Over the last seventy years, Americans have become increasingly more aware and involved in both the conservation movement and the environmental movement as a whole. With the rise of the environmental movement in the 1960s, quality of life and health concerns became of the utmost importance to the American public. Post World War II, issues such as nuclear testing, pesticide and other chemical use/waste products, and the production of plastic goods in combination with American consumerism culture had serious environmental impacts.
Post World War II, the production that once supported the war effort and helped pull America’s economy out of the depression was now shifting toward a more consumer-based market economy. From the 1950s on, there …show more content…
Plastics have been considered a ‘miracle material’ by some Americans and today, it 's hard to imagine life without it. Products that we use all time, and some we don’t even consider, contain the material; including cars, fabrics, electronic devices such as computers and televisions and food containers all have plastic parts. However, synthetic plastics are a fairly new creation. According to “The History of Plastic: From Billiards To Bibs” online timeline of plastics, early plastics were first made from plant cell-wall, otherwise known as cellulose, by Alexander Parkes in 1862. Dubbed ‘Parkesine’, the first plastic was moldable, transparent and retained its shape when cooled. In 1872, celluloid plastics began to succeed on a large scale. These plastics were manufactured from cotton fibers and other natural materials. By the late nineteenth century, celluloid plastics were used to produce and replace other products that were made from ivory or tortoiseshell, such as hair combs and small bowls. In the mid-20th century, scientific research by chemical manufacturers paved the way for emergence of new entirely man-made materials that could replace natural ones. For example, in 1933, Polyethylene was developed as a type of cheap and durable synthetic material. Nowadays, polyethylene is the most common plastic we see today in products such as children’s bottles, food containers such as …show more content…
“Are Any Plastics Safe?” by Mariah Blake detailed that the chemicals used to replace bisphenol-A, otherwise known as BPA, in plastic products may be just as dangerous to human health. BPA is widely used in everyday products such as: printed receipts, water bottles, plastic baby bottles, children’s sippy cups and soup cans. BPA mimics the behavior of estrogen in the body and has been linked to the development of breast cancer, obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Since 2012, BPA has been banned in bottles and sippy cups for children because of the research supporting the developmental harm to young children. Currently, plastic products being advertised as ‘BPA-free’ are still being made with and releasing synthetic estrogen compounds into our bodies. The federal government has stepped in to attempt to regulate BPA and other chemical use in plastic materials but the article specifically highlighted the fact that they receive push-back from chemical companies. The author claims that the pharmaceutical plastics industry used a similar ‘Big Tobacco’ style campaign to hide the scientific evidence presented regarding their products. To date, this problem has not been resolved by any means because scientific evidence is difficult to
Post World War II, the production that once supported the war effort and helped pull America’s economy out of the depression was now shifting toward a more consumer-based market economy. From the 1950s on, there …show more content…
Plastics have been considered a ‘miracle material’ by some Americans and today, it 's hard to imagine life without it. Products that we use all time, and some we don’t even consider, contain the material; including cars, fabrics, electronic devices such as computers and televisions and food containers all have plastic parts. However, synthetic plastics are a fairly new creation. According to “The History of Plastic: From Billiards To Bibs” online timeline of plastics, early plastics were first made from plant cell-wall, otherwise known as cellulose, by Alexander Parkes in 1862. Dubbed ‘Parkesine’, the first plastic was moldable, transparent and retained its shape when cooled. In 1872, celluloid plastics began to succeed on a large scale. These plastics were manufactured from cotton fibers and other natural materials. By the late nineteenth century, celluloid plastics were used to produce and replace other products that were made from ivory or tortoiseshell, such as hair combs and small bowls. In the mid-20th century, scientific research by chemical manufacturers paved the way for emergence of new entirely man-made materials that could replace natural ones. For example, in 1933, Polyethylene was developed as a type of cheap and durable synthetic material. Nowadays, polyethylene is the most common plastic we see today in products such as children’s bottles, food containers such as …show more content…
“Are Any Plastics Safe?” by Mariah Blake detailed that the chemicals used to replace bisphenol-A, otherwise known as BPA, in plastic products may be just as dangerous to human health. BPA is widely used in everyday products such as: printed receipts, water bottles, plastic baby bottles, children’s sippy cups and soup cans. BPA mimics the behavior of estrogen in the body and has been linked to the development of breast cancer, obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Since 2012, BPA has been banned in bottles and sippy cups for children because of the research supporting the developmental harm to young children. Currently, plastic products being advertised as ‘BPA-free’ are still being made with and releasing synthetic estrogen compounds into our bodies. The federal government has stepped in to attempt to regulate BPA and other chemical use in plastic materials but the article specifically highlighted the fact that they receive push-back from chemical companies. The author claims that the pharmaceutical plastics industry used a similar ‘Big Tobacco’ style campaign to hide the scientific evidence presented regarding their products. To date, this problem has not been resolved by any means because scientific evidence is difficult to