Consequences of using plastics

[Laurent]

Interesting video, on the impact of our civilisation !

[Laurent]

Don't know if I already posted that...? but you know about the plastic continent...yes you know...there is one in arctic also and it may be the biggest...
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2014EF000240/pdf

[Laurent]

Who wants some plastic stone to build your home...
An anthropogenic marker horizon in the future rock record
http://www.geosociety.org/gsatoday/archive/24/6/pdf/i1052-5173-24-6-4.pdf

[Anne]

The Ocean Cleanup Kid responds to his critics item by item. The feasibility study suggests the project might work.

This week, I presented the results of a year-long study me and my 100 colleagues have been working on. The 530-page report has been authored by 70 people, and concluded my concept is indeed likely a feasible and viable ocean cleanup technique. The conclusion has been peer reviewed by external experts

Well worth a read.
http://www.theoceancleanup.com/blog/show/item/responding-to-critics.html



I really hope this thing can happen.

[Laurent]

Laundry Lint Pollutes the World's Oceans

Lint from washing machines is polluting the world’s oceans. Nearly 2000 polyester fibers can float away, unseen, from a single fleece sweater in one wash cycle. The consequences of this widespread pollution are still hazy, but environmental scientists say the microscopic plastic fibers have the potential to harm marine life.

http://news.sciencemag.org/earth/2014/06/trending-how-plastic-changing-world
That's an important news for many...and for me...sheezz all my landry is synthetic....
We really should take that serioulsly...

[Laurent]

Microbeads
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-neill/microbeads_b_5522486.html?utm_hp_ref=green&ir=Green

[Laurent]

Why Illinois has banned exfoliating face washes
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25773-why-illinois-has-banned-exfoliating-face-washes.html?cmpid=RSS|NSNS|2012-GLOBAL|environment#.U6lXVFFJzlc

[Laurent]

Plastic Debris Widespread On Ocean Surface, Study Finds
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/30/plastic-debris-oceans_n_5544943.html?utm_hp_ref=green&ir=Green

[Laurent]

Ninety-nine percent of the ocean's plastic is missing
http://news.sciencemag.org/environment/2014/06/ninety-nine-percent-oceans-plastic-missing

[TerryM]

Laurent
I've been reading everything at this site since Neven started it & I don't think I've ever thanked you for your contributions.
Thank You
Terry

[Lynn Shwadchuck]

Wow, Laurent, that is a horror story! I vividly recall the 2007 Harper's article on the plastic garbage in the Pacific Gyre. I'm appalled that there's evidence that it's just plain gone.

(Article — From the January 2007 issue
Moby-Duck Or, the synthetic wilderness of childhood By Donovan Hohn
http://harpers.org/archive/2007/01/moby-duck/)

'Davison and Law say there are a number of other potential places the plastic could be ending up. It could be washing ashore, and a lot of it could be degrading into pieces too small to be detected. Another possibility is that organisms sticking to and growing on the plastic are dragging the junk beneath the ocean’s surface, either suspending it in the water column or sinking it all the way to the sea floor. Microbes may even be eating the stuff.

'Best-case scenario for the fate of the missing plastic? It’s sinking from the weight of organisms sticking to it or in animal feces and getting buried on the ocean floor, Law says. “I don’t think we can conceive of the worst-case scenario, quite frankly. We really don’t know what this plastic is doing.”'

[Neven]

If that’s the case, “there is potential for this plastic to enter the global ocean food web,” says Carlos Duarte, an oceanographer at the University of Western Australia, Crawley. “And we are part of this food web.”

Is this the same Duarte who was supposed to brief the White House about methane clathrates, a story that was somewhat overblown?

I vaguely remember reading somewhere, or maybe it was a documentary, that if we could prevent plastic from reaching the oceans, things would be sorted out within a decade, perhaps two.

