Page 60 - Plastics News April 2020

PLASTICS EXTEND LIFE

bottles need tobe epoxy coated from inside. Few falls Look at the graph in Figure 1. In 1950,the average life
and the bottle is dented, epoxy lining crack and the user expectancy was 45 years, when use of plastics was
is now supposed to replace the bottle to safeguard his negligible; in2018, the world consumes nearly
health. No user does this. 359million metric tonnes of plastics and life expectancy
has grown to over 73 years!
Insulated steel bottles have found to leach lead, that is
used to plug vacuum flask, and were recalled by E&J Truth was simple and brilliant! This is simply because,
Brandy in USA. Also, not all steel grades are food contact
approved. Food-contact grades like 316 SS are Ÿ Single-use plastic healthcare products made
expensive; what lands on Indian shores may not even be hospitals safer.
accepted in US or EU for food-contact safety. Ÿ Use of plastics in agriculture increased crop per drop
and imported availability of food to masses.
Also seen are reports of cheap glassware leaching lead
and ceramic ware leaching cadmium. Ÿ Plastics packaging reduced food and pharmaceutical
adulteration.
So, this 'natural is always better' is an emotional myth
and not a fact. Ÿ Packaging also extended the shelf life of food and
pharmaceuticals, preserved the nutritional values
Unlike India, US and EU test all materials with food-
contact approval standards before accepting based on and improved the health of masses through better
nutrition.
faith.
Ÿ Plastic disposables removed the need to wash
On 'University of WhatsApp', baseless allegations on
plastics safety and its impact on health are also between use and tremendously reduced spread of
forwarded frequently. It has been seen that many people infection.
working in the plastics sector are also falling prey to such Ÿ Plastic bags improved consumer convenience and
propaganda and resorting to use heavier and more made it easy to make the shopping reach home
expensive water bottle made of copper or steel, not safely.
necessarily any safer than plastic.
All the above had much positive impacton the average
Deep Dive to Know More life expectancy across the globe.
I was fed up with the flood of misinformation, and Sure, there are several other factors also contributing to
wanted to find the truth. I thus decided to take a deep higher life expectancy.
dive into this subject. Here's my approach of re-
But, if plastics was as bad as projected by some NGOs, its
effect would show up on life expectancy, as its usage has
skyrocketed without adverse impact on life expectancy.
The countries where per capita consumption of plastics
is high, life expectancy is also higher than the countries
where per capita consumption is lower. So surely, some
credit goes to plastics for improving safety and hygiene
in an affordable manner.
Be thankful for this wonderful material to have served
humanity for the past75 years.
We just need to be responsible while disposing it after
use.
Truth is stranger than fiction. The article clearly shows
that the life span has grown with higher plastics
consumption.
representing the facts...
Google search provided me with the life expectancy
figures across the period since plastics was introduced.

APRIL 2020 57 Plastics News