene)
  • PVC
  • Fluorine based plastics:
  • Fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP)

These are known as the poison plastics are carcinogens are produced when they are made and ageing when they are disposed of.

Film – different plastics can be bonded together to create all manners of film. Read more HERE

HDPE- High-density polyethylene plastic code 2  Used to carrier bags, toys, bottle s and a whole load of other stuff.  

LDPE- Low density polyethylene plastic code 4  used to make everything from soft clear bags to parts that need to be weldable and machinable

Nylon is often associated with the fabric of the same name but can be used to make all manner of things from fibre to  moulded objects.

Polyethylene (polythene) derived from ethane.

      • High-density polyethylene (HDPE)
      • LDPE- Low density polyethylene plastic code 4
      • Cross-linked polyethylene (PEX or XLPE)
      • Medium-density polyethylene (MDPE)
      • Linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE)
      • Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) 
      • Very-low-density polyethylene (VLDPE)


PLA a plastic derived from poly lactic acid that is certified a compostable plastic. Fact Sheet or all posts

Polyethylene terephthalat PET or PETE plastic code 1 most often used for making fibers and bottles

Polyurethanes  can be used to make almost anything from cushions to varnish. Used to make  flexible foam in upholstered furniture and rigid foam such as shoe soles. It also comes in a fluid form in  varnishes, adhesives and  sealants.

Polypropylene PP plastic code 5  is used to make ropes, thermal underwear, carpets, plastic parts and reusable containers of various types. Used in the automobile and construction industries, some car battery casings, oil funnels, and plastic drinking straws, laboratory equipment, loudspeakers, automotive components, and polymer banknotes.

Polystyrene – PS  plastic code 6 disposable (ha!) products to food packaging like fast food clamshells, meat trays, protective packaging  and loose fill peanuts. Difficult to recycle.

Polytetrafluoroethylene  (PTFE) is a synthetic non stick coating for cookware to armoured bullets. It is an efficient lubricant and can kill budgies. Check it out.

Polyvinyl chloride PVC  plastic code 3  PVC is known as the “poison plastic” because of the lethal chemicals produced during its manufacture and possibly again when disposed of.

 Silicon and silicone rubber– Plastic? Rubber? Just plain weird? Used for everything  from ice-cube trays to adult toys to cake tins it certainly gets around. So what is silicone??

The main polymers in use are

      • polyethylene,
      • polypropylene,
      • polyvinyl chloride,
      • polyethylene terephthalate,
      • polystyrene,
      • polycarbonate,
      • polyeurothene
      • poly(methyl methacrylate) (Plexiglas).

According to Wikkipedia they account for ” nearly 98% of all polymers”. Wikkipeida”

Most of the plastic products we use are derived from these polymers with alternative plastics accounting for the rest.

Most of the base components for these polymers are derived from oil.

Why Do Some Plastics Have Numbers?

Plastic codes are the number you find on some plastics to identify the polymers used. There are many more plastics than numbers and new plastics are being made all the time. Find out more here

 Brand Names

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Silicone

by Posted in 1.3 Plastic Types - Fact Sheets, 4 About The Alternatives, 4.9 Useful to know Tagged , , 18 Comments

Plastic? Rubber? Just plain weird? Used for everything  from ice-cube trays to adult toys to cake tins it certainly gets around. So what is silicone??

Silicon is a natural chemical element. Silicone polymers are derived from silicon and so silicone is a  man-made product derived from silicon a natural element.
Silicon the natural chemical element, is generally found in solid crystalline form like sand.
Silicone, the product, may be a liquid lubricant, a semi-solid adhesive or a rubber-like plastic polymer

Uses
Liquid silicone is often used as a lubricant.
An example of a thicker form of rubberized silicone  would waterproof sealant used in bathrooms and window fitting.
Solid silicone rubber – is used for everything from cake baking cases to internal sanitary protection.

Silicone Rubber
Silicone rubber a manmade product  derived from natural products – silicon and rubber. It is made by curing or vulcanizing natural rubber. Silicon is injected into the long hydrocarbon chains of natural rubber under high heat and pressure. The result is silicone rubber.
Silicone rubber is a  silicon polymer with rubberized qualities.
It was  first produced under the chemical name of polydimethlysiloxane.
Silicone rubber is heat resistant so can be used to make cookware including oven mitts, tongs, pot holders and pan handles.
Silicone rubber also possesses non-stick qualities, so it can be formed into flexible cookware such as muffin and cake pans.

Silicone Generally
All silicone is inert, it does not react with other elements or compounds.
There are (as yet) no known health hazards of silicone.
Silicone is not biodegradable,  but it can be recycled easily – where facilities exist.
Silicone comes in two grades, food and medical grade silicone.

Do I boycott silicone?

Silicone, is  a man-made polymer which does not biodegrade, and so has to specially disposed of. Like other plastics  I try to avoid using it. Like other plastics, there are some silicone products I use,  because they help me reduce the amount of plastic, throw-away trash I would otherwise create.
silicone products I use or at least think might be useful

silicone products I use or at least think might be useful 

unbreakable reusable cups
I am not a paper cup – a pottery cup with reusable silicone lid.
plastic free menstruation silicone mooncups

Check out other synthetic polymers and plastics right here