[Laurent]

Thanks TerryM,
I must thank too much people here, everyone adding something for the search of the truth is very welcome, starting by Neven, Abruptslr, Wipneus, you, Espen and many others. I regret that jimd and a few others have step back. Anyway until now it is great to observe what is going on and I am really enjoying to share it with you.

[Laurent]

Have Some Fish With Your Plastic
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-reese-halter/have-some-fish-with-your_b_5597726.html?utm_hp_ref=green&ir=Green

[Laurent]

Plastic rubbish heaps at sea pose bigger threat to Earth than climate change, claims ocean expert
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/plastic-rubbish-heaps-at-sea-pose-bigger-threat-to-earth-than-climate-change-claims-ocean-expert-9692265.html

[Bruce Steele]

What a bunch of rubbish. " An expert " with nothing more than an untested theory claims plastic is a bigger threat to life than climate change? If ,as he claims ,plastic is killing something he might ask what species are at risk, he might say where those species reside, or what mechanisms actually cause mortality. He might also balance that loss with the fact that big piece of floating plastic also harbor barnacles , tunicates , and a long list of species that utilize our trash as good habitat. Anyway I think the " expert " would appreciate donations, and that is probably a big motivation of this junk article.
I am not promoting more trash in the ocean but this article could be viewed as a red herring, a canard, or an obfuscation to divert attention. Considering how poorly it makes it's own claim ," bigger than climate change " I would say that may be it's actual intent + donations.   

[Laurent]

I agree with you, still we have to listen this guy and others because there is plenty of them and thought there saying is not true they have contributed and contribute to a better world by showing us things we won't have focused on otherwise. I am thinking also of the president of Kokopelli (http://www.kokopelli-seed-foundation.com/), recently he was saying that the climate is not a problem but the seeds are... his association is one who complain about Avaaz because they ask for donation, claiming they are involved when they aren't. There is a battle for donation and that should increase when the money will become scarce.
My point is that we have to listen what they say but of course we are not obliged to agree with them.

[Tom_Mazanec]

Plastic accelerate AGW:
https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/news/article/plastic-pollution-is-contributing-to-climate-change-greenhouse-gas

[kassy]

Cigarette butts are the forgotten plastic pollution—and they could be killing our plants

Cigarette butts or filters are the most littered item on the planet. An estimated 5.6 trillion cigarettes are smoked each year, out of which two thirds are improperly disposed of. That's [4.5 trillion butts] each year. Since the 1980s, cigarette butts have accounted for 30 percent to 40 percent of all litter found in coastal and urban litter clean-ups.

...

as well as taking much longer to break down than most people think, discarded cigarette butts may significantly damage surrounding plant growth, as our new research suggests.

Cigarette butts are composed of thousands of cellulose acetate fibers and, although biodegradable, take years to disappear from the environment.

...Used filters also contain thousands of chemicals that can kill plants, insects, rodents, fungus and other lifeforms, and some of which are known carcinogens. ... The leachates from cigarette butts can be toxic to aquatic organisms such as bacteria, crustaceans, worms and fish.

...

In surveys of the three largest parks in Cambridge, my colleagues and I found an average of 2.6 butts per square meter, with a maximum of 126 butts per square meter found near park benches (despite having ashtrays nearby)...what effect do they have on the plants in the park?

we conducted an experiment, adding cigarette butts to pots with either grass (perennial ryegrass) or clover (white clover) seeds to see how their development was affected. We tested butts from smoked and unsmoked regular and menthol cigarettes, as well as butt-sized wooden dowels to compare the effect of simply having an inert object on top of the soil.

We found that cigarette butts reduced the germination and shoot length reached by grass and clover by up to 25 percent and reduced the amount of root biomass of clover by almost 60%.

and more

https://phys.org/news/2019-07-cigarette-butts-forgotten-plastic-pollutionand.html

Many links in the article.

