Application of Synchrotron Radiation Technology in Marine Biochemistry and Food Science Studies
Se-Kwon Kim in Marine Biochemistry, 2023
Plastics and synthetic organic polymers are emerging pollutants in aquatic and terrestrial environments. Because the seafloor covers approximately 70% of the earth’s surface, it is considered a major sink for plastic marine waste (or marine debris and marine litter). Jambeck et al. calculated that 274 million metric tons (Mt) of plastic waste was generated in 2010, with 4.8‒12.7 million Mt of plastic waste entering the ocean (Morales-Caselles et al. 2021; Jambeck et al. 2015). Similarly, plastic waste leakage for all aquatic ecosystems in 2016 was estimated to be approximately 20 Mt (Canals et al. 2020). In fact, the annual production of plastics went from 1.5 million tons in the 1950s to 360 million tons in 2018. The most common plastics in commercial products are polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), PE terephthalate (PET), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and PE, PP, and PS are the most widespread plastics found in the environment. Among these types of plastics, PE accounts for 90% and is the most common plastic found in the environment (Larue et al. 2021; Park and Park 2021).
Lifestyle and Diet
Chuong Pham-Huy, Bruno Pham Huy in Food and Lifestyle in Health and Disease, 2022
Plastics are synthetic organic polymers. They are composed of hydrocarbons that are prepared from fossil fuel (petroleum) or other products under the action of heat (214). Plastics liberate their toxic monomers, bisphenol-A (BPA) and di-(2-ethylhexyl)-phthalate (DEHP), during decomposition into the environment or during contact with foods or human tissues. BPA and DEHP are well-known strong endocrine disruptors which can interfere with human hormone systems, and consequently, can engender a number of diseases such as infertility, sex deformation, retardation of brain development in children, and cancers of prostate, breast, thyroid (213). At present, BPA has been one of the first plastic materials to be recognized for its potential harm by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (213). In response to such concerns, BPA also recently has been banned in the United States as well as in Canada and the European Union from use in infant bottles and spill-proof cups for toddlers. Do not heat or boil food in plastic containers by microwave. Replace plastic items with porcelain or glass objects. Detectable levels of bisphenol A have been found in the urine of 95% of the adult population of the United States (213).
Recent Trends in Bio-Medical Waste, Challenges and Opportunities
K. Gayathri Devi, Kishore Balasubramanian, Le Anh Ngoc in Machine Learning and Deep Learning Techniques for Medical Science, 2022
While typical solid and liquid trash does not need to be treated before being disposed of, practically all infectious trash should be handled beforehand. The expense of disposing of infectious garbage might be 10 times that of routine garbage disposal. Any approach that lowers the cost of infectious waste disposal lowers the quantity of infectious waste produced. syringes, blood, urine bags, catheters, and other things made of plastic are used in health care. A decrease in sperm count, genital abnormalities, and a rise in breast cancer incidences have all been related to plastic. When plastics are burnt, carcinogens such as dioxin and furan are produced. Because of its non-biodegradable nature, plastic has become a serious environmental and health hazard. Long-term, landfilling, or recycling are all ecologically sound ways to dispose of plastic garbage. Before returning to the seller, all discarded plastic should be shredded. The development of environmentally friendly, biodegradable polymers is urgently required. It is also critical to reduce the amount of plastic garbage produced. For medical practitioners, biomedical waste management is just as vital as a treatment strategy. All health care employees and auxiliary people from different health care institutions should be educated about the present state of scientific biomedical waste management systems, as well as their value and advantages to patients, staff, and the community as a whole.
Effect of altered human exposome on the skin and mucosal epithelial barrier integrity
Published in Tissue Barriers, 2022
Yagiz Pat, Ismail Ogulur, Duygu Yazici, Yasutaka Mitamura, Lacin Cevhertas, Ozan C. Küçükkase, Sanne S. Mesisser, Mübeccel Akdis, Kari Nadeau, Cezmi A. Akdis
The use of plastics has rapidly grown as these materials offer a low production cost and high stability and durability. However, plastic waste poses a threat to nature as most plastics are non-biodegradable. It is estimated that in 2015 globally 66–90 million metric tonnes of miss managed plastic waste are produced and every year 8 million tonnes of plastic waste are escaped to the oceans.25,41 When plastic waste enters the environment, it breaks down into small fragments and particles such as MPs (1 mm to 5 mm) and NPs (1 nm to 1000 nm).13,42 The degradation products can be detected in the air, water, and sediment.13,16 It is reported that nano- and MPs are harmful to aquatic species, such as zooplankton, bivalves, and small fish.13 Moreover, NPs can penetrate living organisms and eventually enter the human food chain.13,15 In addition, humans are exposed to airborne NPs through the airways and in contact with the skin.15
The sustainability of emerging technologies for use in pharmaceutical manufacturing
Published in Expert Opinion on Drug Delivery, 2022
Edward Weaver, Collette O’Hagan, Dimitrios A. Lamprou
AM frequently allows the practice of material re-use, as especially for powder bed technologies, any material left un-fused will be available for future printing. The practice of material re-use during AM is common for metal powders, UV sensitive powders, and thermoplastics. This principle has been applied multiple timesfor example, for the reuse of polypropylene, using intermediary processes like hot melt extrusion (HME) (Figure 2) [49]. Currently, the re-use of resin-based printing material is not available as to our knowledge, there are no methods to achieve this. The area of material re-use is currently being highly researched, owing to its importance of promoting a circular economy. It is estimated that 5000 tonnes of waste is produced from AM each year [50], which unless addressed, will only grow due to the practice of AM becoming increasingly common. As is well known, plastics are one of the world’s great pollutants owing to their extremely slow degradation rates. This factor also applies to resins, which can also have long degradation periods, which is why further exploration into the practice of resin re-use is essential, before an inordinate amount of resin waste is accumulated from AM.
Situational Assessment of Functional Elements, Practices Adopted & Concerns Related to Bio Medical Waste Management in City of Pune, India
Published in Hospital Topics, 2020
Meenal Kulkarni, Rajiv Yeravdekar
Further, practices followed for BMW disposal and segregation was observed along with interview conducted with officials working for local agency deputed for segregation and disposal of BMW in the city. It was reported by these officials, that as per 2016 BMW Rules, “waste is collected in non-chlorinated color coded bags with barcoding.” Barcoding begins from the point of waste collection, as the hospitals do not have barcoded bags within the departments. Sanitary workers collect the color-coded waste bags from all departments. The labeled bags are dispatched to the company. At the hospitals, details are maintained in registers regarding the amount of waste disposed, number of bags and number of boxes containing glass/sharp waste. Needles are kept in hypochlorite solution before disposal. Regular employee health checkups are conducted and vaccination is done for the employees. The Global positioning system (GPS) enabled waste collection vehicles from company visit the hospitals every day. One vehicle collects the general waste (noninfectious) like leftover food, office waste and so on and the second vehicle collects BMW. Barcoding, electronic weighing and telephone tracking systems have mechanized the entire system and manual interference is avoided largely. Company officials said that GPS vehicles are tracked from the office to ensure that the vans do not halt for much more time than scheduled in the timetable. Waste like plastic is treated and disinfected and either given for shredding or to the scrap collectors authorized by state pollution control board (PCB).
Related Knowledge Centers
- Absorption
- Adsorption
- Bisphenol A
- Incineration
- Physiology
- Pollutant
- Polystyrene
- Microbead
- Hormone
- Covid-19 Pandemic