Chemical Differences Between Conventional & Alternative Fuels

A chart set forth by the St. Marys Cement Company in their last public meeting shows disturbing information:

This chart shows the emission of sulphur dioxide would decrease with plastic fuel, reducing the smell so many people complain about. However, this alternative fuel source will not replace the fossil fuels, but will be burned along with the coal and pet-coke. So you will still have to put up with that smell that forces you to hold up indoors on those beautiful summer days. And just think of what burning plastic will smell like.

Chromium and Lead are emitted far more with plastic than with current fossil fuels. Lead is emitted 10.70 (mg/kg) vs the <1 and 4 with current fuels. Ever been concerned about lead in your pipes? Now you’re going to be breathing it into your lungs.

Ash is currently 0.5% with fossil fuels. With plastic, ash increases to 7.1%.

Remember, the dioxins in the plastic are released when burned. They attach to the ash and are carried for miles around, contaminating the air, ground, water, and food chain. Sitting at 7.1% there will be a whole lot more ash to deal with and, therefore, many more toxins.

STOP PLASTIC FUEL

Your support won’t cost you a dime—opposing it could cost you your health and life!

The purpose of this site is to inform and enlighten regarding the dangers of using plastic as an alternative fuel. Please thoroughly read through the details contained here. But don’t stop there—simply search “hazards of burning plastic” on the Internet and be sure to visit the links provided at the right, and you’ll see this is not a biased opinion—it is based on facts.

There is a petition being circulated to stop St. Marys Cement Company’s plans to burn plastic as alternative fuel.

This petition is not opposed to the St. Marys Cement Co..
It is opposed to burning plastic as an alternative fuel source.

As already stated, the St. Marys Cement Co. proposes to burn plastic as an alternative fuel. This can cause a multitude of health and environmental problems. The solution to mounting plastic waste in landfills is not to burn it as fuel. In a landfill, plastic leaches into the ground and neighbouring water and food sources and contaminates them. When burned, it still contaminates the ground, water and food sources, only in a much broader range because it contaminates the air and is carried to a far bigger area. These chemicals are released into the atmosphere so that we will also breathe them in—subjecting our lungs and bodies to the toxins. Once inhaled it enters the bloodstream and wreaks havoc in the body.

In recent news there have been numerous reports and recalls concerning the toxins in plastic bottles leaching into the liquids and ingested. Do you now want to breathe this into your lungs?

Since plastic is a material that we are surrounded with, we tend to assume it is a harmless product. Although it is safe enough to use, when burned, it releases its toxic concoction of ingredients causing so many hazards that we are only able to scratch the surface here. One of the many toxins released is something called dioxin. There is only one thing more toxic than dioxin: radioactive material. Dioxin attaches to the ash created in the incineration process and is carried for miles around contaminating water, land, and crops for human and livestock consumption. Once inside the body—through inhalation or digestion by way of the food chain, it is there to stay. One trillionth of a gram contains 1.8 billion molecules of dioxin. Each of those molecules has the ability of mutating the cells in the body creating genetic disorders, birth defects, cancers, and all manner of disease. Please read the article called Dioxin—A Deadly By-Product for more detailed information on this poison.

Just a few of the other chemicals released in the burning process are as follows: arsenic, lead, mercury, chlorine, cyanide, benzene, carbon monoxide, substituted toluenes, chromium, chlorinated hydrocarbons similar to pesticides, carcinogens too numerous to list, etc. To top things off, just think of the stench burning plastic will create. Ethanol plants portray that they have systems in place to contain any smelly fumes. Ask anyone in Collingwood if this actually works—people are prisoners in their own homes, confined indoors because of the intensity of the fumes.

Incidentally, they aslo have to spot check samples of the trucked-in plastic to see if it contains any radioactive waste. Are you willing to rely on tests and government standards? Nothing is iron-clad. Nothing can be guaranteed 100%. There is always room for human error. Unfortunately we are the ones who suffer the consequences. One need only to think of what standards and inspections have accomplished in the food industry. Do we want a listeriosis-like outbreak from the air quality in our town and surrounding area?

We all know using coal for fuel can be hazardous. However we’ve been using it for years and know the stats regarding health and longevity—many live a full life with average heath issues. The health outcomes of using alternative fuels, such as plastic are not as well known because it hasn’t been around as long. But a simple search on the Internet will tell you that plastic is not an alternative to even be considered. There have been numerous places that have had to be evacuated, and in some cases abandoned, due to toxin contamination. In Europe, cancer is rampant among the citizens because they have been burning this for years. We won’t know the whole scope of the health hazards until it is too late for us. Do you want to take this chance? Do you want to subject yourself, your children, and your grandchildren to something that will cause disease and death? Currently the plan is to continue using the pet-coke and coal as well as the plastic. In this case, we will be subjected to both sources of contaminates—as if only one wasn’t bad enough.

