Plastics

How they are made &

how they affect the
body?
Definition
• “Plastic" as though it's a single material,
•FACT: many different types of plastics.
• What they have in common is that
they're plastic, which means they are soft and
easy to turn into many different forms during manufacture.
 Types

Natural Synthetic
 Thermoplastics
•Polyethylene/polythene (plastic bottles and sheets),
•Polystyrene (crumbly white packaging material),
• Polypropylene (plastic ropes),
• Polyvinylchloride/PVC (toys and credit cards),
• Polycarbonate (hard plastic windows, car headlamps, H2O bottles),
• Polyamide (nylon—used in everything from stockings and
swimming shorts to toothbrushes and umbrellas).
 Thermosets
•Polyurethane (insulating material in
buildings),

•Polytetrafluoroethylene/
PTFE (nonstick coatings on cooking pots
and pans),

•Melamine (hard plastic crockery),

Epoxy resin (a tough plastic used in
strong adhesives and wood fillers).
Plastics are made up of long chains of Carbon
*Hydrocarbon
s are produced
colorants (which, as the name suggests, turn plastics into all kinds
of bright and happy colors),

plasticizers (which make plastics more flexible, viscous,

and easier to shape),

stabilizers (to stop our plastics breaking apart in sunlight and

heat), and

fillers (typically low-cost minerals that mean we need less of the

expensive, oil-based hydrocarbons to make our final plastic product—so we can
make and sell it more cheaply).
MAJORITY OF ADDITIVES NOT
TESTED
This is alarming. We are exposed to all
kinds of plastic and hundreds of
additives, from hormone disruptors like
BPA and BPF to brominated flame
retardants, every day. There is no
escape.
Microplastics are found in marine animals
BPA has been
found in the urine
of 
95% of Canadians
Consume plastics
. *hair via packaging
Consume plastics via packaging
We absorb plastic through our clothes
We breathe plastic thru burning
trash
 What can we do?
• Reduce
• Reuse
• Recycle
• Use BPA-free products.
• Cut back on cans. Reduce your use of canned foods.
• Avoid heat. Don't put polycarbonate plastics in the microwave or dishwasher,
because the heat may break them down over time and allow BPA to leach into foods.

•Use alternatives. Use glass, porcelain or stainless steel containers

for hot foods and liquids instead of plastic containers.