Warnings against a wonder material
Saturday, 6 June 2009
Nerun Yakub
Watchdogs of environmental toxins have recently been cautioning against the use of plastics and polythene once again, materials without which everyday life seems unthinkable now. The warnings come not only because the capital's lifeline Buriganga is choking from a ten feet layer of polythene (The Daily Star, Monday 1, June 2009), nor because cunning sellers of nylon net bags (imported and equally non-biodegradable) want to malign the locally produced product for their own interest. There are more potent reasons. Littering is a problem of course. 'But it's the people who litter!' retort plastic and polythene producers. 'So let's not blame the income-generating, job-creating industry for the careless habits of users,' they argue. The point is a valid one. A lot of problems could be avoided if users and garbage disposers were trained to adopt sustainable habits. The Municipal Corporation alone dumps tonnes of it regularly into the Buriganga, together with other household wastes. But it is not this aspect that bothers health activists. They tell us hard truths, particularly about soft plastics, the kind your baby bites on during the teething period.
This versatile material can have many forms and character, but the fact is, the manufacture of everyday plastics ---- hundreds of different products are designed for hundreds of different uses ----- belong to the group of 'dirty' industries that have come South after being phased-out in the North on account of their high environmental costs. The industrialized countries had discovered decades ago that what was once a wonder material had turned out to be a villain, a health hazard in more ways than one. According to a Washington-based activist group, Health Care Without Harm (HCWH), plastic products leach a harmful chemical called bisphenol-A (BPA) into the food or drink that is carried or stored in them. The chemical compound DEHP (or Phthalates) that is used to soften polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or vinyl, to make saline and blood bags, is highly toxic and leaches into patients' bodies via the blood or saline. After these revelations, advanced countries have reportedly reverted to glass bottles to infuse medical solutions.
Health Care Without Harm (HCWH), is an international coalition of about 300 organizations in some 27 countries and has been working tirelessly to transform the global health care industry. It says DEHP, which is not chemically bonded to the plastic, may be the cause of many reproductive and developmental problems in humans. DEHP is also used in other vinyl products including floorings, wall coverings, furniture, luggage, children's toys ---- to name a few. Animal studies have shown DEHP to be particularly harmful to the developing foetus and the reproductive system. It has been implicated in abnormal structural changes in the testes, in the reduction of fertility, changes in production of sperm, dysfunction of the ovaries and a significant decrease in hormone production in females. Malformations of the skeleton and heart, developmental delays and foetal death have also been found in animals exposed to DEHP.
Such information of course is of no consequence to the mass of poor people in Bangladesh who exist precariously on the very edge of civilization. Consider, that the Aila-affected human beings stranded in the south western coastal areas, have been collecting drinking water from the water-treatment units, in used PET bottles. In Bangladesh virtually everybody --- the not-so-poor and the well-to-do included ---- is found using and reusing throwaway plastic bottles. Convenience wins, even over the knowledge that the long-term health effects are considerable. We also find a good many of the urban poor happy to pick plastic ---- PET bottles, polythene, anything ---- from filthy dumps, the first step in the recover-recycle-reuse chain that helps keep their body and soul together.
More privileged Bangladeshis however would do well to learn from the latest information though it is primarily intended to alert the well-to-do. Europe's Scientific Committee on Toxicity, Ecotoxicity and the Environment (CSTEE), for one, had banned the use of DEHP in toys and other items meant for young children. DEHP exposure begins at conception because it can jump the placenta barrier. It can continue throughout the infant's growth. Food, water, medical procedures or indoor air pollution from vinyl floors, wall coverings, false ceilings and furniture are all potential sources of DEHP exposure for a pregnant woman. In the list of other objects containing DEHP are respiratory masks, tubings, catherters, examination gloves, mattress covers and what not ! Even breast milk, baby formula and food were found to contain the toxin because of continued exposure to the vinyl at home. The Europeans are not the only ones concerned. In the US an expert panel convened by the National Toxicology Programme had also expressed serious concern over the risks of using DEHP-containing medical products.
No one knows exactly what impact multiple exposures would reveal. After all, it takes decades to track the chemical culprits causing specific health problems, and that too, only if the scientific community thinks it worth investigating. Otherwise, nobody knows what strikes you, and every now and then 'mysterious' ailments appear, confusing the medical profession, which hardly ever suspects toxins in the environment. There are hundreds of thousands of man-made chemicals in the world today and not even a third of them have been studied for possible health effects. Nor do we know what devilish compounds continue to be churned out from the chemical cauldron every day.
But there is no doubt that DEHP has serious effects on animals, including humans and it should be a serious concern for action even for poor countries. But would our decision-makers and commercially important people take note and act seriously to switch to non-PVC plastics ? It is said to be already available abroad. Of course, at our socio-economic stage, many would consider it a luxury to worry about DEHP exposure alone when our water bodies, the air we breathe and the soil we cherish get scant attention from the powers- that- be. In-depth reports in a contemporary tell of the horrendous pollution that the capital's main rivers have been subjected to over decades, exposing the general insensitivity of those who have tremendous power to pollute but no vision at all to see beyond the nose.
