Why are you talking to me about plastics? Perhaps not since the 1967 film The Graduate have plastics been spoken about in such a charged context. When plastic was so famously referred to back then-"I want to say one word to you. Just one word..."-it was the stuff of the future. And it turns out that fictional prognostication was right: Plastics are everywhere. We sit, eat, drink, and even sleep with plastics. Yet we are just finding out about some of the consequences of their widespread use.

What's wrong with plastics?
Some forms of plastic contain chemicals that may be harmful to our health. Some plastics, when burned, create toxic air pollution. And many plastics can't be recycled. Of all the waste that ends up in landfills, 11 percent consists of plastics, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In fact, the EPA says, of all the plastic made, less than 6 percent is recycled. That's the lowest percentage of recovery by far of any material. (By comparison, more than 50 percent of all paper that is produced gets recycled.)

Considering the fact that when plastics are dumped in landfills they can start to pollute the soil, the groundwater, and even the air, the issues surrounding their manufacture and disposal are increasingly important. Moreover, many plastics are made from oil-which raises the issue of drain on the world's petroleum supply and resultant higher costs. After transportation and home heating, the third most common use of oil is in the manufacture of plastics.

Wait-I thought I knew what plastic is. You're saying there are different kinds of plastic?
Plastics are a wide variety of substances that have the characteristic of "plasticity"-that is, the ability to be molded into different shapes and forms. Most of us refer to things such as soft-drink bottles, milk jugs, shrink wrap, trash bags, straws, Styrofoam, and Tupperware as plastic. And we are accurate, if not specific, in categorizing them that way.

Plastics are technically defined as polymers, which means they are large chunks of substances held together by chemical bonds. Plastics are composed of certain chemicals that give them specific attributes and names evocative of eighth-grade science class: polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene, and polystyrene, to name just a few forms. These then translate into different types of plastics and products.

Plastics have gained prominence in our world because they're largely synthetic and because we can make so much out of them. In a consumerist society such as the United States, that's important. Economically speaking, we have to worry about supply and demand affecting the cost of the goods we want and need. Not surprisingly, manufacturers welcomed this relatively cheap and unlimited family of materials. Relatively cheap and unlimited, that is, until now.

The use of petroleum in their manufacture is making certain plastics subject to the commodities markets, given that crude is fetching higher prices than have been the case historically. In 1967, for example, oil was trading at just over $2 per barrel, a far cry from the $60 per barrel of today-which is cause for second thoughts on the part of plastics makers.

Also on plastics makers' minds today are the environment and health and safety issues, though not so much in the way one would hope. The plastics makers' trade association, the Society of the Plastics Industry, "cautions against premature, unilateral efforts by the U.S. Government to reduce domestic emission sources." The phrase emission sources means pollution and carbon that can lead to climate change. In other words, SPI believes the jury is still out on climate change. Also, it takes issue with plastics being considered as health hazards when used for such products as food containers.

Healthy Child Healthy World (formerly known as the Children's Health Environmental Coalition) perhaps puts plastics into a clearer context with regard to toxins: "Although scientific evidence on leaching chemicals doesn't yet exist for all plastics, and all plastics used in contact with food have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, little research has been done. Until we have more information on the effects of long-term exposure to all chemicals that migrate, or leach, from plastics into food, consumers may want to take general precautions, while avoiding those plastics that have been linked to health problems."

Dr. Edward Machuga, a biochemist and a consumer-safety officer in the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition further clarifies: "It's true that substances used to make plastics can leach into food. But as part of the approval process, the FDA considers the amount of a substance expected to migrate into food and the toxicological concerns about the particular chemical." And that amount, he says, is "within the margin of safety based on information available to the agency."

Still, all this means consumers might want to take precautions themselves with regard to the types of plastics they use, how they use those plastics, and how they then dispose of them.

So are some plastics better for our health and the environment than others?
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), is often referred to as one of the worst types of plastic for our health and the environment. PVC is also the most common type of plastic made. It's used in pipes, siding, toys, shower curtains, and all sorts of other things. The problem with PVC can be traced to its additives. To make it flexible, for example, certain chemicals are added during the manufacturing process. These can include phthalates, which are suspected of interfering with the human hormone system. Last year, six different types of phthalates used to make toys were banned in Europe. The U.S. has also restricted the use of certain types of phthalates in PVC.