[nanning]

Cigarette butts are the forgotten plastic pollution—and they could be killing our plants

Cigarette butts or filters are the most littered item on the planet. An estimated 5.6 trillion cigarettes are smoked each year, out of which two thirds are improperly disposed of. That's [4.5 trillion butts] each year. Since the 1980s, cigarette butts have accounted for 30 percent to 40 percent of all litter found in coastal and urban litter clean-ups.
<snippage>

I estimate I have removed some 10000 cigarette butts from nature and streets in the past 5 years. When I became aware of the poisons and effects. I'm a smoker and now always carry an ashtray with me when 'in nature'. The ashtray's contents go each day in a little plastic (yes, sorry) bag.
Not just cigarette butts but all kinds of plastic, metal cans, bottles and broken glass, fireworks remnants etc.
I really have to strongly commend the 'hunter/gather' aspect of it. Locate, bend down and manoeuvre with bended knees, take the litter in your almost full hand, get up again and dispose of the litter. The  movements are very natural and good for the environment and morality. Set a good example 

[kassy]

Yeah whenever you grab that plastic sandwich bag and dispose of it properly you save thousands of pieces later. And the picking up can indeed be an exercise.

[TerryM]

Jeez nanning


That's my Cambridge they're talking about here in Ontario. The closest park is 1 block from door.


If you're good for ~2K butts/an why not move into my building and do Cambridge some good.
I smoked when I moved here, but found the ostracize oppressing. Quit ~ 5 yrs ago after a mild stroke - though I still vape.
After living in Las Vegas Cambridge felt like the non-smoking capital of the world. If our parks are such a mess I can't help wonder how other regions would fare.


Thanks for the article kassy.
Next time I'm out I'll check the parks to see if they suddenly got worse in my absence.
Terry

[nanning]

I'd have no problem cleaning your park Terry but you live so very far away.

It takes no more effort than a couple of hours gathering each day and, depending on the abundance of butts, in a week all the old butts will be gone. I even enjoy doing it. Especially if the 'before' and 'after' contrast is very visible.

In my observation grown-ups hardly bent anymore; go through their knees, to the ground. The most important effect is that most people lost their jumping power and with that also lost their ability to run naturally like children can. Very sad.

Most of the time the butts are concentrated around the park's benches and then it is possible to pick up >25 per minute on average.
Las Vegas must be awash with butts from so many smokers.

It sucks that you are not so fit anymore and cannot do it yourself but if you know any environmentally aware teenagers perhaps they are willing to do it. I expect other people to give compliments if they see teenagers picking up old butts .

[TerryM]

I'd have no problem cleaning your park Terry but you live so very far away.

It takes no more effort than a couple of hours gathering each day and, depending on the abundance of butts, in a week all the old butts will be gone. I even enjoy doing it. Especially if the 'before' and 'after' contrast is very visible.

In my observation grown-ups hardly bent anymore; go through their knees, to the ground. The most important effect is that most people lost their jumping power and with that also lost their ability to run naturally like children can. Very sad.

Most of the time the butts are concentrated around the park's benches and then it is possible to pick up >25 per minute on average.
Las Vegas must be awash with butts from so many smokers.

It sucks that you are not so fit anymore and cannot do it yourself but if you know any environmentally aware teenagers perhaps they are willing to do it. I expect other people to give compliments if they see teenagers picking up old butts .

We have a river cleanup program every year thanks to volunteers from the Ancient Mariners Canoe Club. I participated for ~5 yrs and still maintain my membership, even though it's been a while since I could portage my canoe.
It's a nice bunch of old timers very concerned with keeping the river as pristine as possible.


I can still bend my knees to get down, but getting up without assistance is problematical.
Terry

[nanning]

getting up without assistance is problematical

Now I'm imagining teenagers picking up your old butt.

[TerryM]

getting up without assistance is problematical

Now I'm imagining teenagers picking up your old butt.

They have!
Terry

[be cause]

bbc reported Trump straws .. a plastic pack of 10 plastic straws for $15 to fund Trump's next campaign . They are selling by the thousand and are destined for the ocean .. Trump declared he 'loves plastic' .. b.c.

