Pollution by Polymers

Pollution is defined as the introduction by man into the environment of substances liable to cause hazards to human health, harm 

A major difficulty is that so many applications employ polymers as though they were readily disposable, despite the fact that they are, in reality, among the more inert of chemical pollutants. In particular, plastic packaging tends to make a single use of a fabricated polymer which is then thrown away. Even when disposed of responsibly, packaging materials are the source of a serious pollution problem. Municipal authorities dispose of such materials by one of two routes, landfilling and incineration, of which the latter cannot be readily used for chlorinated polymers, such as PVC, because of the additional problems caused by organochlorine species in the atmosphere. 

Pollution is defined as the introduction by man into the environment of substances liable to cause hazards to human health, harm living resources and ecological systems, damage structure or amenity, or interfere with legitimate use of the environment. This all-embracing definition includes the impact of polymers on the environment, both in their original form as raw materials. 

The effect on marine life of such widespread pollution by polymers is significant. Sea turtles, for example, may mistake plastic pellets for food. 

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Yan H.M., Kraus G., Gauglitz G., Detection of Mixtures of Organic Pollutants in Water by Polymer Film Receptors in Fibre-Optical Sensors Based on the Reflectometric Interference Spectrometry, Anal ChimActa 1995 312 1-8. 

The humic/organic matter coatings of different solid phases (i. e., SPm /SP0M), such as soils, sediments, suspended solids, colloids, and biocolloids/biosolids, interact with organic pollutants in aqueous systems in various ways. Adsorption is an important interaction mode. The reversibility and/or irreversibility of the adsorption processes is of major importance. The question whether the bound residues of pollutants are to be considered definitely inactivated has been the focus of extensive research. This question was posed as follows. Have the adsorbed pollutants become common components incorporated into the humic polymer coating of solid phases (i. e., being absorbed), or are they only momentarily inactivated in reversibly bound forms thus representing a possible source of pollution by a time-delayed release of toxic units ... 

Photolysis of atmospheric pollutants by solar radiation results in an increase of ozone concentration in certain urban areas and is the cause of a sequence of oxidation reactions with polymers. Ozone reacts with practically all organic materials especially with alkenes. The rate of its reaction with alkene is several orders of magnitude higher than that with alkane. The ratio of the rate constants of ozone with ethene/ethane is 1.5 x 105, with propene/propane 1.6 x 106, and with butene- 1/butane 1.1 x 106, at room temperature [5],... 

Local episodes of high pollution by phthalate esters in solid environmental samples are reported in the literature. Ruminski et al. found high DEHP concentrations in the soil around a big factory of synthetic polymers in Poland that may be the result of many years of pollution. Concentrations varied from 0.07 to 45.7 g/Kg. Analysis of water samples taken from a lake nearby also showed the presence of DEHP in the range 0.12 to 0.65 ppm. Concentrations in bottom mud from this lake were found to be about two magnitudes higher than the levels in water. 

Phthalate esters are extensively used as softeners in the production of polymeric materials such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Since phthalate esters are not chemically bound to the polymer, they can be easily released into the environment. PVC and other polymers are widely produced for building materials and thus, the surrounding environment can be polluted by phthalates. 

It is characteristic that traditional industries which maintain older plants (metal fabrications, polymer fiber, rubber plastics, wood furniture, organic chemicals) contribute more to releases and transfers of solvents (as measured by releases plus transfers per 1000 sales), than industries which invest capital in the improvement of equipment, safety, and research and development (e.g., printing, motor vehicle assembly). This suggests that the avoidance of cost of the required investment is one reason for pollution. This reason was illustrated in the discussion of the petroleum industry where one manufacturer almost eliminated pollution by fixing leaking valves. 

Solubility of Plasticizers, Polymers and Environmental Pollution by Ewa Biaiecka-Florjahczyk and Zbigniew Floijaiiczyk. Email evala ch.pw.edu.pl... 

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