Presented By Malinda Mather Dominique Piccinino Christina Manalansan Ocean Plastic Presented By Malinda Mather Dominique Piccinino Christina Manalansan

Brief History of Plastic Invented in the nineteenth century as a replacement for raw substances like ivory, rubber and shellac, plastic was originally conceived as a remedy for restricted and dwindling natural resources. Beginning in the mid-1930s, switching to plastics proved extremely efficient: the same worker who had turned out 350 hair combs per day could now make more than 10,00 in equal time.

U.S. Plastic Boom Post World War II After WWII plastic was revolutionary in industrial production, anything was able to be made disposable and out of plastic. Annual U.S. plastics production tripled between 1940-1945 By 1960 plastics surpassed aluminum to become one of the largest industries in the country. Total global production of plastic, which was 5 million tons in the 1950s is expected to hit 260 million tons this year (2011)

Transformation of Petroleum to Plastic The technological road from oil field to finished plastic product has numerous fascinating side trips. Here’s the route taken in the petroleum-to-plastics process:

1. Petroleum is drilled and transported to a refinery. 2 1. Petroleum is drilled and transported to a refinery. 2. Crude oil and natural gas are refined into ethane, propane, hundreds of other petrochemical products and, of course, fuel for your car.

3. Ethane and propane are "cracked” into ethylene and propylene, using high-temperature furnaces 4. Catalyst is combined with ethylene or propylene in a reactor, resulting in "fluff," a powdered material (polymer) resembling laundry detergent. 5. Fluff is combined with additives in a continuous blender. 6. Polymer is fed to an extruder where it is melted.

7. Melted plastic is cooled then fed to a pelletizer that cuts the product into small pellets. (Pellets are also known as nurdles) 8. Pellets are shipped to customers.

9. Customers manufacture plastic products by using processes such as extrusion, injection molding, blow molding, etc. Extrusion Molding Main process used to form plastics. A heated plastic compound is forced continuously through a forming die made in the desired shape (like squeezing toothpaste from a tube, it produces a long, usually narrow, continuous product). The formed plastic cools under blown air or in a water bath and hardens on a moving belt. Rods, tubes, pipes, Slinkys®, and sheet and thin film (such as food wraps) are extruded then coiled or cut to desired lengths.

Other Methods: Other Methods: Injection Molding Blow Molding The second most widely used process to form plastics. The plastic compound, heated to a semifluid state, is squirted into a mold under great pressure and hardens quickly. The mold then opens and the part is released. This process can be repeated as many times as necessary and is particularly suited to mass production methods. Injection molding is used for a wide variety of plastic products, from small cups and toys to large objects weighing 30 pounds or more. Blow Molding Pressure is used to form hollow objects, such as the soda pop bottle or two-gallon milk bottle, in a direct or indirect method. In the direct blow-molding method, a partially shaped, heated plastic form is inserted into a mold. Air is blown into the form, forcing it to expand to the shape of the mold. In the indirect method, a plastic sheet or special shape is heated then clamped between a die and a cover. Air is forced between the plastic and the cover and presses the material into the shape of the die.


Anything can be made out of plastic and disposable! utensils jewelry computers cups packaging disposable Bic pens detergent bottles lobster bibs Storage bins Coffee cup lids 6-pack connecters water bottles bags silly putty Cell phones tables Fiberglass chairs hula hoops diapers nylon panty hose Dry erase markers plates trash cans Fishing line desks tupperware cups windows medical exams gloves

Where does your plastic go? The average American will throw away approximately 185 pounds of plastic per year

Pacific Garbage Patch Roughly twice the size of Texas Plastic soup and debris plastic pieces outnumber sea life by a measure of 6 to 1 5 more garbage gyres have been discovered in the ocean

How much plastic is in the ocean? 100 million tons of plastic is thought to be floating in the world’s oceans. A ton=2,000 pounds, meaning there are 200 billion pounds of plastic in the oceans. 12 million elephant 124 million cows 1.5 billion 16-18 year old teens 2.5 billion dogs 200 billion pounds is equal to: 22 billion cats 28 billion skate boards 200 billion shoes 600 billion boxes of crayons

Problems for wildlife Animals get entangled or caught in plastic and mistake it for food Over 100,000 marine mammals and one million seabirds die each year from ingesting or becoming entangled in plastic. About 44 percent of all seabirds eat plastic Midway