[philopek]

bbc reported Trump straws .. a plastic pack of 10 plastic straws for $15 to fund Trump's next campaign . They are selling by the thousand and are destined for the ocean .. Trump declared he 'loves plastic' .. b.c.

Interestingly whenver I'm working on my book about alternative political and economic system, one key part and very complex part is the part about responsibility.

Without being held responsible, politicians and corporate leaders will never come to reason and set the priorities right.

Further, as it happens, responsibility has to come with consequences once conduct is not according to the rules and the only group of people who make me think whether death penalties would be justified ( IMO it never is but i'm reconsidering from time to time) is when I think about punishment for politicians and corporate leaders who in fact commit mass-murder when following the consequences of their doings to the end.

BTW animals deserve as much respect as humans, (sometimes i tend to think but not say, even more so)

Now what has this to do with this thread ?

The Donald is one of those who make me reconsider !

[DaveHitz]

bbc reported Trump straws .. a plastic pack of 10 plastic straws for $15 to fund Trump's next campaign . They are selling by the thousand and are destined for the ocean .. Trump declared he 'loves plastic' .. b.c.

In the US, most plastic goes into landfill, not into the ocean.

That said, I'm all in favor of impeachment.

[vox_mundi]

Paradise Lost
https://phys.org/news/2019-07-plastic-junk-spawns-island-disaster.html



Henderson Island is an uninhabited coral atoll that lies almost exactly halfway between New Zealand and Peru, with 5,500 kilometres (3,400 miles) of ocean in either direction.

Despite its extreme isolation, a freak confluence of geography and ocean currents means Henderson has one of the highest concentrations of plastic pollution on the planet.

"We found debris from just about everywhere," said Jennifer Lavers, an Australian-based researcher who led an expedition to the island last month.

"We had bottles and containers, all kinds of fishing stuff and it had come from, well, you name it—Germany, Canada, the United States, Chile, Argentina, Ecuador.

Henderson lies at the centre of the South Pacific gyre, a vast circular ocean current that runs anti-clockwise down the east coast of Australia and up the west coast of South America.

The gyre should be a boon for the 10-kilometre-by-five speck of land, carrying rich nutrients into the waters surrounding Henderson to feed huge colonies of sea birds. Henderson was included on the UN World Heritage List in 1988, with the body hailing it as an untouched paradise.

But three decades later, the gyre has become a marine conveyor belt dumping endless waves of plastic detritus onto Henderson's coast, making it the hub of what has become known as the South Pacific Garbage Patch.

-------------------------

Are Mini Shampoo Bottles the New Plastic Straw?
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/29/travel/plastic-straws-mini-shampoo-bottles.html

Now that the hotel industry has largely embraced bans on plastic straws, one major hotel group aims to eliminate the next set of plastic targets: mini bottles of shampoo, conditioner, lotion and the like.

... According to the World Bank, some 242 million tons of plastic waste was produced in 2016 and this waste is projected to grow to 3.4 billion tons in 2050. The World Economic Forum found at least 8 million tons of plastics end up in the ocean annually, and that only 14 percent of plastic packaging material globally is collected for recycling.

[Tom_Mazanec]

Plastic hurting Myanmar's turtles:
https://phys.org/news/2019-07-plastic-pollution-piles-pressure-myanmar.html

[kassy]

Wrong link Tom.

[vox_mundi]

'I Like Plastic': Pakistan's Toxic 'Love Affair' With Waste
https://phys.org/news/2019-08-plastic-pakistan-toxic-affair.html



From the once pristine rivers of Hindu Kush to the slums of Islamabad, Pakistan is being smothered by plastic due to a lack of public awareness, government inertia, and poor waste management.

Plastic bags are a large part of the problem—the nation uses some 55 billion of them each year, according to the Pakistan Plastic Manufacturers Association.

... In Pakistan there is no cohesive national policy, and regional efforts often fail to consider the importance of educational outreach—with many in rural areas claiming to be unaware of the damage single use plastic can wreak.

