By Elena Voropay

Most of us use and get exposed to plastic every day. It is not just the plastic bags and bottles from the store, but most of the objects that surround us are made of plastics. It is not a surprise that food containers, toys, plant pots, pens and computers, soap dishes, shower curtains, spoons, blinds, gift wraps, packaging material, telephone sets are all made of plastic. It can even be found in the least suspected places – a perfect sneaky route into our bodies. For example, the inside of most cardboard milk and juice containers as well as tin cans are now coated with plastic instead of wax. Degradable plastic stitches, which eventually dissolve in the body fluids,  are used in surgery. Even fresh produce can be sprayed with plastics in order to keep it looking fresh for a long time.

Indeed,  plastic may be an extremely practical and convenient material -  light in weight, inexpensive, and easily accessible to us. It does not rust or rot, and can be recycled and reused over and over. But what comes as advantage also becomes a liability. So, with all the advantages, we must take the convenient plastics with the grain of salt –  everything made with this material can be very dangerous to our health and the environment in general.

A magnitude of scientific studies have confirmed that the chemicals used to make and treat plastic largely contribute to cancer, hormone and neurologic disturbances, allergic reactions, mood fluctuations, skin irritations, damage to the liver and kidneys and breathing problems to name a few. It may be a lot more difficult to study these adverse effects in humans, but test results in controlled settings were performed on laboratory animals. The results were alarming and these brought concerns to the minds of millions. 

Plastic Control in Australia

Plastics represent the most used material for packaging food. According to Food Science Australia, the leading food, health and nutrition research organisation and a joint venture of CSIRO and the Victorian Government, “any substance which migrates from the packaging into the food is of concern if it could be harmful to the consumer. Even if the migrating substance is not potentially harmful it could have an adverse effect on the flavour and acceptability of the food.”

In Australia, State Food Acts control the possibilities of such migration, and The Australian Food Standards Code, which complements the Food Acts, sets maximum migration levels for three specific monomers, the "building blocks" of plastics. But how well this is controlled remain questionable since modern manufacturing methods have reduced monomer residues in food contact plastics to the point where they are no longer measurable. The main three plastic components are of particular interest due to their known potential toxicity.

1.Vinyl chloride
2.Acrylonitrile
3.Vinylidene chloride.

The compositional requirements of plastics used in food packaging are defined by Australian Standards, which are separate from food regulations. Unfortunately for consumers,  these standards cover only six of the common plastics used in food packages and refer to the additives which may be used in their manufacture rather than setting limits on migration. 

Recycled Plastics

The impact of plastic is hard on the environment. Its production requires a lot of energy, produces pollutants, and waste products clutter the landfills as plastic doesn't decay. Seems like recycled and biodegradable plastics are good news. However, very little work has been done to determine what chemical changes occur when plastic and paper materials are recycled. There is a potential problem when the plastics are recycled, all the toxins from the original product appear in the new form. This results in contamination from a variety of sources. Note that there are no controls on the treatment procedures or the uses to which these materials have been put.
This means that if your water bottle was made from recycled materials, it can have many more chemicals from previous exposure to heat and other substances, all leaching into your drink. Products packaged in recycled packaging materials are usually labelled as such, at least if these were produced in Australia. So, pay attention  to the origin of the plastic objects you use.

Migration of Plastics Into Food

The tendency for plasticisers to migrate increases at higher temperatures. This applies particularly to those food containers used to package chilled or frozen foods e.g. ice cream containers, which are not designed to be exposed to high temperatures. So, to be on the safe side, it is a good idea not to cook in plastic containers. Recently, we have seen the development of new flexible cookware which is supposed to be safe for baking and microwaving. On a side note, the subject of using microwaves is another healthy concern subjected to lowering the quality of food. But how do we know the borderline of being “safe”, especially when it comes to long term effects of chronic exposure?

Indeed, many plastic containers may appear to perform satisfactorily in the microwaves and ovens, but the migration levels of plastics at high temperatures will not necessarily have been tested. Chronic toxicity from plastics is the most common and the most dangerous. Generally people tend not to pay attention to the effects of long-term exposure because symptoms build up gradually and are not as noticeable as with acute toxicity, which happens sometimes as well. But it is this slow burner which turns the flourishing garden of health into ashes which are hard to restore.

To make plastics more functional, such as improving their elasticity or making them harder to penetrate, manufacturers use a large number of additives including antioxidants, stabilisers, antistatics and plasticisers. These additives can easily migrate into anything they come in contact with. Even though there is no 'scientific' evidence that concentrations of plasticisers constitute a risk to human health, but unnecessary exposure to such contaminants must be avoided.

What Are Plastics?

Types of Plastics

Plastics and Our Health

• Buy food in glass or metal containers
• Substitute plastic wrap for paper bags, natural organic fabric materials, such as cotton and hemp, waxed paper or cellophane made from wood pulp
• Try to purchase 'loose' foods and package them yourself in plastic-free bags described above
• Avoid heating food in plastic containers
• Don't store fatty foods in plastic containers
• Wash plastics in cold water with a mild detergent
• Store and bake your food in glass and ceramic bowls
• Do not give children or pets plastic teethers or toys
• Use natural fibre clothing instead of synthetics, fleece, elastics, rayon
  

Interesting Facts About Plastics

• Plastic is a relatively new material has only been used widely in the past few decades. It was invented by Alexander Parkes in 1860 who found that after nitrocellulose with camphor, hard but flexible transparent material is produced. But due to lack of demand, the production was stopped.
• Polyethylene, one of the most common plastics around today, was first discovered in 1938 at ICI England by two scientists, Fawcett and Fibson. It was used almost exclusively during the war to insulate radar cables. A true commercial extraction process was not invented until 1953 by German scientist Karl Ziegler. In 1954 Italian chemist Criulio Natta developed polypropylene. Both scientists earned the Nobel Prize for Chmeistry in 1963.
• In 2002, over 159,000 tonnes of plastic was sent for recycling in Australia, only 13.4% of the total plastic consumption for that year.
• Victoria alone accounts for 43% of the total plastics recycled in Australia, with over 68,000 tonnes recycled in 2002. 
• Recycling PET bottles saves 84% of the energy it takes to make PET bottles from raw materials.
• Each year, Australians use 6.9 billion plastic shopping bags. Tied together this amount of bags would stretch around the world 37 times.