The activity of burning garbage can still be easily found in many residential areas in our country Indonesia, including plastics. Why are they doing that? To reduce plastics quickly in order to the garbage does not accumulate in other day. It is true that the pile of plastics will be reduced after being burned and its turned into ash. But, if you know this method has its own hidden dangerous.
Moreover, the garbage or plastics waste are not selected first. In fact it is so important for us to selected the garbage before we throw it into bin. We can separated between non organic and organic garbage.
Organic garbage commonly can be recycle like plastics waste. We can make it to be nice handycrafts and you can sell it. In addition, it also to reduce using plastics in our life for a good life.
As you know, burning garbage especially plastics can make the damage of health and environment. This bad habbit (burning plastics) is very harmful for our health body and ozone. For your information plastic waste or plastics actually contains carbon and hydrogen. The compound or substance will mix with other compound from other plastic waste such as chloride. Also read about What Chemicals Are Made When Fossil Fuels Burn?
When the substance is burning, it will appear the dioxins and furan. These two substances are very harmful for our body health. How can it happen? If you inhale the smoke of burning plastic waste, the two of substances that is dioxin and furan will into your body.
These are 3 negative effects of burning plastics for our body health and the environment.
The burning plastics not only harmful for our body health but also for Ozone. It will produce carbon dioxide gas. The carbon dioxide gas that continues and much more can make the ozone layer reduce. When the ozone layer reduce the earth’s temperature will be hotter.
Then if the earth’s temperature gets hotter before, ice polar will melted and the plants will be difficult to grow. Of course that will definitely disrupt our earth life. Also read about Why Should Scientists Study The Effect of Chemicals on The Environment?
- The burning smoke
Smoke from burning waste including plastics can produce the harmful chemical such as carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, arsenic and furans. Someone or people who breathes the smoke of burning plastic waste, has the highest risk of health problems due to these compounds.
These disorders start from the simple once for example coughing, irritate eyes, the nose feels sore like burning, nausea and headaches. The other effects of smoke burning will produce dioxin.
The dioxin exposure is more dangerous, though causing several types of cancer, liver disorders, immunity system disorders and reproductive system disorders. Also read about Why Should You Be Careful When Handling Silver Nitrate?
- The contamination of ash and burning smoke.
After being burned, the plastics waste will make residue that is the harmful chemical compound. And its can be absorbed by vegetables or fruit plants that grow around it.
Humans can be exposed if they consume these vegetables and fruits. Not only plants, the harmful compound even will contained in part of milk, meat and eggs of animals that exposed from these substances.
It is through contaminated soil. These food ingredients will affected the human health if its consumed for a long time.
- Play around the combustion area
In addition to the air, these harmful chemical compound can also be found in the burning ash. It will be more dangerous for children who play around that. If you burn the plastic waste, can also cause fire. Also read about What Chemicals Not to Mix While Cleaning?
So, what should we do to reduce the bad effects of burning plastics waste?
The plastics waste will not expose dioxin and furan substances, if burned at temperature of 1,000 degrees Celsius. However, the combustion that can reaches 1,000 degrees Celcius only be done by an incinerator machine.
So, instead you burn your own plastics waste. It is better if you throw it in a such plastic garbage bin.
Then, our plastics waste will be processed by the party that should be. It does not cause a dangerous way. To reduce the plastics waste in our environment, we try to bring our shopping bag that more “go green”. Finally this method is powerful enough to reduce using plastics in our life.