There is grave concern over water fountains and water pipes in our schools and homes containing lead. Yet this is just one of many contaminates that will be released through burning plastic. Would you knowingly consume arsenic? lead? mercury? cyanide? These are known poisons that kill. If you wouldn’t eat or drink these toxins for fear of the deadly consequences, why would you even consider inhaling them?

There are so many things that we cannot control. We have all been subjected to things detrimental to our health and well-being. But we have an opportunity to put a stop to this before it even gets started. Once in place, it will be practically impossible to revert back. If we’re not willing to take a stand and oppose a hazard in our own backyard, then we cannot complain about shorter life spans, cancers, and diseases springing up in our families.

Let’s put this into perspective:
During the test period in December, the St. Marys Cement Co. plans to burn 320 tons of plastic—up to 80 tons per day. And this is just for 4 days worth of fuel!
Do you really want to wait and see the results of this test—after 320 tons have been let loose in our atmosphere?

Why should our air be their garbage can? Why should we be used as guinea pigs while they test plastic fuel?  We have rights as citizens of this community. But our rights will not be respected unless we voice them by supporting this petition against burning plastic as fuel. So join with us—sign the petition–let your voice be heard and keep St. Marys “the town worth living in.”

You can send your name & street address in a “vote-no” email to stop.plastic.fuel@gmail.com

Petitions are also located at the following locations in town:
West End Variety
St. Marys Ford
MacPherson Craft Store
Carpe Vinum
Audiology Clinic

We can make a difference!

DEADLY STATISTICS

Dioxin—A Deadly By-Product

One of the most dangerous pollutants that is produced is a highly toxic chemical called Dioxin. Dioxin does not decompose and builds up in tissues of animals and humans, and can be found in fat cells of cows and humans. The World Health Organization said: “Once dioxins have entered the environment or body, they are there to stay due to their uncanny ability to dissolve in fats and to their rock-solid chemical stability.”

What Is Dioxin?

Dioxin is the name generally given to a class of super-toxic chemicals, the chlorinated dioxins and furans, formed as a by-product of the manufacture, molding, or burning of organic chemicals and plastics that contain chlorine. It is the nastiest, most toxic man-made organic chemical; its toxicity is second only to radioactive waste. Dioxin made headlines several years ago at places such as Love Canal, where hundreds of families needed to abandon their homes due to dioxin contamination, and Times Beach, Missouri, a town that had to be abandoned as a result of dioxin. Unfortunately, dioxin has now entered our food supply, primarily in meat, fish and milk.

 Dioxin – An Unprecedented Threat

We now know that dioxin exhibits serious health effects when it reaches as little as a few parts per trillion in your body fat. Dioxin is a powerful hormone-disrupting chemical. By binding to a cell’s hormone receptor, it literally modifies the functioning and genetic mechanism of the cell, causing a wide range of effects, from cancer to reduced immunity to nervous system disorders to miscarriages and birth deformity. Because it literally changes the functioning of your cells, the effects can be very obvious or very subtle. It changes gene functions and, therefore, can cause so-called genetic diseases to appear, and can interfere with child development.

There is no “threshold” dose – the tiniest amount can cause damage, and our bodies have no defence against it. A picogram (one trillionth of a gram) has 1.8 billion molecules of dioxin, each of which has the capability of disrupting a cell.

Unfortunately, according to the EPA, much of the population of the U.S. is at the dose at which there can be serious health effects. How did this happen? For about 40 years we have seen a dramatic increase in the manufacture and use of chlorinated organic chemicals and plastics. For chemicals, it was insecticides and herbicides (weed killers). For plastics, it was primarily polyvinyl chloride (PVC). From phonograph records to automobile seat covers to wire insulation to shampoo bottles to handbags to house siding to plumbing pipes to wallpaper, we are literally surrounded by PVC. When these chemicals and plastics are manufactured or burned, dioxin is produced as an unwanted (but inevitable) by-product.