Watchdogs of environmental toxins have recently been cautioning against the use of plastics and polythene once again, materials without which everyday life seems unthinkable now. The warnings come not only because the capital's lifeline Buriganga is choking from a ten feet layer of polythene (The Daily Star, Monday 1, June 2009), nor because cunning sellers of nylon net bags (imported and equally non-biodegradable) want to malign the locally produced product for their own interest. There are more potent reasons. Littering is a problem of course. 'But it's the people who litter!' retort plastic and polythene producers. 'So let's not blame the income-generating, job-creating industry for the careless habits of users,' they argue. The point is a valid one. A lot of problems could be avoided if users and garbage disposers were trained to adopt sustainable habits. The Municipal Corporation alone dumps tonnes of it regularly into the Buriganga, together with other household wastes. But it is not this aspect that bothers health activists. They tell us hard truths, particularly about soft plastics, the kind your baby bites on during the teething period.
This versatile material can have many forms and character, but the fact is, the manufacture of everyday plastics ---- hundreds of different products are designed for hundreds of different uses ----- belong to the group of 'dirty' industries that have come South after being phased-out in the North on account of their high environmental costs. The industrialized countries had discovered decades ago that what was once a wonder material had turned out to be a villain, a health hazard in more ways than one. According to a Washington-based activist group, Health Care Without Harm (HCWH), plastic products leach a harmful chemical called bisphenol-A (BPA) into the food or drink that is carried or stored in them. The chemical compound DEHP (or Phthalates) that is used to soften polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or vinyl, to make saline and blood bags, is highly toxic and leaches into patients' bodies via the blood or saline. After these revelations, advanced countries have reportedly reverted to glass bottles to infuse medical solutions.
Health Care Without Harm (HCWH), is an international coalition of about 300 organizations in some 27 countries and has been working tirelessly to transform the global health care industry. It says DEHP, which is not chemically bonded to the plastic, may be the cause of many reproductive and developmental problems in humans. DEHP is also used in other vinyl products including floorings, wall coverings, furniture, luggage, children's toys ---- to name a few. Animal studies have shown DEHP to be particularly harmful to the developing foetus and the reproductive system. It has been implicated in abnormal structural changes in the testes, in the reduction of fertility, changes in production of sperm, dysfunction of the ovaries and a significant decrease in hormone production in females. Malformations of the skeleton and heart, developmental delays and foetal death have also been found in animals exposed to DEHP.
Such information of course is of no consequence to the mass of poor people in Bangladesh who exist precariously on the very edge of civilization. Consider, that the Aila-affected human beings stranded in the south western coastal areas, have been collecting drinking water from the water-treatment units, in used PET bottles. In Bangladesh virtually everybody --- the not-so-poor and the well-to-do included ---- is found using and reusing throwaway plastic bottles. Convenience wins, even over the knowledge that the long-term health effects are considerable. We also find a good many of the urban poor happy to pick plastic ---- PET bottles, polythene, anything ---- from filthy dumps, the first step in the recover-recycle-reuse chain that helps keep their body and soul together.
More privileged Bangladeshis however would do well to learn from the latest information though it is primarily intended to alert the well-to-do. Europe's Scientific Committee on Toxicity, Ecotoxicity and the Environment (CSTEE), for one, had banned the use of DEHP in toys and other items meant for young children. DEHP exposure begins at conception because it can jump the placenta barrier. It can continue throughout the infant's growth. Food, water, medical procedures or indoor air pollution from vinyl floors, wall coverings, false ceilings and furniture are all potential sources of DEHP exposure for a pregnant woman. In the list of other objects containing DEHP are respiratory masks, tubings, catherters, examination gloves, mattress covers and what not ! Even breast milk, baby formula and food were found to contain the toxin because of continued exposure to the vinyl at home. The Europeans are not the only ones concerned. In the US an expert panel convened by the National Toxicology Programme had also expressed serious concern over the risks of using DEHP-containing medical products.
No one knows exactly what impact multiple exposures would reveal. After all, it takes decades to track the chemical culprits causing specific health problems, and that too, only if the scientific community thinks it worth investigating. Otherwise, nobody knows what strikes you, and every now and then 'mysterious' ailments appear, confusing the medical profession, which hardly ever suspects toxins in the environment. There are hundreds of thousands of man-made chemicals in the world today and not even a third of them have been studied for possible health effects. Nor do we know what devilish compounds continue to be churned out from the chemical cauldron every day.
But there is no doubt that DEHP has serious effects on animals, including humans and it should be a serious concern for action even for poor countries. But would our decision-makers and commercially important people take note and act seriously to switch to non-PVC plastics ? It is said to be already available abroad. Of course, at our socio-economic stage, many would consider it a luxury to worry about DEHP exposure alone when our water bodies, the air we breathe and the soil we cherish get scant attention from the powers- that- be. In-depth reports in a contemporary tell of the horrendous pollution that the capital's main rivers have been subjected to over decades, exposing the general insensitivity of those who have tremendous power to pollute but no vision at all to see beyond the nose.