So is PVC the main problem?
Of course, PVC isn't the only type of plastic known to be harmful. Styrofoam, or expanded polystyrene, is a type of plastic that isn't recyclable and poses health hazards depending on its chemical additives. Styrofoam used to contain chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which deplete the beneficial upper ozone layer. Rigid standards have phased out the use of CFCs, but many environmentalists say polystyrene still affects the ozone layer. Polystyrene packaging is now banned in more than 20 U.S. cities because of its environmental impact, and the California Coastal Commission has branded it a principal component of marine debris.

Which plastics can be recycled, and how do I tell them apart?
The plastics industry itself has come up with a numerical labeling system for helping people to identify what types of plastics are used in different kinds of products: PET or PETE (polyethylene terephthalate, labeled with a 1) is commonly used for soft-drink bottles. HDPE (high-density polyethylene, 2) is typically used for such things as detergent bottles. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC, 3) is used to make plastic pipes, outdoor furniture, and a host of other items. LDPE (low-density polyethylene, 4) is generaly used for dry-cleaning bags and trashcan liners; PP (polypropylene, 5) is found in bottle caps and drinking straws. PS (polystyrene, 6) makes up "Styrofoam peanuts" and coffee cups. Every other type of plastic is labeled with a 7.

These numbers help people figure out which types of plastics are accepted in the recycling bin and make certain products easier to sort on the processing end of the recycling chain. However, most municipal recycling programs in the U.S. accept only PET and HDPE plastics. Which, of course, means that the other five remain health and/or environmental problems.

Who discovered how to make plastics, anyway?
Standards for the manufacturing, use, and disposal of plastics are just now coming into place, which is curious considering that these materials have been around for about 100 years. The very first type of what could be considered a plastic was made 150 years ago by mixing plant cells with alcohol and camphor. The synthetic breakthrough came just after the turn of the 20th century, when formaldehyde and phenol were introduced into the process, giving the world that staple of the fashion industry, polyester. But it wasn't until after World War II that plastics really began to show up in consumer goods. The Cold War and the industrial society of that era pushed cheap-to-make plastics into the retail marketplace. Some famous names, such as Goodyear and DuPont, also helped to promote plastics as a mainstream material.

Can't we make something better, given our advances in technology?
Biodegradable plastics are now being tested, with some success. These types of plastics are born of acids derived from dairy and corn. This makes their manufacture a much cleaner process and helps accelerate their eventual decomposition. Whereas synthetic plastics can remain in landfills essentially forever, biodegradable plastics can break down and degrade in as little as 90 days. Because of their organic origins, they also pose fewer toxicity concerns.

One of these new plastics, Lyocell, is (according to its manufacturer, Lenzing Gruppe) produced from cellulose, the main material in plant cells, and constitutes a new fiber for clothing, hygiene, and medical and technical applications. "The production process for Lyocell is extremely environmentally friendly-the fiber has all the advantages of a natural material and is 100 percent biodegradable," the company claims. Lyocell is popping up in eco-fashion reviews, chemical journals, and manufacturing innovation reports.

Plastarch Material (PSM) is also gaining traction. Made from cornstarch and other materials that easily biodegrade, PSM can be made into bags, tubing, utensils, and packaging for food, among other things. When it's disposed of, it can be used as fertilizer.

But PSM is a long way from gaining a foothold in the plastics marketplace. The plastics manufacturing industry is one of the largest in the U.S., accounting for about $350 billion annually in goods alone, according to the trade group SPI. Virtually all of those goods (except for the small percentage of bioplastics being tested) are made from petroleum. In Europe and Japan, where bioplastics have a longer history, the products still account for less than one percent of the overall plastics markets, according to their respective bioplastics associations; all other plastics are still made from petroleum.

What can I do in the meantime?
Biodegradable plastics are a long way from going mainstream, mostly because they are more expensive to produce and have a huge hurdle to overcome with manufacturers because of that. But the more consumer demand there is for biodegradable plastics, the more likely it is that bioplastics will be used to make goods. A recent survey found that over half of Americans would pay more for biodegradable plastic. The survey, conducted by the online market research firm InsightExpress, also revealed that 70 percent of Americans don't know that almost all plastics are made from petroleum.

About the best people can do today is to look for products made of PSM. They'll have to look hard, though. A study by one consulting group found that just 0.7 percent of that material is used in packaging of any sort, let alone in anything else.

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