Years ago dioxin was a little-known threat near factories that produce PVC plastic or chlorinated pesticides and herbicides, and where those pesticides and herbicides were heavily used, such as on farms, near electric and railway lines, apple orchards, paper company forests. It became better known when Vietnam War veterans and Vietnamese civilians, exposed to dioxin-contaminated Agent Orange, became ill. It has been a hazard downstream of paper mills (where chlorine bleach combines with natural organics in wood pulp and produces dioxin).

Dioxin, formed during burning, is carried for hundreds of miles on tiny specks of fly-ash from the incinerators. It settles on crops, which then get eaten by cows, steers, pigs, and chickens. It contaminates lakes, streams, and the ocean. Like the pesticides such as DDT, dioxin accumulates in the fat cells of the animals, and re-appears in meat and milk.      

 

Dangers of Burning Plastic

– When burned, PVC plastic forms dioxins, a highly toxic group of chemicals that build up in the food chain, can cause cancer and harms the immune and reproductive systems.

– PVC includes high amounts of toxic additives, which are released during use and disposal, resulting in elevated human exposures to chemicals.

– PVC disposal is the largest source of dioxin-forming chlorine and phthalates in solid waste, as well as a major source of lead, cadmium and organotins–which pose serious health threats.

– PVC production poses serious environmental health threats due to the manufacture of raw chemicals, including chlorine and cancer-causing vinyl chloride monomer.

– More than 100 municipal waste incinerators in the U.S. burn 500 to 600 million pounds of PVC each year, forming highly toxic dioxins and releasing toxic additives to the air and in ash disposed of on land.

– Any PVC waste generated should be diverted away from incineration to hazardous waste landfills.

– Communities should continue to organize against PVC-related dioxin sources such as waste incinerators while working to promote safer alternatives.

 

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When plastic is burned, the chemicals contained in it are released into the atmosphere and left in the ground. These will find their way into the biological systems of plants and animals and ultimately be deposited into human cells and tissues. From there it can cause anything from simple allergies to more formidable diseases like cancer.

 

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Question – What toxic substance is produced that is harmful to our health when a plastic material is burned?

Answer – Many plastics, particularly PVC when burned results in emissions of the deadly poison named dioxin. Dioxin is a toxic organic chemical that contains chlorine and is produced when chlorine and hydrocarbons are heated at high temperatures. To inhale dioxin or to be exposed anyway to its fumes can cause many deadly results. ~ Dr. Mabel R.

 

 

 

References:
http://plasticisrubbish.wordpress.com/2008/06/19/reply/
http://www.cqs.com/edioxin.htm
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/subs/20031208/msgs/289049.html
http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/chem00/chem00031.htm

More Deadly Information…

 

HEALTH CANADA:

Exposure to dioxins and furans has been associated with a wide range of adverse health effects in laboratory animals and humans. The type and occurrence of these effects typically depend on the level and duration of exposure.

Most dioxins are introduced to the environment through the air. The airborne chemical can attach to small particles that can travel long distances in the atmosphere, which means that Canadians may also be exposed to dioxins and furans created in other countries.

These substances work their way up the food chain by moving into and remaining stored in body fat. Because of this, people actually take more dioxins and furans into their bodies through food than through air, water or soil. Ninety per cent of people’s overall exposure to dioxins is estimated to be from the diet.

[StopPlasticFuel Admin: These stats are based on averages—if St. Marys Cement Company burns plastic, we as citizens of this community will be exposed to far greater amounts of these toxins than these stats imply.]

The Health Effects of Dioxins and Furans

Scientists have studied the effects of dioxins and furans on laboratory animals. They have also researched the health effects on people exposed to dioxins through industrial accidents, contaminated food, and occupational exposure to certain herbicides prior to improved manufacturing processes that have reduced these contaminants.

The studies show that dioxins and furans have the potential to produce a range of effects on animals and humans. Health effects associated with human exposure to dioxins include:

·       skin disorders, such as chloracne

·       liver problems

·       impairment of the immune system, the endocrine system and reproductive functions

·       effects on the developing nervous system and other developmental events

·       certain types of cancers

It is important to remember that with all toxic substances, including dioxins, the risk of health effects depends on many factors, including:

·       the way a person is exposed (e.g., through food, air, water, etc.)

·       how much a person is exposed to, and when (e.g., whether it is a large amount on one occasion, or daily exposure to small amounts, etc.)

[StopPlasticFuel Admin: St. Marys and area would have daily exposure to large amounts in comparison to these stats.]

·       individual susceptibility, including general state of health

·       whether the person is also exposed to other substances that may be associated with health effects

These issues are very complex. Scientists do not have all of the answers, but they agree that exposures to dioxins and furans should be kept as low as possible.

