Foam Plastic (EPS) Tableware and Dioxin

1. Who is more concerned about white pollution than anyone? Recently, the issue of disposable foam plastic (EPS) utensils is toxic and harmful. Some experts and entrepreneurs in the plastics industry have mobilized. On the one hand, they declared in the media that EPS utensils are non-toxic and harmless. On the one hand, they requested corrections from relevant organizations to apologize and made some people who had previously been proud of promoting environmental protection and observing laws and regulations obliged by mistake but could not do anything about it. For a long time, all kinds of hardships have arisen, and the sounds of punishing the teachers have always been heard, and people can not help but skeptical: Since the EPS tableware has many advantages, why would the country ban you? If it is only visual pollution, is it not finished when it is picked up and handled? Doesn’t the state have anything to look for? Foam plastic tableware in the end toxic, harmless? Let's take a look at a report from neighboring Japan: Polystyrene containers used to package instant noodles and fresh foods in supermarkets contain toxic ingredients that can damage human and animal fertility. Experts from the National Institute of Pharmaceutical and Food Hygiene said that these harmful substances can be absorbed by food and cause food contamination. These harmful substances are generally styrene dimers and trimers and can disturb hormone secretion. Styrene is a colorless, toxic liquid used in the production of plastics and rubber. According to Kawamura Leaf, the chief expert on food additives at the institute, high concentrations of oligomers were found in 25 polystyrene containers, with an average of 950 ppm per gram and a maximum of 7048 ppm. By simulating experiments, researchers found that high-fat foods packed in polystyrene dishes and bowls absorb the most amount of harmful substances. This can be explained by the fact that these harmful chemicals are dissolved in organic solvents through exposure. The amount of styrene dimer absorbed per square centimeter of this product is not less than 48.9ppm. It is also found that high-impact polystyrene contains a large number of soluble oligomers, and related plastic products cause "environmental hormone pollution" Articles and reports have also been published on a number of foreign media. The more ridiculous thing appeared in a letter given by a staff member of a plastics company to a certain accountant. The letter said: “The 6th edition of your newspaper was edited and published by you as entitled “Foam plastic utensils. The article containing 'Dioxin' and the State Economic and Trade Commission's prohibition of production and use' was quite surprised. On October 17, 1999, the Beijing Evening News published a report that was largely consistent with its contents, which caused great public thought at the time. Confusion and panic caused the producers and operators of foamed tableware to suffer huge economic losses.” The letter was originally intended to stop people from feeling compassion, but this gentleman claimed that “this report will again confuse the public and cause great damage. The social impact will also cause great harm to the industry." This will make it even harder for us to understand who is confusing the public. The Sixth Order of the State Economic and Trade Commission (1999) explicitly ordered the elimination of the first batch of outdated production capacities, processes and products that violated state laws and regulations, production methods, inferior product quality, severe environmental pollution, and high raw material and energy consumption. The order involved a total of 114 projects in 10 industries across the country. This is a major measure taken by the Chinese government to implement the basic state policy of environmental protection, increase the scientific and technological content of products, and after long-term and multi-disciplinary scientific demonstration. Astonishment is worth mentioning, panic should be, there may be some loss, which is basically the production of foam plastic utensils. However, compared with the loss, the country is obviously more willing to make "this loss" to make some sacrifices. It is also the balance between the two. What is the "wound" and "harm"? Even if the media's coverage of this is not very accurate, EPS cutlery is also fully conceived: you are eliminated because of your "day"! In the past two decades, the global trend of environmental protection has been surging. As a developing country, China has not lost the style of a big country and has done its utmost to comply with the trend of world progress. China's “white pollution” is world-famous, and EPS-disabled utensils are only One of these moves, how can you be so angry with you, sir? According to several plastics experts, "We are not prepared to discuss the environmental adaptability of polystyrene and how to deal with it. We will mainly discuss the view that polystyrene foam tableware