The Dangers of Styrofoam In Our Schools
by CLAIRE DALTON, Contributing Writer
Living in San Francisco, I’ve become spoiled by the shared sense of responsibility for our environment. My apartment building has a huge area for recycling and compost in the garage, the cafe next door uses ceramic mugs and plates for patrons, and he gelato joint across the street serves its deliciousness in compostable cups made from corn.
But occasionally I’m reminded of how lucky I am to live in this kind of community. The GirlieGirl Army reported that in New York City, thousands of styrofoam trays are being thrown away each day after lunch. That’s right, students are eating off styrofoam trays, then tossing them right out. Unfortunately, NYC is definitely not alone in this practice.
This raises my hackles for a couple of reasons. First, I can’t stand the idea of so much waste, and more importantly, waste that is so destructive. Styrofoam, which is actually the brand name that has become the generic term for all items made of polystyrene, has been associated with a number of environmental concerns. It often breaks up and chokes animals when they try to eat it, and the liquid and solid waste associated with creating polystyrene is extensive. Further, it’s made of petroleum, a non-sustainable and heavily polluting resource that takes millennia to decompose, and though it can be recycled, it can merely be reformed into new polystyrene products, producing more of the air pollution and waste.
But more worrisome by far are the health concerns. Styrofoam contains toxic chemicals, including polystyrene and BPA, that leach into food on contact, causing harm to human and animal immune, reproductive, and central nervous systems and is associated with such problems as depression, pulmonary congestion, fatigue, and minor kidney and blood issues. Further, the International Agency for Research on Cancer has named BPA and styrene as potential human carcinogens.
Does that sound like something we want to expose our kids to every day? Absolutely not! But currently many schools across the nation (and restaurants alike) are using polystyrene for food storage and travel. To help eliminate this practice, you can join a number of activist groups already fighting to eliminate polystyrene products in schools or start your own movement by getting the word out and writing your elected officials or school district.
In New York City, Maryland, and Wisconsin, you’re in good company. For the rest of you, make your voice be heard and share your efforts on your Causecast blog.
Photo by complexify., flickr
- Posted by Causecast
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For more than 20 years, the Styrene Information and Research Center (SIRC) has sponsored a comprehensive research program to better understand the potential, if any, for styrene to affect human health. Both foam and solid polystyrene foodservice products have been tested extensively and deemed safe for consumer use by reputable government agencies. Since the 1990s, the polystyrene industry has conducted tests to measure the migration of styrene from food-contact styrenic plastics; the results have shown that these very low styrene levels pose no health concern. Specifically, the tests showed that the estimated daily exposure to styrene from polystyrene food-contact articles was 10,000 times safer than it needed to be.
Styrene has never been classified as an endocrine disruptor, as there is no scientific evidence whatsoever that it can cause reproductive or developmental problems. While long-term exposure to very high levels of styrene in the air - as may occur occasionally in some workplaces where styrene is handled - may cause headaches or symptoms of fatigue or dizziness, the general public typically is not exposed to such levels and have no cause for concern. The results of extensive studies of workers in styrene-related industries collectively show that exposure to styrene does not increase the risk of cancer. While the International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified styrene as “possibly carcinogenic to humans,” no regulatory health agency has actually stated that styrene causes cancer in humans.
For more information regarding the safety of styrene products, please refer to the Styrene Information and Research Center Website at http://www.styrene.org/.