 

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PLASTIC IS POISON

Burning plastic releases toxic chemicals such as lead and cadmium. Dioxins and furans, which are perhaps the most toxic synthetic chemicals on the planet, can also be released from plastic by burning, and even in small quantities can be extremely harmful.

Plastic recycling facilities almost inevitably will dispose of some waste: plastic that is either contaminated or has incompatible resins, non-plastic waste imported along with plastic waste and residues from melting and washing. Greenpeace estimates that 25-40% of imported plastic waste is not actually recycled.

Many plastics were once packaging for pesticides and household cleaners and therefore contain a variety of topical toxic ingredients. Plastic wastes and associated contaminants also find their way into waterways and the marine environment, where they are ingested by birds and fish.

 

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KIDS SNIFF BINS TO GET HIGH

Sunday November 4, 2007

A NEW drugs craze is sweeping the country – wheelie bin sniffing.

Youth gangs are stealing the bins, setting fire to the bottoms – then sticking their heads under the lids to inhale the fumes.

Solvent abuse charities last night warned it could be just as dangerous as sniffing glue or petrol.

Gases from the burning polyethylene plastic starve the brain of oxygen, giving a quick high.

Drug charity Solve It said: “Just because it sits in mum and dad’s back yard doesn’t mean it’s safe. Once on fire, a bin is a lethal weapon.”

The craze started in Glasgow and has spread to other areas. Police in Barnsley, South Yorks., which has had 100 bin fires in a fortnight, say it’s the “new drug of choice.”

 

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Wheelie bins are a new target

Burning Danger

A spite of incidents involving burnt-out wheelie bins over the past year are causing concern for Cleveland Fire Brigade over fears it could signal the development of a worrying trend.

Fire Brigades from around the UK have reported a rise in wheelie bin fires, and there are worries that those committing the crime are risking their lives by inhaling the fumes released by the burning plastic.

 

Ed Parish and his colleagues at Cleveland Fire Brigade’s Arson Task Force have seen the number of wheelie bin fires in the area slowly develop over the past year, and it’s something they’re increasingly worried about.

Concerns

There are a number of concerns for the Fire Brigade, the first is the fact that burning the bins creates a disturbance in that particular area as Ed explains.

“Setting fire to wheelie bins is a criminal act, and the implications are that it’s very dangerous. Its knock on effect is that it can spread to houses and affect families.”

There are also the obvious health impacts to people that may inhale the fumes from the plastic. Most wheelie bins are made from high density polyethylene that when burned, release deadly gases that if inhaled provide a headache-heavy short high but starve the brain of oxygen and can prove fatal.

“This buzz or fix they’re looking to get, they should realise that the gases they inhale contain number of carcinogenic substances they’re breathing in and these can have massive effect on their internal organs.”

Warning

Ed and his colleagues have a harsh message for the individuals vandalising wheelie bins, whatever their reason.

“We will catch you, we will prosecute you, watch out. But in the meantime you’re putting your own life at risk and I’d advise you to stop right now.”

 

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The Daily Item
Published November 29, 2007

When burned, many plastics (particularly polyvinylchloride, or PVC) release carbon monoxide and the deadly poison named tetrachloro-dibenzo-dioxin, a toxic organic chemical that is a known carcinogen. There is ample evidence that this compound is very dangerous to humans, even at low levels of exposure. Cancer and respiratory illness are common effects of this chemical.

Plastics like PVC are common in such things as vinyl siding, bottles and jugs, etc. Plastic agricultural silage wrap, wire insulated with plastic, shopping bags and plastic containers often end up in trash, but none of these items should ever be burned. These items could be a major source of airborne pollutants; they could easily make their way into the food chain and our bodies. There are recycling options available for many of these products.

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 Studies have linked dioxins and furans to cancer and respiratory disease.

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 Burning of Plastic Waste Poses Health Hazard

Thomas P. Thomas, environmentalist and Botany professor, says burning of plastics and PET bottles releases dioxins, which can harm the immunity and reproductive systems.

 

 

References:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/environ/dioxin-eng.php
http://www.greenleft.org.au/1994/132/10299
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_20071104/ai_n21089973
http://www.bbc.co.uk/tees/content/articles/2007/11/22/wheelie_bins_inhale_feature.shtml
http://www.dailyitem.com/0111_letters/local_story_333000916.html
http://www.gov.pe.ca/infopei/index.php3?number=60944
http://www.nlsenlaw.org/copy_of_news/burning-of-plastic-waste-poses-health-hazard