will produce "dioxin."" If it is not self-styled, it should first be a scientist. The national prohibition of the use of EPS cutlery is of course from the perspective of environmental protection, and the two major functions of environmental protection are: first, concern for the protection of human health, followed by protection of the natural ecological environment. As scientists do not start from the overall situation of the state’s basic national policy, “we are not prepared to discuss the environmental adaptability of polystyrene and the governance of the river”, but to entanglement the EPS meal has no “dioxin”, if it is not intended to betray this end, then It must be something else. Even if EPS cutlery is the finest cutlery in the world, this conclusion should come from the government. Do you jump out like this, isn't it suspected of being a royal wife? The experts are not prepared to discuss science. On the contrary, several literati are required to clarify the formula and chemical reaction of polystyrene. Does this seem a bit funny? No "dioxin" does not mean that there is no "three evils" or "four evils". What is the difference between 50 and 100 steps? Since the country has made up its mind to eliminate 114 projects, it must have the ability to assume and remedy these losses. Instead, some enterprises and individuals have become accustomed to turning a blind eye to state laws and regulations over the past years. If banned manufacturers do not “panic”, if the products that are eliminated are not “lost” at all, it may be time for our whole nation to come. Panic. Didn't the sandstorms that shocked the Chinese and foreigners this year start from shoveling off every single grass? Don’t forget that “Plug” can eventually lead to the collapse of the embankment. This is the real panic issue for all of us! 2 fast food boxes containing dioxins? The nonsense is that "foam plastic tableware contains dioxins, which are extremely harmful"; "The fast food boxes are extremely unscientific, and people can rest assured that they can use them." -- Two days ago, two media outlets in the capital sang a Taiwan opera for the foam tableware, making ordinary people I do not know where to go. Indeed, not to mention street food stalls, restaurants, and large supermarkets, there are still a lot of foods packed in foamed tableware. Are they safe? "It's nonsense to say that dioxin is precipitated from foamed tableware!" said Dong Jinshi, a master of environmental chemistry at the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. According to him, some PVC plastics may generate dioxin after burning, and the raw material of foamed tableware is polystyrene, which does not contain dioxin-generating substances at all; the fast food foaming agent has also been replaced Butane foam is not freon, so foaming cutlery has nothing to do with dioxin. Although from May 1st last year, the 25th order of the municipal government allowed the foamed tableware to retreat quietly from the airport, train station and some tourist attractions. However, because there is no better replacement product, foamed tableware is still popular today. According to statistics, there are 2 million foaming lunch boxes sold every day in the city. The annual consumption is about 780 million. The recycling rate of foamed tableware is only about 60%, so many abandoned white lunch boxes are flooded. Dong Jinshi believes that the concept of “dioxin in a snack box” may give people fear and discard it. However, this argument is indeed unscientific. Even in developed countries such as the United States and Japan, foamed tableware is still used. Although it does not contain dioxin, it cannot be said that the foamed lunch box is "white and flawless." Dong Jinshi said that if the concentration of harmful substances in the raw materials for making foamed tableware exceeds the standard, the process control in the processing is not good, and the temperature during use is too high, it will lead to “toxic” dishes. The results of foreign studies show that if the polystyrene polymer is not completely polymerized during the synthesis process, styrene monomer, dimer and trimer will be dissolved out, and if the human body absorbs it for a long time, it will cause damage to the liver and kidneys. What we need to pay attention to in our lives is that using fast food boxes, the temperature should not exceed 85 degrees Celsius, and it must not exceed 100 degrees Celsius. Dioxins and their hazards What is dioxin dioxin (DIOXIN) is composed of 210 groups of chlorinated tricyclic aromatic compounds, including 75 polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and 135 polychlorinated dibenzofurans, which can be transdermally Mucosal, respiratory, and digestive tracts enter the body, causing carcinogenesis, teratogenicity, and reproductive toxicity. They can cause decreased immunity and endocrine disorders. High concentrations of dioxins can cause liver and kidney damage, allergic dermatitis, and bleeding. Studies have shown that workers exposed to