Essay Sample on Plastic Pollution: Impact on Public Health & Environment

Executive Summary

The continued utilization of plastics in consumer and industrial applications amalgamated with the upsurge in consumer awareness surrounding plastic solid recycling has resulted in the increase I demand recycled products and plastic resins. Plastic waste is a major public health and environmental problem across the world especially in urban places. Carrier bags or plastic shopping are the main causes of plastic waste in many developing nations. Apart from the visual pollution that plastics brings, plastic bags leads to the blockage of gutters and drains, which can lead to livestock deaths and they pose a serious threat to the aquatic life. Moreover, when the plastic bags are filled with water, they become the breeding ground for mosquitos which then causes malaria to the people. (Wearden, 2016) Furthermore, the plastic bags take a myriad number of years to degrade which assumed to be 20 to 1000 years and they, therefore, pose a threat of controlling the plastic wastage. Therefore, there is a need for awareness concerning plastic waste management and education about plastic bags disposal.

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Introduction

The plastics were first introduced in the 1970s and over the years they have gained popularity amongst many retailers and consumers. The use of plastics has increased drastically and therefore they are easily found everywhere. These plastics are available in different varieties across the world. The continued use of plastics has led to the accumulation of plastic products to the environment and this has adversely affected humans and wildlife habitat. It is approximated that about 500 million plastic bags are used by people across the world. ( D'Alessandro, 2017). The extensive utilization is because of their convenience to use and their cheapness. Over the past fifty years, the global consumption and production of plastics have been increasing dramatically. In 2013, according to the World Watch Institute, an approximate of 229 million tons of plastics were produced. This represented a sharp increase of 4 percent compared to 2012 and this showed an upward trajectory in relation to the past years. The paper will examine the effects of plastics on the ocean and the impacts of plastic on land, animals and the pollution it causes.

Background Information

The 2nd World War advocated the expansion of the plastic bag industry in the US. The need to protect the scare resources, it necessitated the generation of synthetic a priority. During this period, the production of plastic increased by a margin of 300 percent in the United States of America. The consumption of plastic has been on a rise in most parts across the world. The target audience that the essay will focus will be adults and teenagers in the United Arab Emirates. The production and consumption of plastics are one of the major causes of land, water and air pollution challenge that affects the entire world. (Konblauch, 2009). The consumption of plastics should be minimized across the world because they impact the negatives on human life, the aquatic life and also of its non-biodegradable nature. However, there are some other calamitous impacts that are as a result of the production of the plastic materials.

The nations should aim at minimizing the production of plastics because they have a negative impact on the environment, human life and to the aquatic marine. When the plastic materials are produced, they comprise of toxic and harmful materials including vinyl hydrochloride and benzene. The by-products from these chemicals contaminate the air and the soil and they are also known to cause cancer among humans. Phthalates are normally added to plastics so that they can be more pliable and softer. Phthalates disrupt the endocrine glands, affect fertility among humans and it causes other health-related problems. .(Konblauch, 2009). The Phthalates are not chemically attached to the products and therefore they easily evaporate to the atmosphere causing air pollution. The plastics are made up of additives which can produce gases and thereby contaminating the air both at personal spaces and in homes.

The plastics is a source of water pollution either in seas, rivers, and oceans. The nurdles are usually shipped through the cargo ship. The nurdles are basically plastic pellets that are employed in the production of plastic products. Once on the ship, the nurdles spill into the oceans and thereby polluting the water. According to statistics from the United Nations, 2013, about 10 percent of chemicals which spills to oceans are made up of nurdles. Plastics take a year to degrade but the degradation process does not occur to entirety. (Horton, 2017). During this process, the harmful chemicals such as polystyrene and bisphenol enter into the water bodies hence leading to water pollution. The aquatic life and humans through the food chain swallow these highly toxic chemicals and carcinogens. The consumption of fish which contains these chemicals can result in birth defects cancer and immune disorders.

The chemical structure in most plastics are resistant to a number of natural processes and plastics are slow to degrade. These have resulted in a high presence of plastics within the environment and with the accumulation of many plastics causes plastic pollution. (Cho, 2012). The accumulation of plastics causes land pollution and the clogging of these plastics may be a breeding ground for mosquitos which causes malaria. Since they are non-biodegradable, they will accumulate to the environment causing serious land pollution. Additionally, the plastics may cause the death of microorganisms that live on the soil.

Tens of thousands of birds, seals, turtles, and whales are killed annually due to plastic bag litter. The deaths come as a result of a mistake of thinking that the plastic bags are food, for example, the jellyfish. Once a plastic bag is ingested by an animal, it cannot be digested and therefore it stays in the animal's gut. This plastic may cause indigestion and hence can result in a painful and slow death. (Chae &An, 2018). At the time that the animal dies and it decays, the plastic is freed back to the environment. This can result in more deaths to the other wildlife because the plastic may take to a maximum of one thousand years to break down.

Conclusion

Plastic pollution can drastically affect oceans, waterways, and lands. The prominence utilization of plastics correlated with their durability and inexpensiveness hence high usage of them by humans and hence the existence of plastic pollution. Plastic pollution kills animals and aquatic life and also human life. There is the need for reducing the usage of plastic bags across the world because of the many problems associated with plastic pollution. There should be global coordination in ensuring that nations advance towards biodegradable products which will assist in combating plastic pollution. With minimized plastic pollution, the death among human life, microorganisms and towards animals will reduce significantly. Therefore coordinated efforts should be arrived at by many nations in trying to minimize the production and consumption of plastic materials.

References

Chae, Y., & An, Y. J. (2018). Current research trends on plastic pollution and ecological impacts on the soil ecosystem: A review. Environmental Pollution, 240, 387-395.Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749117348637

Cho, r. (2012, January 31). What Happens to All That Plastic? Retrieved April 24, 2017, from http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2012/01/31/what-happens-to-all-that-plastic/

D'Alessandro, n (2017, March 13). 22 Facts About Plastic Pollution (And 10 Things We Can Do About It).Retrieved from http://www.ecowatch.com/22-facts-about-plastic-pollution-and-10-things-we-can-do-about-it-1881885971.html

Horton, H. (2017, February 03). Whale found dying off coast of Norway with 30 plastic bags in its stomach .Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/03/whale-found-dying-coast-norway-30-plastic-bags-stomach/

Konblauch .J Plastic Not-So-Fantastic: How the Versatile Material Harms the Environment and Human Health. (2009, July 02). Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/plastic-not-so-fantastic/

Terry, b. (2016, May 12). Plastic Use Increases Air Pollution. Retrieved from http://www.momscleanairforce.org/whats-plastic-got-to-do-with-clean-air/

Wearden, G. (2016, January 19). More plastic than fish in the sea by 2050, says Ellen MacArthur. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jan/19/more-plastic-than-fish-in-the-sea-by-2050-warns-ellen-macarthur