Ray McIntyre clearly had no idea of the toxic plague he was unleashing on the world when he accidentally invented ‘expanded polystyrene’ more than 80 years ago.
In 1941, the industrial scientist was busy mixing substances to create new electrical insulators when he instead ended up creating an entirely new form of plastic that quickly expanded to 40 times its original size.
Its practical uses grew just as quickly.
This strangely light and brittle product has become ubiquitous as a packaging filler, as well as a reference material for making food trays, buoyancy aids, coffee cups, and coolers.
Expanded polystyrene has taken over our world.
A pile of used polystyrene takeaway boxes in Cardiff. This strangely light and brittle product has become ubiquitous as a packaging filler, as well as a reference material for making food trays, buoyancy aids, coffee cups and cooler boxes (file image)
A duck building a nest on a floating piece of Styrofoam. Ray McIntyre clearly had no idea of the toxic plague he was unleashing on the world when he accidentally invented ‘expanded polystyrene’ more than 80 years ago (file image)
If a single year’s global production (15.4 million tons) were divided into one-ton blocks, each block would measure about three square meters. Aligned, they would easily extend around the equator.
But as anyone who has ever unpacked a new consumer durable product will know, getting rid of this incredibly useful material is absolutely impossible.
You try to break it and it suddenly breaks into a blizzard of tiny plastic crumbs scattering into every inaccessible corner.
If you renovate your kitchen or bathroom, your life will collapse under giant sheets of that material. The amount that goes into cabinets, appliances and electrical appliances is staggering.
The curse of expanded polystyrene is that it is very useful.
Because it contains approximately 95 percent air, expanded polystyrene is both an excellent thermal insulator for building construction and an effective buoyancy aid in life jackets and rafts.
And because it doesn’t react with other materials and is heat resistant, it has wide use in the food industry for meat and poultry trays and fast food and beverage containers.
Its lightness and malleability make it a good packaging material, as it provides cushioning but very little weight. That’s why scientists estimated last year that each of us generates approximately 40 to 50 kg of polystyrene waste each year.
A huge piece of polystyrene washed up on the beach. If a single year’s global production (15.4 million tons) were divided into one-ton blocks, each block would measure about three square meters. Aligned, they would easily extend around the equator (file image)
That figure is expected to grow, with forecasters at economic analyst Research Nester predicting the global market will expand from its current annual value of £15 billion to £28 billion in the next decade.
But why is this a problem? This is because once expanded polystyrene is used, we cannot safely dispose of it and it can take at least 500 years to decompose. But in the meantime, it becomes toxic.
About 70 percent of all expanded polystyrene ever made is dumped in landfills after use, according to recent figures from Victoria University, Australia. Much of the rest simply revolves around our land and oceans.
UK kerbside recycling programs do not accept expanded polystyrene. It is bulky, difficult and expensive to transport. As trash, it is often blown away by the wind or guiltily stuffed into our general trash bins.
In the last two years, numerous studies have shown how expanded polystyrene can seriously threaten our health.
Last year, pathologists at the University of Vienna warned that small particles of polystyrene can invade our brain just two hours after eating food contaminated by its packaging, or after eating meat from animals that had ingested them as contaminants in the natural environment. . world: a particular problem with fish.
Worryingly, these plastic particles have rare chemical properties that allow them to pass through our brain’s natural defense against infection, called the “blood-brain barrier,” the research showed.
Dr Lukas Kenner, who led the study, warned: “In the brain, plastic particles could increase the risk of inflammation, neurological disorders or even neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s.”
In fact, this year, laboratory studies on mice that ate microscopic polystyrene particles, in the journal Environment International, reported that the creatures became noticeably anxious as a result of brain inflammation. Clinical anxiety is a known precursor to depression in humans. Other research in this area has linked consumption of nano-sized polystyrene particles to gastrointestinal diseases that can cause the lining of the intestine to leak into the bloodstream, causing chronic inflammation throughout the body associated with heart disease and cancer.
Close up view of a worn piece of white polystyrene. Last year, pathologists from the University of Vienna warned that small particles of polystyrene can invade our brain just two hours after eating food contaminated by its packaging (file image).
And last year, in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, researchers found that ingesting microscopic pieces of polystyrene caused male lab mice to become infertile due to inflammatory damage to their testicles.
So what to do?
We could try to ban it. In January, Cornish company Beach Guardian, which organizes community clean-ups of local beaches, called for a ban on polystyrene bodyboards, popular with holidaymakers who want to play surfing, although the toys often break after a few hours. wear. Keep Britain Tidy warns that around 16,000 copies costing £10 each are washed up on UK beaches each year.
And more generally, last October the Government introduced a ban on expanded polystyrene cups in England as part of a general ban on single-use polystyrene items.
However, this ban has one exception: companies can continue to supply polystyrene food and beverage containers used to transport unprocessed or unprepared foods throughout the supply chain; for example, polystyrene boxes used by fishermen to store and transport their catch.
The Australian government also realized the difficulty of banning this product.
It planned to abolish its use as consumer packaging by 2023, but the initiative is now more than a year behind schedule, and even a major recycling charity group, the Australian Packaging Pact Organisation, says there is “no viable alternative”.
However, a Ukrainian emigrated couple based in Spain, Julia Bialetska and her husband Eugene Tomilin, are developing a substitute based on mushrooms and hemp.
They say they have already produced more than 7.2 tonnes of their packaging material, which uses strong hemp fibers “glued together” with mushroom strands.
It has already successfully completed a trial with cosmetics maker L’Oréal, and Samsung and Sony have been exploring its potential for packaging TVs.
‘It is 100 percent biodegradable. After use, it can simply be thrown away with the compost and will completely decompose in just 30 days,” says Bialetska.
Garbage in a river in Manila, Philippines. Expanded polystyrene has taken over our world (file image)
Meanwhile, global packaging company Mondi announced last November that it is developing a foldable and compostable alternative: corrugated cardboard.
As for the millions of tons of gruesome expanded polystyrene waste already polluting the world, some scientists are pinning their hopes on recruiting microscopic allies.
They have discovered how bacteria living in the intestines of beach-dwelling clam worms and land-dwelling mealworms have now evolved to break down polystyrene waste into food their hosts can eat.
Could these bacteria be mass-cultured to digest the white plastic waste in our landfills, as well as our oceans and beaches?
Scientists have their fingers crossed. Perhaps, ultimately, Mother Nature will be kind enough to clear up our mess.