high levels of dioxins have a 16% higher cancer mortality than the average person. Dioxins have existed in the environment for tens of millions of years and are usually at very low concentrations. Dioxins in the environment are mainly derived from human production activities. In industrialized countries, the concentration of dioxin in the environment peaked in the 1970s and declined thereafter. Waste incineration, chlorine decoloration, the production of hexachlorophene and pentachlorophenol, and combustion of PCP or trichlorobenzene-treated wood all produce dioxin. Dioxins can also be produced when cigarettes are burned. Dioxins are stable in nature and have a half-life in soil of 12 years. The half-life of gaseous dioxins in photolysis in the air is 8.3 days. It degrades slowly in the human body and accumulates mainly in adipose tissue. 2. How to produce almost everybody in the world with trace amounts of dioxins, but some chemical factory workers carry 1,000 times more dioxins than others. Researchers at the National Institute of Safety and Health Research in Cincinnati City conducted research on 5,132 chemical workers in 12 U.S. units. All 12 plants produce chemicals containing TCDD (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin), and TCDD is the most toxic dioxin. During the Vietnam War, the United States used 50,000 tons of defoliating herbicide with a high concentration of dioxins (the main component of which was 2,3,7,8--TCDD) to destroy the Vietnamese people’s forest barriers, resulting in large numbers of people. Poisoning, its long-term carcinogenicity and teratogenicity have brought endless catastrophes to the Vietnamese people and American soldiers. In addition, dioxins can be produced in waste incineration including chlorine-based hydrocarbon plastic products and paper bleaching with chlorine gas. 3. Harm to human body Dioxin is an environmental pollutant that poses a great threat to human health. It has a strong carcinogenicity and can cause teratogenicity, causing damage to the body's immune and reproductive functions, especially for dairy products. Babies are extremely detrimental if they are exposed to powdered milk that has been seriously contaminated by dioxin. The long-term intake of dioxins has a high risk of cancer, and international organizations have stipulated strict daily human intake according to the dioxin hazard. Its intake is one thousandth of aflatoxin. But it does not mean that eating a bit of food contaminated with dioxin will lead to cancer, because the incidence of cancer is related to the cumulative amount of dioxin intake, so even if you eat some foods that are contaminated with dioxin, do not panic. The new study found that a large number of people exposed to dioxin in the past few years were 1.6 times more likely to die of cancer than a small number of exposed colleagues. Epidemiologist Sandy Lander and his colleague Nish reported in the National Cancer Institute journal that the level of dioxin exposure by high-risk workers is similar to that used in animal studies. Dioxins are one of the most toxic compounds known in the world. They have been listed as human first class carcinogens by international organizations. The above is the introduction of dioxin-related knowledge. I hope that everyone can understand it correctly, not to talk about it, or believe in some false reports. Disposable foaming PS tableware there are several problems Disposable foaming tableware has the advantages of high quality, low cost and so on. However, there are still some outstanding issues. Mainly as follows: 1. Raw material safety issues 1. The impact of incoming raw materials and workshop scrap recycling on the safety of finished products: Foaming PS tableware is made of polystyrene extruded and foamed and then thermoformed, so free styrene monomer concentration will have a direct impact on human body safety. Generally, the raw materials produced by large-scale petrochemical plants can meet the safety requirements. However, the safety problems of manufacturing lunch boxes for small plants or new plants and raw materials recovered from scraps are not reliable, and monomer concentration test analysis should be conducted. According to the test results of Taiwan, three of the five styrene monomers (SM) exceeded 1,000 ppm, with a maximum of 2,950 ppm, and a failure rate of 60%. For the monomer concentration of the workshop scraps, no test report has been reported. It is estimated that the exceeding of the standard is serious and should be highly valued. 2. The effect of high or low concentrations of styrene monomer on the human body, whether it is inhalation, skin contact or ingestion of styrene monomer, will have adverse effects on the human body. Inhalation of high concentrations of styrene can cause throat dryness, lip and nose pain and other symptoms, especially when the concentration is as high as 216 ppm. Discomfort occurs after 20 minutes, which can lead to an increase in red blood cells in the human body and a decrease in white blood cells.