"Fighting for the environment? We have no knowledge about that," says salesman Mohammad Tahir, who uses plastic bags to wrap vegetables for his customers.

Plastics swamp the Arabian Sea coastline, where the sewers of the sprawling port city of Karachi spew its waste.

According to the United Nations, single-use plastic bags kill up to one million birds, hundreds of thousands of marine mammals and turtles, along with "countless" fish each year.

And yet in Pakistan, authorities say the amount of plastic used is increasing by 15 percent each year.

Plastic bags have become part of the "culture" in Pakistan, says Nazifa Butt, a researcher with WWF.

"We would never use a cup of tea without a saucer. You will never be sold anything without a plastic bag. It is considered insulting," she adds.

... "I can confiscate all the plastic bags in one hour. But then, what is the alternative?" says Khurshid Alam Mehsud, a district administrative officer in Chitral, who insists more "time" is needed to address the issue.

[DrTskoul]

The biggest problem is that they do not have a proper garbage collection system and people throw garbage at the corners of the streets.

[Tom_Mazanec]

Ocean plastics field trip for corporate executives:
https://www.outsideonline.com/2400590/ocean-plastic-pollution-soulbuffalo

[kassy]

Plastics everywhere:

US Geological Survey Finds It's Raining Plastic in The Rocky Mountains
JACINTA BOWLER 15 AUG 2019

While a team of researchers from the US Geological Survey (USGS) was analysing rainwater samples for nitrogen pollution, they found something they weren't expecting – plastic.

....

In a new report, aptly titled "It is raining plastic", the team explain that plastics were identified in over 90 percent of the rainwater samples they took at eight different sites, most of which are between Denver and Boulder, Colorado.

While it wouldn't be surprising for microplastics to contaminate most sample sites, considering the abundance of plastic in urban locations, some of these sites are remote. One of them, called CO98, is 3,159 metres (10,400 feet) above sea level in the Rocky Mountains. 

...

"However, frequent observation of plastic fibres in washout samples from the remote site CO98 at Loch Vale in Rocky Mountain National Park suggests that wet deposition of plastic is ubiquitous and not just an urban condition."

The team found mostly strands of plastic – they look suspiciously like microfibres from synthetic materials, such as those that make up a lot of clothes. There was also a number of colours - blue was the most common, but red, silver, purple and green were also found.

...

This isn't the first paper to look at microplastics ending up in unexpected environments. A paper published in Nature Geoscience earlier this year found microplastics in the French Pyrenees, and estimated that microplastics could be travelling up to 95 kilometres (60 miles) through the atmosphere.

and more:
https://www.sciencealert.com/us-geological-survey-finds-it-s-raining-plastic-in-the-rocky-mountains

also

Plastic particles falling out of sky with snow in Arctic

Even in the Arctic, microscopic particles of plastic are falling out of the sky with snow, a study has found.

The scientists said they were shocked by the sheer number of particles they found: more than 10,000 of them per litre in the Arctic.

...

The scientists also found rubber particles and fibres in the snow.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49295051

Also discussed in ASI subforum see:
https://forum.arctic-sea-ice.net/index.php/topic,2732.0.html

[Tom_Mazanec]

Plastic pollution in the ocean physically affects several marine organisms and poisons human food systems. It can also affect larger oceanic processes, speculate a team of researchers.
Plastic on the ocean’s surface can trap sunlight, making the surface warmer and reducing the amount of light and heat traveling to the depths of the ocean.
If plastic litter were to cover the ocean’s surface, it can have ripple effects on marine ecosystems and affect the planet’s climate system, the scientists warn.
https://india.mongabay.com/2019/08/what-would-happen-if-the-oceans-are-completely-covered-with-plastic/

[Tom_Mazanec]

Replace plastic straws with paper straws, solve some proportion of the problem, right? Yes, if only a tiny share. Straws make up just 0.025 percent of the plastic that finds its way into the ocean each year; the United States, the biggest per capita producer of garbage on Earth, is not even close to the biggest producer of mismanaged plastic waste. On the one hand, straw bans will lead to thousands and thousands of fewer straws in the ocean; on the other hand, straw bans will not change the underlying environmental calculus at all.