Problems for wildlife continued… Plastic Sponges:as the potential to transfer toxic substances to the ~Plastics also act as chemical "sponges” ~"Plastic debris accumulates pollutants such as PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) up to 100,000 to 1,000,000 times the levels found in seawater."- NOAA -Other pollutants include: DDT, organochlorine pesticides, BPA, petroleum hydrocarbons Plastic Degradation: ~Plastic can leach chemicals into the ocean when it degrades ~Animals eat the plastic debris with contaminates and the degraded “sludge”

How Plastic Degrades Photodegrade vs Biodegrade -photodegrade= breaks down into smaller pieces when exposed to sunlight -biodegrade= breaks down into the molecular compounds

Problems of Degradation Most plastics photodegrade into smaller and smaller pieces, but never fully biodegrade As plastics degrade, it leaches chemicals into the ocean The animals that ingest the plastic or water also ingest these chemicals, leading to biomagnification

Bioaccumulation - Bioaccumulation – “Bioaccumulation (or bioconcentration) is the uptake of organic compounds by biota [organisms] from either water or food. Many toxic organic chemicals attain concentrations in biota several orders of magnitude greater than their aqueous concentrations, and therefore, bioaccumulation poses a serious threat to both the biota of surface waters and the humans that feed on these surface-water species.” – Smith and others, 1988 -How species take in chemicals from their environment

Biomagnification Biomagnification - "Biomagnification is the sequence of processes in an ecosystem by which higher concentrations of a particular chemical are reached in organisms higher up the food chain, generally through a series of prey-predator relationships." - Oxford University, 2008 -How chemicals work their way up the food chain, and become more concentrated as they do

How does this affect us? These toxic chemicals make their way up the food chain to us...

Bisphenol A, BPA BPA is a plastic additive in clear, hard plastic and aluminum can lining Canada has deemed BPA a "toxic substance" , and European Union has banned it from baby bottles US is slowly following...

Effects of BPA on human and animal health: Disrupts the endocrine system endocrine system produces hormones has been linked to obesity, thyroid dysfunction, and cancer (just to name a few) Effects reproduction in animals and impairs development in crustaceans and amphibians Superfeminization in mollusks Superfeminization results in extra sex organs, enlarged accessory sex glands, extra eggs released outside of the normal spawning season,malformations of the pallial oviduct and an increase in female mortality

Solutions individual: on a larger scale: refuse plastic bags at the check-out counter – bring your own bag stop using bottled water – in most cases it is no safer than tap water clean up your local beach – many organizations host clean-up days where you can volunteer to pick up trash seek products without unnecessary packaging and support local farmers markets. keeping the conversation going is crucial to this issue – educate others on a larger scale: extended producer responsibility plastic bag ban

Extended Producer Responsibility majority of ocean litter is plastic packaging companies should be responsible for reduction, collection, and disposal of their packaging Europe and Canada have programs like these in place http://www.opc.ca.gov/webmaster/ftp/pdf/docs/Documents_Page/Resolutions/EPR%20resolution%20amended..pdf http://www.ccme.ca/assets/pdf/sp_strategy.pdf

Big Part of the Problem: Disposable Plastic Bags each year - Californians throw away approximately 16 billion plastic bags, about 400 per person less than 5% of plastic bags are recycled - most of them end up sitting in landfills, littering streets and beaches, clogging streams, or floating out to sea more than 80 national and local governments implemented bans or fees/taxes on plastic bags http://surfriderhumboldt.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/new-research-reports-whales-find-no-convenience-from-plastic-bags/

Different Ways to Achieve Results ban plastic bags completely and apply a 5 cent charge on paper bags [San Jose, CA] apply a 5 cent charge on single-use disposable bags [Washington DC] ban all disposable bags [Telluride, CO] set reduction goals with a conditional ban if they are not met [Baltimore, MD] http://www.bagitmovie.com/downloads/bagittown_toolkit.pdf

San Francisco first city! enacted in 2007 - all large supermarkets and chain pharmacies amended in 2012 - expanded to all retail stores and restaurants with some exclusions - requires a charge for paper and reusable bags after the first year - 127 million fewer plastic bags were distributed and overall bag waste going to the landfill was reduced by 10% http://planetgreen.discovery.com/work-connect/san-francisco-moves-expand-plastic-bag-ban-california-may-follow.html

Summary Plastic is made from petroleum, a non-renewable resource It is hard to find a product that has not been touched by plastic Plastic degrades to smaller and smaller pieces, creating plastic soup Pacific Garbage Patch is twice the size of Texas 100,000 marine mammals and one million seabirds die each year from ingesting or becoming entangled in plastic Toxic chemicals make their way up the food chain and onto our plates! We recommend a plastic bag ban for San Mateo County as a first step in reducing plastic debris in the ocean

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