Hey, solving 0.025 percent multiplied by four thousand is a big thing. Do a little a lot of times.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/08/paper-straws-wont-stop-climate-change/596302/

[Tom_Mazanec]

Human-centered plastics recycling interventions can help combat climate change
https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/459732-human-centered-plastics-recycling-interventions-can-help-combat

Taking these innovative human-centered plastic recycling interventions to scale globally has the potential to slowly begin to reverse climate change and reduce its harmful health effects. However, it would require peer to peer learning, community mobilization and advocacy to policy makers highlighting how recycling plastics would make the world healthier for all. These can be achieved through cross-country collaborations between governments, sharing ideas at conferences and using social media to amplify these human-centered innovations.

[Tom_Mazanec]

Is it just a coincidence that a plastics supporter supports shale gas?
AT A REFINERY IN SCOTLAND, A PLASTICS EVANGELIST SAYS U.S. SHALE GAS IS VITAL
https://www.alleghenyfront.org/at-a-refinery-in-scotland-a-plastics-evangelist-says-u-s-shale-gas-is-vital/

StateImpact Pennsylvania’s Reid Frazier is in Scotland as he follows the Marcellus shale gas overseas. Listen for his reports on the radio beginning Later this month. In the meantime, follow what he’s up to through his occasional dispatches.

[vox_mundi]

Mealworms Provide Plastic Solution
https://phys.org/news/2019-12-mealworms-plastic-solution.html
https://phys.org/news/2015-09-plastic-eating-worms-solution-mounting.html

Tiny mealworms may hold part of the solution to our giant plastics problem. Not only are they able to consume various forms of plastic, as previous Stanford research has shown, they can eat Styrofoam containing a common toxic chemical additive and still be safely used as protein-rich feedstock for other animals, according to a new Stanford study published in Environmental Science & Technology.

"This work provides an answer to many people who asked us whether it is safe to feed animals with mealworms that ate Styrofoam", said Wei-Min Wu, a senior research engineer in Stanford's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering who has led or co-authored most of the Stanford studies of plastic-eating mealworms.


Mealworms munch on Styrofoam, a hopeful sign that solutions to plastics pollution exist.

Anja Malawi Brandon et al. The fate of hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD), a common flame retardant, in polystyrene-degrading mealworms: elevated HBCD levels in egested polymer but no bioaccumulation, Environmental Science & Technology (2019)

"Biodegradation and Mineralization of Polystyrene by Plastic-Eating Mealworms. 1. Chemical and Physical Characterization and Isotopic Tests." Environ. Sci. Technol. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.5b02661

"Biodegradation and Mineralization of Polystyrene by Plastic-Eating Mealworms. 2. Role of Gut Microorganisms." Environ. Sci. Technol. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.5b02663

[kassy]

Why do sea turtles eat ocean plastics? New research points to smell

One week is all it takes for a piece of plastic floating in the ocean to begin to smell like turtle food.

New research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shows that plastics floating in the ocean build a coating of algae and microorganisms that smells edible to turtles. The study, "Odors from marine plastic debris elicit foraging behavior in sea turtles," was published March 9 in the journal Current Biology.

...

The study raises questions about a number of long-term impacts plastics may have on all ocean species, the researchers said.

"In parts of the Pacific Ocean there are huge areas covered with floating plastic debris," Lohmann said. "One concern this study raises is that dense concentrations of plastics may make turtles - or other species - think the area is an abundant source of food. These areas may draw in marine mammals, fish and birds because the area smells like a good foraging ground. Once these plastics are in the ocean, we don't have a good way to remove them or prevent them from smelling like food. The best thing we can do is to keep plastic from getting into the ocean at all."

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-03/uonc-wds030520.php